Inside the Chinese Factory That Builds Carbon Bikes

[00:00:00]Today, I'm in China, in the Guangdong province, in the city of Huizhou. I'm visiting the factory that builds my race bike. As a professional triathlete, I spend thousands of hours riding a bike, but I've never actually seen what goes into building one from start to finish.

[00:00:14]So, today, we're getting a behind-the-scenes look at how these bikes are designed, painted, assembled, and tested before they even hit the road.

[00:00:29]A few days ago, I finished second at Ironman 70.3 Shanghai and qualified for the 70.3 World Championships.

[00:00:35]But, before heading home, I had one more stop to make in China. I jumped on a high-speed train traveling over 350 km/h and made my way across China to the south end and visited the Quick Pro factory. Along the way, I got to see just how advanced the technology is here, from electric vehicles to high-speed rail, and the manufacturing that powers so much of the world. As cyclists, we see the finished product, the bike in the shop, the bike on race day, the bike under our feet. But, what we don't always see is how it's actually made.

[00:01:09]Today, let's go behind the scenes at Quick Pro to see the process, meet the people, and learn what it takes to build a bike from raw materials all the way to the road. Let's go take a look.

[00:01:50]This is where every frame starts. Before it looks like a bike, it's literally sheets of carbon fiber cut into specific shapes.

[00:01:58]The orientation of these layers affect stiffness, comfort, and strength. Each piece is placed by hand into a mold. I was actually surprised by how much of the process is still done manually.

[00:02:09]These workers are building the structure that eventually becomes a bike frame.

[00:02:13]Once the carbon is in place, the frame goes into the mold and is exposed to heat and pressure.

[00:02:19]This is where a pile of carbon starts looking like an actual bike.

[00:02:23]Seeing this part was pretty cool because this is the first moment where you can actually recognize it as a bike frame.

[00:02:29]What impressed me the most wasn't actually building the bike, it was testing it. Every frame has to survive forces much larger than what most riders will ever put through it.

[00:02:39]This machine repeatedly loads the frame thousands of times to simulate years of riding.

[00:02:45]If something is wrong, they want to find out here, not when you're descending at 50 mph. After the frame is finished and tested, it moves to paint. Every color, logo, and finish you see on a completed bike starts here.

[00:03:20]>> This is Simon's new bike, but not this bike.

[00:03:24]Road bike.

[00:03:26]Wow.

[00:03:27]Oh, the painting's so cute.

[00:03:35]Which one you like?

[00:03:36]>> Oh, I like I like this.

[00:03:40]I think I like this color. I like the green and white.

[00:03:43]>> Yes.

[00:03:46]Simon approved.

[00:03:47]>> [laughter] >> Yeah.

[00:03:52]>> Oh, the Java the Java the Java I've ridden bikes for years. I've raced on them around the world, but seeing how much work goes into a single frame gives me a different appreciation for what's underneath me on race day.

[00:04:17]If you are interested in getting a Quick Pro frame, you can get 5% off using my code Simon Shi or 3% off for a complete bike on the quickprousa.com website.

[00:04:29]After taking a look at the Quick Pro factory, it was pretty eye-opening seeing everything what's going on, the workers working there, the stations, the cameras, the inspection, quality control, the testing, everything goes on into building this race bike. Now, after seeing the factory, they will ship it.

[00:04:47]It usually takes about 2 to [music] 3 weeks, more if you have a custom painted bike. And now, let's go back to the US and see my Quick Pro TR1 >> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Okay, I'm about to drop my Quick Pro TR1 bike off my bike shop. Got everything in this box and yeah, going to see how well this bike will be built. [music] I'm not going to install it myself. I know most of it. I just don't know the bottom bracket, the hydraulic brake bleeding, but other than that I think I could install the bike myself, but I just want a professional to do it. So, here we go.

[00:06:38]From Huizhou, China to Hong Kong, China, now in my home in Tucson, Arizona, United States.

[00:06:47]Okay.

[00:06:48]Let's go.

[00:06:57]This is the final build of my Quick Pro TR1 triathlon bike.

[00:07:03]The bike mechanic did a fantastic job. I swapped over all my components, wheels, cockpit, saddle, to this Quick Pro bike and it looks pretty amazing. A few features that I noticed it has a flat surface right here that I can actually put like a bike pump, like a a wide surface area that [snorts] is is pretty interesting. I took all my water bottles off my old bike. I weighed it and it was 21.4 lb and this Quick Pro bike size XS, extra small, without the water bottle holder and the storage component in the back weighs less than my old bike and it comes down to 21.2 lb. Since I did get an extra small, the reach is a lot shorter. So, I'm actually closer in my arm pads a full 40 mm towards the saddle. And I just need more reach. I couldn't install the angle risers, this custom piece that I had on my old bike right above this deck. But everything else, the specs from bottom bracket to saddle, the arm pad width, seat measurement, the only measurement that's different from my old bike is the saddle to the arm pad and it's just 40 mm short. So, I'll have to think of some ways to get this further out. But first look, it looks amazing. I love the color. Oh, also another thing, this handlebar this base bar is 40 cm. My last bike was 38 cm. So, when I grip the base bar, the handlebar here, it it felt a little wider compared to my last bike, which is a teeny bit narrower.

[00:08:39]Everything looks good and I can't wait to ride this and tomorrow we will take this on its first outdoor ride.

[00:08:47]So, here it is, my Quick Pro TR1.

[00:08:50]First time taking it outside and we'll see how it feels. I did ride a little bit yesterday on the trainer just to mess around with the adjustment of aerobars. This is a max reach it can go this way out and just the seat, saddle height, how much forward, backward I should be. So, it's very similar to my old position. It's just that I feel a little bit crunched. So, I'm not as outwards compared to my last bike. But I'm I'm excited to take this on a ride.

[00:09:22]So, first ride outside with the Quick Pro.

[00:09:26]>> [snorts] [music] >> The bike rides great. I enjoyed it. To be honest, I've had several top end bikes throughout my career and they they feel almost the same. Just some minor differences like how it feels riding on the bars.

[00:10:04]Yeah, they all honestly feel the same and I I did some aerodynamic testing so I have a few data points that I collected. Can't tell you just yet on those numbers but just confirming some data points with some people before releasing them. With all companies having a new product, there are just some minor details that they yeah, they have to fix or yeah, needs improvement.

[00:10:27]I was lucky enough to use this plate for my old bike so I have my own between the arm bottle. So when I have this tube from the hydration unit to my head unit, I do need to find some way to put a magnet so I can stick it on there. And then I do have a part coming so I can extend this out 45 mm more so I can have almost the exact same position as my old bike. The one thing I found interesting with this two storage compartment, sometimes it's pretty hard to open and it takes a while. You just have to wiggle it to get that lever out and then the the bottom right about the bottom bracket, you can actually see the bottom bracket inside. So if I have some tiny piece and then I throw it in there, I kind of have to use my two fingers to kind of fetch it and yeah, just kind of find it interesting there. And the the back one, that unit, I need to find a way to get that lighter so I may not be using that specific one for the storage but I like the design of it. It's just super heavy and then they are also sending me a piece for the clamp for the seat post because it's just not on the right the rails are not hitting the bottom when you're tightening it. Other than that, I think the bike's great. I love the paint color. The very simple to install based on my bike mechanic's comments. And I'm excited to race on this next month for my next race at 70.3 Boise here in the United States before the World Championship in Nice. And yeah, just got to get this lighter since Nice, the World Championship, the bike course is pretty hilly. So, I need this as light as possible. Any other questions, put them in the comments below. This is a Quick Pro bike. You can use my discount code Simon Shi for 5% off frames on the website quickprousa.com.

[00:12:06]And thank you so much for watching this video as I give you guys a tour in the Quick Pro factory in China all the way flying back here to the United States installing it and seeing how the whole process of making a bike goes from China and then shipping it to the consumer.

[00:12:21]So, thanks so much and I'll see you guys in the next video with more aerodynamic testing.

[00:12:28]>> [music]