Interesting Aliexpress finds! - good deals, interesting stuff, new products etc!

[Crash217]

Anyone else notice the bike China Cycling was riding at the Onirii booth while talking about the Sensah hydraulic groupset?  Looked like a full suspension gravel bike.   I posted a question asking about it and his response was "I saw two today. One looked like it was stepping on a few TREK patents tho... will see if I can find it again tomorrow..."




I did some googling and came up empty on anyone besides Niner making one.

[BalticSea]

I don't want this comment to come off as advert, but if you haven't seen yet, Farsports F1 integrated handlebars are 239 USD over at panda podium right now, down from 399, which is a pretty good deal IMO.

[s3si1u]

Anyone else notice the bike China Cycling was riding at the Onirii booth while talking about the Sensah hydraulic groupset?  Looked like a full suspension gravel bike.   I posted a question asking about it and his response was "I saw two today. One looked like it was stepping on a few TREK patents tho... will see if I can find it again tomorrow..."

I did some googling and came up empty on anyone besides Niner making one.

http://www.dengfubikes.com/Cyclo_Cross/285.html

I think this is the frame you're looking for, came up on this some time ago while browsing but I thought it was ugly. 

[Tijoe]

Regarding a full suspension Gravel bike, I am not interested because If I want/need full suspension, I would base the bike on a mtn. bike geometry and would want higher BB/crank ground clearance because if I am riding on trails that require Full suspension then I would want a minimum of a 100mm travel front fork and would likely get way to many crank arm strikes with a full suspension gravel frame geometry.  It has become easy to put on some sort of drop bar on a lightweight 29er hardtail and use narrower tires if you want the 29er to mimic a gravel bike, and have a more capable bike overall than a regular gravel bike.  In my lower power old age,  I am opting for a 1X12 drivetrain for all my off road riding rather than a 2 X 10/11/12 set-up.
I have been thinking about purchasing the Lexon Spirit frame and setting it up as a trail/gravel bike.  This frame would probably work better than a full suspension gravel frame and be a lot more capable overall.

[Wet Noodle]

[Gravelised MTB vs. Dedicated gravel frame]

I tend to agree on the bb-height aspect. But, apart from other geometric differences, sideways crank clearance may still be an issue for some people (as in: low Q wanted). Or maybe not so much, with everything going comically wide nowadays (I guess they just make better hip and knee joints these days so stance on a bike just isn't an issue any more). Sorry for the rambling and being off-topic.

However, I find that gravel fully a very interesting find and think they might be on to something. Maybe gravel becoming the new old mountain bikes ...

[Tijoe]

This is an aliexpress Catazer 29/700C road/gravel fork that weights about 1900 grams.   In comparison, Rockshox Rudy weights about 1300 grams (travel 30 to 40mm) and Rockshox SID SL Ultimate weight about 1330 grams. (Travel 100mm)

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805054818291.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.12ca38da1de5lQ&mp=1&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa

I rode a friend's gravel bike that has a Rudy on the front.  I was not impressed.  It soaks up some gravel road vibration, but sucked on rough terrain/ruts/washouts compared to the SID SL Ultimate.   

I really like my Seraph gravel bike I built up almost 3 years ago.  I have about 7K miles on it and have been happy overall,  but this bike beat the heck out of me on descents.  Then I had my 29er Waltly TI hardtail frame built, and I road it for a while with a rigid carbon fork.  Just having the larger tires helped on the descents, but it was a slower climbing bike.  Then I put on a SID SL Ultimate on the TI hardtail and it flies down hills, spooky fast.  Recently I build up my Spcycle 29er carbon Hartail, 1X12, with a SID SL Ultimate front fork.  Based on its components/wheel build, this bike is lighter and overall faster, with low rolling resistance tires than my gravel bike.

I've been riding the Spcycle hardtail on many of the trails I used to ride my FS mtn. bike, and heck, it is faster overall than my FS mtn bike on most of the single tracks I ride on, and almost as fast on the asphalt as my gravel bike..

My bikes have BB widths ranging from 68 to 83mm, and heck if my body can tell the different in Q factor.   But I am not as good of a data point as I used to be, because my body is getting old and worn out and I can no longer abuse and ride the crap out of my bikes like I used to.

[Wet Noodle]

My bikes have BB widths ranging from 68 to 83mm, and heck if my body can tell the different in Q factor.

Maybe there is none? A wider bb shell does not necessarily mean a higher q-factors (in fact, I run a rotor aldhu crankset with the shorter "track" axle on a bike with ~86 mm bb shell (and 54 mm tires)). However, on modern mtb frames, the wider chainstays as well as boost killing heel clearance will force you to use wider cranks.

[Tijoe]

Maybe there is none? A wider bb shell does not necessarily mean a higher q-factors (in fact, I run a rotor aldhu crankset with the shorter "track" axle on a bike with ~86 mm bb shell (and 54 mm tires)). However, on modern mtb frames, the wider chainstays as well as boost killing heel clearance will force you to use wider cranks.

My bikes have everything from good ole 135mm rear hubs all the way up to "Super-boost" 157 rear hubs. 4 of my most recent builds all use RaceFace Next SL cinch cranks on them.  (These bikes have 142, 148 and 157 rear hubs.)  My Waltly custom TI frame rear triangle was designed to hold a 4" wide Fat tire.  This drove the 83mm BB width, plus added axle cup spacers in order to be able to adjust the 1X 12 chainline for the 157 rear hub.  This frame uses the second widest Race Face axle they make.  (Only the 100mm Fat tire BB Cinch axle is wider.)
Since the Cranks on these 4 bikes are the same, the Axle width is the driving factor for the Q spacing. Edit:  I can adjust the chainline some through the choice of front chainring and/or adapter I use rather than just BB cup spacers,

[jonathanf2]

I'm trying to compile the lightest weight centerlock disc rotors on AliEx. So far it seems Kactus, Onirii and Zrace all are within 10-20g between each other. Are there any others? BTW - In terms of looks, I do find the Onirii rotors to be visually the nicest. the ZRace rotors might be more aero and the Kactus ones are somewhat ugly in my opinion.

Onirii:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804246204984.html

ZRace:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804876527784.html

Kactus:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804231348561.html

[s3si1u]

I'm trying to compile the lightest weight centerlock disc rotors on AliEx. So far it seems Kactus, Onirii and Zrace all are within 10-20g between each other. Are there any others? BTW - In terms of looks, I do find the Onirii rotors to be visually the nicest. the ZRace rotors might be more aero and the Kactus ones are somewhat ugly in my opinion.

Onirii:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804246204984.html

ZRace:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804876527784.html

Kactus:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804231348561.html

I've used these Deckas rotors in the past: aliexpress.us/item/2255799877729695.html?
They were included with some calipers I got for my girlfriend's bike. I installed some TRP rotors on her bike and put these on my road bike because they were really light. 
They worked alright, they were free and did the job. Not the most durable and they go out of true eventually, but I think that goes without saying with these ultra light, cheap rotors.

I'm looking to try some Ashima rotors next: https://www.ebay.com/itm/174260353627?
A claimed 73g for 160mm rotor. Anyone used these before or have any experiences to share?

edit: totally ignored that you said "centerlock" specifically 
that being said, all my wheels are centerlock but I've always used them with 6 bolt rotors because they're generally cheaper, lighter, and I have a compartment full of centerlock adapters in my tool box that need to be used

[jonathanf2]

I've used these Deckas rotors in the past: aliexpress.us/item/2255799877729695.html?
They were included with some calipers I got for my girlfriend's bike. I installed some TRP rotors on her bike and put these on my road bike because they were really light. 
They worked alright, they were free and did the job. Not the most durable and they go out of true eventually, but I think that goes without saying with these ultra light, cheap rotors.

I'm looking to try some Ashima rotors next: https://www.ebay.com/itm/174260353627?
A claimed 73g for 160mm rotor. Anyone used these before or have any experiences to share?

edit: totally ignored that you said "centerlock" specifically 
that being said, all my wheels are centerlock but I've always used them with 6 bolt rotors because they're generally cheaper, lighter, and I have a compartment full of centerlock adapters in my tool box that need to be used

I've seen a few reviews on Youtube about the Ashima rotors. I think it's one of those things where weight is a priority at the expense of durability. Though I wonder how much advantage ultra lightweight rotors have in rotational weight reduction?

[eeney]

Lightweight rotors - I wanted the Ashimas but couldn't find them anywhere, a few Aliexpress shops had them advertised, but no stock.

In the end I bought the Kactus rotors.  As mentioned above, Kactus look a tad fugly, but I don't mind them now they're on the bike. They came well packaged in a padded box with gloves for fitting, and they brake as good as my Sram Rival rotors.

In the end it was a price, weight and availability decision.  I wanted the Ashimas but couldn't find them, and I needed a set pretty quickly.

[Tijoe]

I paid $68 for mine in February.  Good to see prices dropping, rather than increasing as cycling season arrives.

Wow!  ZNIINO handlebar price has dropped to $49.84 with free shipping.  Tempted to purchase another pair...

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804059388076.html?ug_edm_item_id=3256804059388076&pdp_npi=3%40dis%21USD%21%2489.00%21%2449.84%21%21%21%21%21%402103225216835590569485289e989d%2112000032913593766%21edm%21%21&tracelog=rowan&rowan_id1=pay_success_20221027_1_en_US_2023-05-08&rowan_msg_id=5404816781205354%242809c58d92ad42aba8c629b241185924&ck=in_edm_other&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa

[coffeebreak]

Indeed very tempting. These bars are great. Might just keep one in stock and use in unforeseen circumstances

[coffeebreak]

Noticing that quite a few things on Aliexpress had their prices reduced like that Zniino gravel handlebar. From my wishlist, cues groupset has dropped by 7 bucks, a saddle by 2, and small bits like olives, barbs, screws are all down marginally.