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Buying Cheap Chinese from AliExpress

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  • February 26, 2018 at 3:12 pm #28180
    Canyon48

    Anyone done it – thoughts?

    I’m just looking at a Cairbull aero TT helmet with a built in magnetic visor for £18 with free postage.

    That way better than anything I can either get second hand here!

    I realise the CE mark is most likely rubbish, not that it bothers me, it’s not like a helmet is actually going to be of much protection in anything more than a light bump anyway – but lets not start the helmet debate.

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  • August 3, 2018 at 8:22 am #913327
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    abedfo

    If you do even the smallest

    If you do even the smallest amount of research on google/reddit you will know what is good to buy and what is not good to buy from china. I have bought tens of items from Ali-express and never had a problem; my card hasn’t been cloned, my eyes havent been fried, my house hasn’t burnt down nor my head staved into three parts. 

    For clothing i would highly recommend spexcel, the quality for the price is unmatched and the sizing is accurate to their charts-however the shipping can be up to a month so be forewarned. 

    Socks, sunglasses and things like carbon bottle cages have all be fine. 

    I would even buy a carbon frame direct from china, there are many reputable brands who produce them and have great reviews online. A lot of them are re-branded and sold in europe as boutique brands with “150 years of cycle frame making history”. And if you ride something like a planet x or a ribble (like me) you are 100% riding a chinese produced frame. Also how many of the big boys actually make their own frames? and how many pass assembling a few components as “hand crafted in italy” ?

    Food for thought.
     

    April 27, 2018 at 9:19 am #913325
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    Terencej

    Have to say i’ve bought a few

    Have to say i’ve bought a few things from Ali Express but mainly clothes & 1 pair of copy Oakley radar.

    I have the real Oakley Radar’s and the difference in lens clarity between the 2 is astounding, the Oakley’s are so much clearer when they’re on.

    So much so i only really use the clear lens on the “Choakley’s”.

    Another reason is as matthewn5 said – i just flat out don’t trust the darker lenses on the Choakley’s to have any UV protection.

    The clothes i’ve got are ok quality but i use them mainly for commuting, ALDI do cycling clothes (and accesories) which are only slightly more expensive than most on Ali Express but are superior in quality IMO.  The company ALDI stock is called CRANE and it’s German.

    At the end of the day when it comes to critical carbon components ask yourself this – would you buy a car from Chinese manufacturer you haven’t heard of  over an established  German brand?.

    No you wouldn’t (or shouldn’t until overall quality improves) as Germany is a watchword for precision engineering and quality.

    It’s taken Taiwan the better part of 25 years and billions in investment to shake off their previous “Made in Taiwan” image & for people to realise that they make good quality products.

     

    So unless you thoroughly do your research as Maviczap did for his Ti frame then you might want to steer clear or at least buy things that if they break without you crashing won’t result in injury)

    March 31, 2018 at 12:03 am #913323
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    Richard D

    My experiences this week of

    My experiences this week of Aliexpress have been less than stellar.

     

    Two small, cheap orders.   (Slightly bike related. Metal tins, which I want to hold my PRK, spare tubes etc.  Yes, I know something plastic would be lighter.  But there are other considerations at play)

     

    First one arrives – plastic bag is empty (save for a thank you note!).

     

    Second one arrives a few days later.  Also empty (but another thank you note).

     

    I think that they are taking the ****.

    March 30, 2018 at 9:00 pm #913321
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    Canyon48
    Laddie-147 wrote:
    What would you expect for £18… not a lot I would imagine. Strong, light and cheap pick 2. If it’s strong and cheap but heavy will outweigh your aero gains.

     

    Weight doesn’t matter, particularly in a TT. A 5 kg road bike would be no way near as fast as a 10 kg tt bike on a tt course (for the same power).

    March 30, 2018 at 8:57 pm #913319
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    Laddie-147

    What would you expect for £18

    What would you expect for £18… not a lot I would imagine. Strong, light and cheap pick 2. If it’s strong and cheap but heavy will outweigh your aero gains.

     

    March 12, 2018 at 11:31 am #913317
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    The Acolyte

    I realise the CE mark is most

    I realise the CE mark is most likely rubbish !!!  well pehaps not, the CE mark on Chinese componants is there to signify it’s a Chinese Export, ok ok so it does look like the european standard mark….

     

    March 9, 2018 at 9:27 pm #913315
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    maviczap

    cyclisto wrote:

    cyclisto wrote:
    Maviczap the frame looks great! Any extra info would be welcome

    Sorry, only just seen your post. It’s obviously Ti, with S&S couplers so it’s my travel bike

    55cm horizontal TT, used their stock frame, but had a slight longer headtube and top tube. All designs are sent to you for approval. The only booboo I made was not spotting the internal cable routing for the rear brake, I preferred external cable stops, but it doesn’t affect anything. Rear brake bridge could have been dropped by 5mm to be perfect.

    Internal Di2 cable routing.

    Cost including shipping was $1200 and I paid £22 customs charges on import.

    The lady dealing with my emails was very good, no dodgy English.

    This was the frame design I chose, but only because they were the cheaper of the 2 companies that  would do the S&S couplers and internal Di2 routing. I could have had a breakaway type travel frame, by them, but I preferred this one.

    http://www.ti-bikes.com/titanium-bike-frame/titanium-road-bike-frame/titanium-couple-road-bike-frame.html#F1

    But it had good responses from Titan Bikes, Walty Ti and Xian. If you do your research all of these companies have good reputations for making good Ti frames, you just need to make sure of everything before final confirmation.

    I paid $100 deposit for the intital drawings, so you get to check the dimensions. They also tell you if you’ve got something wrong.

    It’s not fool proof as my not spotting the internal rear brake cable on the drawings, but it wasn’t a disaster, and I quite like the sleek looks.

    For non S&S coupled frames, you’re only looking at $800 for a frame?

    March 9, 2018 at 8:24 pm #913313
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    Canyon48

    Helmet arrived today.

    Helmet arrived today.

    Generally comparable in quality to the Crivit bike helmet I had from Lidl which was £9.99. i.e. not a patch on my Bontrager Ballista MIPS in terms of comfort, build quality and fit but overall its fine.

    £17 for an aero TT helmet with a built-in visor – not going to complain at all! I may eventually swap the ratchet system for one of a bit higher quality, but that’s not urgent.

    Overall a good buy and good experience with Aliexpress 🙂 Now I just need to get better on the TT bike.

    March 1, 2018 at 5:16 pm #913311
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    fixation80

    I bought carbon tubular rims

    I bought carbon tubular rims for time trials and built the wheels myself. This year will be the third season of use, up to now no issues have arisen. The only issue I did have was customs duty and delivery on one rim, I ordered them seperately so as to see the quality of my purchase. The first one I ordered came directly to my address without duty charged, the second I had to pay duty to release them from royal mail. Two seasons use on Lancashire roads and lanes, potholed of course, they have remained true and maintained my confidence in them. You pays your money and make your choice. 

    February 28, 2018 at 7:20 pm #913309
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    Canyon48

    I certainly don’t doubt a

    I certainly don’t doubt a product simply because it is Chinese (I’m sure some people do though…).

    My Canyon was made in China by Quest Composites. Quest composites also make Trek, see below at the quality of those frames!

    Despite this, there are a lot of cowboy manufacturers in China. This youtuber REALLY sums up why cheap Chinese carbon cannot be trusted (in his previous videos he strongly defended the carbon bars and said they were good), they then failed, catastrophically.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJT7pHOGzMo

    I’d go even further to say that cheap and Chinese doesn’t necessarily mean failure. My TT bike has a TOSEEK stem on it that I got from ebay (it was the only reasonably price -17° stem I could find). It’s milled out of Aluminium, so I’m not at all concerned about the strength. I’ve actually drilled and tapped two bottle cage mounts on the stem and I was surprised at how thick the Alu is (I assume they make it so thick as to over-engineer it and make it safe).

    February 28, 2018 at 6:52 pm #913307
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    Anonymous

    cyclisto wrote:

    cyclisto wrote:
    Maviczap the frame looks great! Any extra info would be welcome

    Nice isn’t it. Proof you can buy Chinese stuff without it blowing up a whole terrace of houses or having the structural integrity of cornflakes

    February 28, 2018 at 6:40 pm #913305
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    cyclisto

    Maviczap the frame looks
    Maviczap the frame looks great! Any extra info would be welcome

    February 28, 2018 at 6:36 pm #913303
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    maviczap

    Just look at the labels on

    Just look at the labels on products you buy, many helmets are made in China for the major manufacturers, as are carbon frames and wheels. All they’ve done is nicked the know how, and used their own moulds to produce their own products. Plenty of decent wheel makers in China.

    I have some carbon bars and they are well made, stiff, no hint of flex.

    I had a Ti frame made in China,  and I’m very happy with it, welds are very good and it was made to my requirements.

    February 28, 2018 at 6:33 pm #913301
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    Canyon48
    Duncann wrote:
    wellsprop wrote:
    I must admit, I tend to be ridiculously OTT with charging Lion batteries – I won’t leave them (or their chargers) plugged in unattended.

    This is shocking. 

    I knew Lions could be dangerous but didn’t know they had artillery and cavalry horses.

    You won’t find me charging Lions anytime soon!

    That gave me a good laugh!

    All things considered, I think I too, would stay clear of weaponised lions.

    Li-on.

     

    February 28, 2018 at 6:21 pm #913299
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    Dnnnnnn
    wellsprop wrote:
    I must admit, I tend to be ridiculously OTT with charging Lion batteries – I won’t leave them (or their chargers) plugged in unattended.

    This is shocking. 

    I knew Lions could be dangerous but didn’t know they had artillery and cavalry horses.

    You won’t find me charging Lions anytime soon!

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