Winspace SLC 2 Bike Frame: Engineer’s Review
Introduction
The Winspace SLC 2 bike frame is a great option for riders looking for a durable and lightweight frame. Made with Toray T800 carbon fibre, this frame is strong and stiff, yet very lightweight. It also features an integrated headset and bottom bracket, which makes it easy to assemble. Overall, the Winspace SLC 2 is an excellent choice for riders who want a high-quality carbon frame that is built to last.
Winspace is a Chinese company based in Xiamen on the east cost of China. They were one of the first Chinese companies to proactively provide frames and wheels directly to consumers in the west and by using social media they greatly grew their market presence.
Bottom Bracket
The bottom bracket on this bike is a standard BB86 unit. The locating landings are fully reinforced which is a welcome addition. This results in an extremely stiff bottom bracket interface. BB86 has a nominal tolerance of 40.95 to 41.00mm. At the point of installation, this frame was measured at 40.97 to 40.98mm. A Hambini Racing BB86 Shimano bottom bracket was fitted to this frame.
It would be ill advised to use a BB86 DUB or 30mm bottom bracket in this frame. This frame has reinforced landings and thus the likelihood of a fault with DUB or 30mm axles is high. This article explains the technical problems with a BB86 and DUB/30mm combination
Overall Frame Construction
This frame uses Pre-preg (or Pre-impregnated) carbon fibre EPS for internal moulding features. This is in contrast to the Winspace T1500 which uses a pressurized bag. Both of these methods are considered to be inferior to the manufacturing system used by TIME which is RTM. The major drawback with RTM has been the prohibitive cost to manufacture.
Irrespective of the manufacturing system, the internal parts of this frame are exceptionally good and would easily out rank the established western brands that cost up to 10x more
Headset
The SLC uses a tapered headset arrangement. A larger bearing is fitted at the lower end of the headtube and a smaller bearing is fitted at the upper end of the headtube. The bearings feature conical seats to allow for a reasonable degree of misalignment and large amounts of preload. The fit on both bearing seats was acceptable.
Fork
The fork is a one piece moulded carbon unit with an integrated crown race. It has a round steerer tube. The compaction of the carbon fibre on the periphery was good. The centre stem was concentric to within 0.07mm of the exterior diameter. The fork is available in either disc brake or rim brake. The rim brake models use a direct mount two bolt fixing for the brake caliper
Seatpost
The frame uses a standard 27.2mm seat post with an integrated two bolt adjustment for the saddle rails. The seatpost is secured into the bike frame with a traditional band clamp.
Conclusion
The Winspace SLC is extremely well engineered and the fit and finish on the frame are excellent. This is a good choice for a lightweight climbing bike at an affordable price. There is little that is technically wrong with the frame. Given the cost of $2000 with a handlebar, it represents extremely good value for money
I have a speech impediment
Greetings bro, your content is absolutely great and I really appreciate it. Just a one question about that frame in particular. I’m really looking for SLC frame as the best option on the market now, but Harley (Durian Rider) briefly commented in his review of it about its stiffness being just enough for a lighter rider which put me off a bit as I’m 6’4 (193cm) height with 92kg weight. I asked Harley via comment under his video but there is no reply so far. My racing weight is 89-90kg however it is not changing much. Also with my height, I’m looking for XXL size of that frame which makes me think even more. What might be your advice? Will it still be the best bang for the $ to build a good (light and stiff) road race bike or is it better to look for something else? PS Currently I race a B grade on the road and an A grade on the track. My current road race bike is a 2009 Trek Madone 5.2 in H2 geometry in 61cm size with original 10spd Dura-Ace groupset and Dura-Ace C24 wheels and is happy with it, but the bottom bracket shell unfortunately is getting slowly worst and worst. Currently, my mechanic has installed oversized bearings in it (as standard ones were getting loose) and suggested to start looking for a new frame if even oversized ones will start to get loose giving cranx a play. SLC looks like a good option but will it be stiff enough or at least stiffer a bit than my old Madone? Thank you for your content! I really appreciate it! If you could help me with advice, I’ll really appreciate it! Thank you! PS For my future build I’m really looking forward to have one of your Bottom Brackets!
At that sort of weight, I would probably go for the T1500 or T1550 when it comes out. The tubes have a higher Ixx so they will be much stiffer without a big increase in weight.