Buying Cheap Chinese from AliExpress

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.
 

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)

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 ****.

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.

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....

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. 

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

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.

Peow

I've got those massive chinese lights that burn down houses but thus far mine have only got so far as drinking cider in the park!

As with Wellsprop, I just use some common sense and only plug them in when attended to. I've also heard that Samsung had issues with exploding phones and many other electrical manufacturers can have issues.

I'd say on a daily basis we all make cost/benefit/risk decisions. I'm pretty hopeful that next time I fly over the handlebars (once every 5 years) that the glasses will once again fly clear and or not shatter towards my eyes. I also wonder if the extra £127 for the pair of Oakley's is all spent on this extensive safety measure you're imagining - do your glasses have hi-vis and a helmet?

I wouldn't compromise on glasses. Dark lenses that have zero UV protection will fry your eyes. And you only get one pair of eyes. Seriously. I have enough problems already with my eyes.

I don't understand how one can even think about buying carbon bikes and parts from totally unknown sources in China. It takes expertise to produce carbon. There was an article on an american web site about copy  carbon bikes - among others a Trek or Specialized costing around 5.000 pounds retail that was sold for less than half that price. Two guys almost got killed and they were guys that had the money to buy the real deal. One broke his handlebar while just going downhill - he was very very lucky  to survive. The other example was a guy just riding along and the frame broke. He also barely survived.

It appears that some employes had taken photos of the production proces and starting producing their own carbon frames and parts. Of course they didn't have the knowledge nor the experise to produce anything safe.

I would never compromise on a helmet either. You might just end up in a wheelchair instead of just walking away. The lure of a discount is strong and its your life, but use your brain while you have it.

I ordered some cheap chinese stuff once.

The delivery was fast.

Gave me food poisoning though

I have had lots of possitive experiences with Aliexpress, there have been a few occasions where the item has got lost in the post but a refund has been easy and straight forward (though you do have to wait till after the estimated delivery window is passed which can be a long time).

Jerseys and bib shorts that I have got from there have been of a pretty good quality and more than good enough for my short commute.

Jackets have not had a good track records with zips so I have given up on those after a couple.

Bike accessories (bells, bags,  are generally very good 

I once bought a helmet off there as it was a great colour match to the bike that I keep at my parents. The helmet looked great but despite the number of vents in it my head was a hot sweaty mess after each ride. For this reason I would not buy one from there again, I think that they are probably just made for looks and weight but not tested for performance (cooling, aerodynamics, etc.).

As far as delivery times are concerned, they seem to vary by quite a margin. Some things seem to appear after just over a week, some things take a couple of months.

I hope this helps.

My mate split his helmet into 3 completely separate pieces and his Bolle (arms dealer or not) were sufficient of quality to prevent his eye from a puncture. It's your head bro.

I bought a jersey off Aliexpress, and it arrive quite quickly, looked like it was supposed to, fit like it supposed to. It wasn't a modern aero jersey with laser costing £165, but was cheap and just like any polyester jersey you would buy up to 10 years ago.

But...

A few weeks later I had fraud on my credit card, a couple of flights booked with a well know online travel site. It took several days before the items were deleted from my card and a few weeks waiting for declarations before I knew it had gone away. The data was not gleened from my computer. Maybe a coincidence, but I'm not trying again. 

I've bought several jersies from AliExpress and been happyt with the quality for £12. I've bought some retro designs, La Vie Claire Mondrian and Renault Elf jersey that I could have bought elsewhere for more but the jersey from AliExpress were less than half price and had full length zip.

With a jersey what's the worst that can happen ?
With protective stuff like glasses or helmets - why would you take chances ?

I've seen some fake Oakleys that look similar but will snap and scar you or worse in a crash.

I buy jerseys from there as I don't want to pay £100 plus and have a pretend guarantee. Have some very good Rapha copies. Also bought some POC shades that I'd challenge anyone to know the difference!

Delivery seems a lot quicker than it used to be too!