I Am Slowly Getting Fed Up (Crybaby Rant)

[patliean1]

See this is why the Chinertown community is great, and why I don't even bother visiting other forums.

[eucalyptus]

Thanks guys, I'm just a huge nerd who found himself an exciting but digestible niche to obsess with

Regarding The One Pro, not many people use it. It's in an awkward market position where people with higher budgets would rather buy Seka or Farsports cockpits and those more price sensitive just use the existing ones included with their framesets. IIRC some forum posts talked about the topcap not fitting well and the bar end wall thickness not being uniform? There was also this very scary stem area failure that I think put a lot of people off buying it. But it happened half a year ago at around product launch so perhaps the issues have been ironed out by now?

A lot of people are now either using the EXS alloy stem/carbon bar combo or waiting for the EXS Aerover cockpit to come to market. The latter definitely won't be cheap though.

Yeah and that EXS combo people have been waiting for ages to see Wasn't first pictures/spoken of in late 2020? IIRC projected for late Q4 this year or early next year


Mothfafuckckckc that failure looks scary. I paid a total of ish 148 USD incl. shipping and vat to Sweden for that bar from Alibaba, half the price what it is listed for on AliE. So either huge markup on AliE or something fishy.

I believe I have ordered from the manufacturer which should be better than through seller, but what do I know haha Its just the bar that spoke to me the most both aesthetically and geometry



*****!!! That link you sent with the failure, from my understanding with google translating the website, the rider (who I also assume is like 50kg asian) had a crash accident with a car? Says like "was hit and the car took off"
and this.

Please correct me if I am mistaken? So this doesn't automatically say I will die next month

[StiffWeenies]

Yeah and that EXS combo people have been waiting for ages to see Wasn't first pictures/spoken of in late 2020? IIRC projected for late Q4 this year or early next year


Mothfafuckckckc that failure looks scary. I paid a total of ish 148 USD incl. shipping and vat to Sweden for that bar from Alibaba, half the price what it is listed for on AliE. So either huge markup on AliE or something fishy.

I believe I have ordered from the manufacturer which should be better than through seller, but what do I know haha Its just the bar that spoke to me the most both aesthetically and geometry



*****!!! That link you sent with the failure, from my understanding with google translating the website, the rider (who I also assume is like 50kg asian) had a crash accident with a car? Says like "was hit and the car took off"
and this.

Please correct me if I am mistaken? So this doesn't automatically say I will die next month

new car refers to his new bike, I think he crashed trying to avoid someone?

It's definitely a weird spot to have a failure, on second thought I don't think it broke by itself or was even the cause of the accident. OP didn't really elaborate and this is also the only negative post I could find concerning the cockpit so make of it what you will.

There were some more recent forum posts of people using it but they didn't say if it was good or bad. Failure aside I still do think that it's a good looking, well executed product.

[eucalyptus]

new car refers to his new bike, I think he crashed trying to avoid someone?

It's definitely a weird spot to have a failure, on second thought I don't think it broke by itself or was even the cause of the accident. OP didn't really elaborate and this is also the only negative post I could find concerning the cockpit so make of it what you will.

There were some more recent forum posts of people using it but they didn't say if it was good or bad. Failure aside I still do think that it's a good looking, well executed product.

I hear you. This says a lot about you, you can read broken English translated Chinese and still understand it somehow hahaha I am just lost! 

My understanding is that it did not break because he hit a curb, being heavy or did something crazy. But maybe hit the ground as you said to avoid a bigger accident then felt sad because his new bar cracked which is understandable. They speak of a very populated area...

Someone on WW complained about a Ryet bar today concerning the rivets coming out or something. I saw one review on AliE about a Ryet bar that hit the ground hard and only got heavily scratched. And this "the one pro" is pretty heavy so it should definitely not crack like that and still be plenty stiff. Any suggestion on how I could test it? Mount it to the table and pull it hard maybe



** actually looks like there is two different handlebars in that thread. One hit the ground and the other one placed on that orange Merida Barhain edition looks to have broken in half almost. Not sure what to make of this honestly If you find any more information pls LMK

[FHS]

There's always going to be an element of risk because the most legitimate brands and sellers are preoccupied with selling to the Chinese domestic market rather than chasing international customers. The domestic brands popular in China are unheard of in overseas forums. Likewise, nobody rides Velobuild frames or Elite wheels in China.

This is to say that you really need to do your homework when choosing who to buy from. If you need the most thorough support then you're stuck with the most established brands. I also steer clear from first batch products because the game plan for most small companies is to rapidly iterate and issue warranty replacements to early adopters - something easy to do within China where shipping is fast and subsidised but practically impossible outside.

If I want the most thorough support, I'm going to my local bike store where I know the owner, manager, bike tech, and the sales staff from all the business I've been giving them for the past 2.5 years. I've had everything from lights to entire bike frames replaced or exchanged, FOC, no questions asked, mostly right on the spot at my lbs. Heck, most of the service calls I've done with them have been FOC, even on my Chinese bike. Most of the stuff I buy, dollar for dollar in the long run, would be a better value through my lbs
. Their issue is that they are just limited as to what they can carry on hand and what they can order. Believe me, if I were in the market for a $9,000+ bike, I'd get it through my lbs if they carried or could get it. Sounds like the Chinese in China recognize this too.

EVERYTHING else...Chinese sellers, EBAY sellers, any online seller...has been a crapshoot. As with the vast majority of sellers, most transactions, thankfully, are issue free. Support isn't just about what happens if there is an issue, though. It's getting you your stuff, in a reasonable amount of time, damage free, and communicating with you when you reach out and Chinese sellers don't stand out either way.

But yeah, do your research. I have my list of sellers and will rarely step outside of that list. 

[patliean1]

I've made a whole video on how to buy Chinese frames (and subsequently wheels) based on my own experiences.

Managing expectation is critical. I think a good amount of folks who first jump on the Chinese bike bandwagon expect the buying and post-sales experience to be similar to that of the big competitors.

It's unfair to say the customer experience will inherently be "worse". Rather, the service will be at least proportionate to the price of the frame. And I think that's fair...

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

Yeah I basically expect next to zero post sale support. It's also really difficult (well just expensive) to send anything back. And if you can't send it back, what are the manufactures gonna do? I think it's a little unrealistic to expect insta-refunds or replacements for budget alternatives on the other side of the world.

[jungian]

+1 for StiffWeenies being an absolute legend! And Pat for sharing some quality info on youtube! 

There’s a buyers risk when purchasing these products and I’m hoping that in the future we can see that risk reduced. It would be awesome to see some of these companies step up their customer support and I think having that assurance of a hassle free warranty would be a tipping point for a wave of new of customers. Perhaps with higher margins companies will be able to offer better customer support? For now I’m happy to take on that risk and be an early adopter of what could be a sizeable shift in the cycling industry.

I discovered Chinese frames a few years back when I switched from MTB to road. I got an incredible deal on a used sworks SL5 disc right before the spike in bike prices and the more I rode the more I had an itch to build my own bike. 5 Chinese frames later, I'd have to say this has been quite the adventure that I wouldn't recommend to most, however it’s been fun building and customizing bikes to my liking.