Fnhon DB11: Seatpost, Saddle, Kickstand

This will be a short blog post, showing some of the new parts that will be used for the Fnhon DB11. Most of the drivetrain and Di2 components from the Dahon MuEX will be moved over to the Fnhon DB11, so there is no need to buy new parts.

When I sold away the Dahon MuEX, I had replaced the drivetrain with a mechanical 1x10 speed drivetrain. However, some parts could not be replaced as I have no spare ones, so I had to sell those together, in order to sell as a complete bike. Examples would be the seat post, saddle, etc.

Therefore, I needed to get a new seat post and saddle for the Fnhon DB11. For a lightweight and strong seat post, Litepro is a good choice. If you get the really lightweight version, it will weigh just over 300 grams, which is really good. However, it is not as strong, as the saddle clamp design is just not robust enough.

Minimalist saddle clamp design which does not look robust enough.

I needed the saddle clamp design to be of the stronger type, which I came across on the Crius seat post some time ago. This saddle clamp design has more support for the saddle rail, as well as more clamping area. I prefer this as I can pair it with a carbon saddle rail.

Now, the Crius seat post has been rebranded as a Litepro seat post, but it is of a different model as the lightweight version. The main difference is the saddle clamp design.

New Litepro seat post with a stronger saddle clamp design. However, it is also heavier at 413 grams.

This saddle clamp is stronger as the clamp is a single piece, while there is support both on top and below the saddle rails.

As I also needed a new saddle, I decided to try out a lightweight carbon saddle from Toseek. This is the same brand as the lightweight carbon handlebar which I also bought for this Fnhon DB11. However, it is quite a bit cheaper than the Selle Italia ones which I used previously. Let's hope the ergonomics and comfort will be decent!

Just 130 grams! Similar to the lightweight Selle Italia SLR Kit Carbonio Flow and also the SLR Titanium saddle.

Some perforations on the saddle as part of the design. I wonder if it will trap dirt and dust.

Full carbon shell and saddle rails.

The finishing of the saddle cover over the carbon shell looks quite decent.

Finally, I also got a new kickstand for the Fnhon DB11, as it is really useful to have. The tricky part is getting the kickstand length correct, as the larger 451 wheels means that the kickstand has to be slightly longer than a kickstand for 406 wheels.

Kickstand for 451 wheel size, one of the lightest at just 158 grams.

With these miscellaneous parts ready, the assembly of the Fnhon DB11 can start!

Fnhon DB11: Wheelset, Tires, Brake Rotors

Replacing the Dahon MuEX with a new disc brake folding bike is not so easy, as a new wheelset is necessary. The new wheelset needs to have disc brake compatible hubs, so that disc rotors can be mounted.

The new Fnhon DB11 will thus need a new set of wheels, since the super lightweight Kinetix Pro wheelset cannot be used any more. This new wheelset will need to have a front OLD of 100 mm, and a rear OLD of 135 mm, which is required by the Fnhon frameset. Folding bikes have not moved on to thru axles yet.

Also, the wheel size will be upsized from 406 to 451, roughly from 20" to 22". This will give it the same wheel size as the Dahon MuSP which is already using 451 wheels.

I could easily buy an off-the-shelf 451 wheelset, as how I have done previously from MyBikeShop for the blue Wheelsport wheelset of the Dahon MuSP, or the black one for the mini velos. Those wheels are pretty good and not too expensive. However, as I want to use Centerlock disc rotors, the selection of stock wheelsets becomes very limited or non-existent, as most small wheels with disc brakes come with 6 bolt hubs.

Therefore, I turned to Ascent Bikes, as they are known for making custom wheelsets and carbon framesets which are good quality and also affordable. In fact, I previously asked them to custom make a strong and durable wheelset for my Bike Friday Haul-A-Day cargo bike.

Requirements:
100/135 mm OLD hubs for quick release axles
Centerlock disc brake mounting
451 rim size
Lightweight
Black hubs, rims, spokes

I wanted the rims to be relatively wide as well, but that would add weight. Using carbon rims would save some weight, but then the carbon rims will also have a tall rim profile, which will require a long valve inner tube or a valve extender. That would add back the weight saved from a carbon rim.

Personally I don't like the appearance of a tall carbon rim in a small wheel, as it makes the wheel look like a doughnut. This effect would be even more pronounced if I am using a disc rotor that blocks out the centre area as well.

Therefore, a low profile, narrow rim was used to achieve my desired appearance and low weight.

Custom wheelset from Ascent Bikes!

Sticker on the rim showing the brand (Weinmann) and model of the rim.

I prefer the stealthy look and out goes the stickers. Looks much better isn't it?

451 rims, with internal rim width of 16 mm.

True to size, with internal rim width of 16 mm.

External rim width is 22 mm. For contrast, the Hunt gravel wheelset has an INTERNAL rim width of 24 mm.

Rim height is just 19 mm, the shortest I have ever seen.

Novatec D411 hubs which are relatively lightweight. Straight pull spokes used here.

Most importantly, it comes with Centerlock disc rotor mounting.

Novatec rear hub (D412SB-CL), also with straight pull spokes.

11 speed ready freehub body.

Front wheel weighs 567 grams, which is nothing to shout about.

Rear wheel weighs 696 grams, which is pretty lightweight.

This gives a total wheelset weight of 1263 grams (including rim tape) for this custom 451 disc brake wheelset. Not as lightweight as I wanted, but still not too bad. However, compared to the Kinetix Pro wheelset (998 grams), this new wheelset is already 265 grams more, which is a significant amount.

Moving on, I will also need new 451 sized tires. There are not many good choices for this size. If you want lightweight tires, the Schwalbe One (23-451) is lightweight, but also quite narrow and harsh. A better choice would be the wider Panaracer Minits Lite (28-451) which is more comfortable.

Panaracer Minits Lite, tried and tested on the Dahon MuSP, Wheelsport Fantasy mini velo and Java Freccia mini velo.

28 mm wide for a more comfortable ride and a lower tire pressure requirement.

Tires installed on the new wheels!

New all black 451 disc brake wheelset for the Fnhon DB11.

Next, I will need new disc brake rotors for the Fnhon DB11. As mentioned in the previous post about the brake calipers, I will use 160 mm rotors at the front and 140 mm rotors at the rear. This is partly to save weight and partly due to frame limitations.

I like the design of the new Deore XT MT800 disc brake rotors, which I have already used on the Canyon Endurace gravel wheelset. Therefore I got more of the same, just in 160 mm and 140 mm sizes. As discussed in detail during the Bike Friday Haul-A-Day build, a smaller wheel size can afford to use smaller disc brake rotors and still achieve high braking force.

MT800 rotors in 140 mm and 160 mm sizes. As you can see I'm a big fan of Centerlock disc brake rotors as they are so easy to install and remove.

160 mm rotor on the left, 140 mm rotor on the right. Both have 4 arm adaptors and just differ in size.

160 mm rotor

160 mm rotor + aluminium lock ring weighs 114 grams. Lighter than Dura-Ace RT900 rotor.

140 mm rotor

140 mm rotor + lock ring weighs just 94 grams! Super lightweight.

Front 160 mm rotor installed

Rear 140 mm rotor and cassette installed. It is the same 11-32T 11 speed cassette that I used on the Dahon MuEX, but adjusted to the correct stack height with spacers.

451 wheelset for the Fnhon DB11 ready to roll!

From this picture above, I can see that it was a good decision to use low profile rims, to maximize the area that can be seen through the spokes. This creates the impression of a lightweight wheelset instead of a bulky, high profile wheelset.

Cervelo Aspero: Panaracer GravelKing SK 650B Tires

Since I will be using 650B wheels on the Cervelo Aspero, I will also need new 650B gravel tires. The whole idea of getting the Cervelo Aspero frameset is to enable wider gravel tires to be used. This will allow lower pressures to be run, which will improve grip and comfort when riding on off-road terrain. If you have the correct setup and riding skills, you can even ride off-road on single track trails using the Cervelo Aspero. I tried that on the Canyon Endurace and it was really fun!

I was really happy with the Panaracer GravelKing SK gravel tires that I used on the Canyon Endurace. Those were 700C tires with a claimed width of 32 mm. Therefore, I decided to get the same type of tires, but in a wider but smaller diameter 650B size. This time, I can fit wider tires since the Cervelo Aspero has a much bigger tire clearance.

Previously, when I installed the 32 mm wide (claimed) GravelKing SK tires on the DT Swiss G 1800 wheelset, the actual tire width became 35 mm, which is 3 mm wider than expected. This is probably due to the relatively wide internal rim width of 24 mm.

This time, I will also be installing the same brand of tire, on the Hunt 650B Adventure Carbon Disc wheelset which also has an internal rim width of 24 mm. Therefore, I am expecting the tire width to expand by about 3 mm as well.

The Cervelo Aspero has a frame clearance of about 57 mm when using 650B wheels. Given the recommended 4 mm of clearance between the tire and frame on both sides, the maximum tire width that can fit safely is about 49 mm.

I wanted to use the widest tire possible, but without going too close to the frame. The area with the tightest tire clearance is almost always between the chain stays, just behind the bottom bracket.

Panaracer GravelKing SK 650B tire comes in two tire widths, 1.75" and 1.9", which roughly translates to 43 mm wide and 48 mm wide. However, if I use choose the 48 mm width tire, it may expand by 3 mm, making it 51 mm wide and too big to fit safely into the frame.

Therefore, I decided to get the 43 mm wide version, as I am expecting it to expand by 3 mm, making it about 46 mm wide. At this point in time (January 2020), the 43 mm version was still very new, and it was very difficult to get hold of it, until I found it available on one website. If you are in Singapore, you can probably get it from The Bike Settlement, which is the official distributor of Panaracer tires.

New Panaracer GravelKing SK tires, in 650B size!

It has 5 rows of knobs, instead of 3 as found on the narrower 700C version.

Nice and wide size! 650B is the same as 27.5", which means that MTB 27.5" rims and tires are interchangeable with 650B. Official ETRTO size is 43-584.

Lots of knobs and "hair" on each knob of the tire.

Each tire weighs 460 grams, which is about 200 grams more than a typical Continental GP4000 700x28C road tire. This is due to much more rubber from the width and knobs.

650B inner tubes are also necessary. These inner tubes can be used for wider MTB tires as well.

Each Schwalbe SV21 inner tube weighs 199 grams, which is again additional weight over slimmer road inner tubes.

By now, you can see that using smaller 650B wheels will not give you any weight savings, as the heavier tires and inner tubes more than compensates for any weight reduction from the smaller rim and shorter spokes.

Shape of the tire after being installed and inflated. Lots of knobs for grip!

However, the actual width of the tire is 43 mm, which is the same as claimed.

Official tire width is 43 mm, but no one knows which rim width was used.

To my surprise, the actual tire width and the claimed width is the same at 43 mm. There was no additional tire width created by mounting on the 24 mm (internal) wide rim. I was quite disappointed as I expected the tire width to become wider, as I wanted to run tires that were as wide as possible.

Perhaps, the previous 700C tire width was judged on narrower rims, while these new 650B tires are judged on wider rims. That could be a reason why the actual width was the same as claimed. If I had gotten the wider 48 mm Panaracer GravelKing SK tires, they might have turned out to be exactly 48 mm, which would fulfill my plan to have the widest possible tires.

Regardless, since I already have the tires, I will put them on and give it a try. Here is how it looks when mounted on the Hunt wheelset!

Panaracer GravelKing SK 650B tires installed on the Hunt 650B Adventure Carbon Disc wheelset.

Front wheel + tire + inner tube weighs 1336 grams.

Rear wheel + tire + inner tube weighs 1451 grams.

Deore XT MT800 160 mm disc rotors installed on the front wheel.

MT800 160 mm disc rotors and HG800 11-34T 11 speed cassette installed on the rear wheel.

Both wheels are ready to go, since the disc rotors and cassette have been installed.

Complete front wheel after adding the MT800 disc rotor weighs 1448 grams, about 200 grams more than the road front wheel.

Complete rear wheel after adding the MT800 disc rotor and cassette weighs 1900 grams, about 300 grams more than the road rear wheel.

Note that this 650B gravel wheelset is LIGHTER than the 700C gravel wheelset which I used on the Canyon Endurace, as the lighter carbon rims have managed to offset the heavier and wider 650B tires. Of course, the gravel wheelset is still about 500 grams heavier than the Reynolds carbon road wheelset, which I cannot avoid. The only way to reduce weight from the gravel wheelset is to use narrower and lighter tires, which defeats my objective of running wide tires at low pressure.

Just for fun, I installed the new Hunt 650B front wheel on the Canyon Endurace, just to see how it looks like.

43 mm wide, 650B tires on the Canyon Endurace front fork.

Still plenty of radial clearance, as the wheel diameter is smaller. However, there is practically no clearance at both sides of the tire.

The wide 650B rear wheel definitely cannot fit onto the Canyon Endurace, since there was already very little clearance when using the previous 35 mm wide tires. Of course, it is not safe to ride the Canyon Endurace with this 43 mm wide front tire, as there is no frame clearance.

You may have noticed that there is a difference in wheel diameter between this 650B wheelset and previous 700C road and gravel wheelsets. In the next post, a detailed comparison will be done to compare the sizes of these wheelsets.