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Re: Interesting Aliexpress finds! - good deals, interesting stuff, new products etc! I recently ordered 6 of the new 18gram Ridenow tubes. I weighed one and it was...19 grams ??? Nothing special to report besides that the first one I've swapped in holds air, and they do indeed feel very light. Packaging feels nice and premium, but the tube itself is wrapped with a paper manual, which adds bulk. In order to store one in my saddle bag, I have had to "repackage" it using some teflon tape to recreate the binding sleeve, and then storing it in a ziplock baggie with the extra patches.
May 23, 2023, 04:39:36 PM 		2
Re: SEKA Bikes? Out of contact? Alright, I've added some action shots and I'll provide my review here.

You can find a spreadsheet of my build at this link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1z20zeKtriG4WqEXxRvezuxrfo9ZRBZkz3rY3xrKfrCU/edit?usp=sharing

Re: version and weight, I have the standard exceed in midnight blue, size large, with 380mmX130mm barstem. When I first built it up, it weighed about 16.6lb (incl. pedals & cages). I have since gotten that down to 16.2lb by swapping out some parts and cutting down the seatpost. Check the spreadsheet for detailed weights.

Re: seatpost slipping, I have experienced problems with that myself, as well as creaking. I have gone into more detail on weight weenies, but basically the seat post as a lot of slop between the seat tube, and it makes it so the compressor has to do pretty much all stabilization. This is not an uncommon problem, and while most manufacturers put in a chunky compressor to solve this problem, Seka's is small and flimsy for weight saving. Furthermore, Seka's stock seatpost is VERY long, so at even normal post heights, you will hit the seat tube cutout changing the post angle, and this messes up the interface with the compressor. So you NEED to cut the post, both to avoid damaging your frame, and to ensure a proper interface. I have addressed this issue with lots of carbon paste, putting 3M protective film on the surface that doesn't touch the plug to take up that slack, and overtorqueing the screw a bit, and since dialing this in, I haven't experienced problems with slipping.

Re: Flex, my previous bike was a Tarmac SL5, bikes in general have gotten much stiffer since then. This bike feels stiffer yet more vertically compliant compared to my Tarmac. When I first got the bike, I sensed a lot of fork flex under braking. Since then I've tightened up the headset and haven't noticed it. Either I've gotten used to it or it was the headset. I do not experience fork chatter under braking like you do with some really flexy front ends.

Re: Price, preorder was $581USD, remaining was $1290USD. This is the final price billed to my card, which includes shipping/customs fees.

Re: Elves falath evo or Seka, I would choose Seka. Take this all with a grain of salt since the Seka--being a semi-aero bike--has a different design philosophy/goals to the Evo, and I've never even seen an Elves in real life. But, based on all the build videos I've been watching from the usual youtubers, I really do not like the Falath Evo. I don't think it fulfills the goal of being an aero bike very well. If you really look at the tubes, lot of the design doesn't make sense aerodynamically:

The leading edge of the downtube is a semi-square face, when you want a rounded one. Same goes for the seat tube gusset. All leading edges on the Seka are rounded.

There's huge gaps between the seat tube cutout and the tire, even when running a 32mm tire. The Seka also has gaps, but they're smaller, not to mention that Seka isn't intending to shroud the wheels as much as the Evo is.

The Evo's headtube--the most aerodynamically sensitive area on the bike, is the widest I've ever seen, which runs counter to how western brands like Cannondale are doing everything possible to make the headtube as narrow as possible to minimize the frontal cross section. Seka's is much narrower, and even has an hourglass profile to minimize it even more.

I don't think the way the Evo's integration of the headtube with the top tube improves aerodynamics. TT bikes do it because the base bar is always designed to run slammed with the stem flush to the top tube. I think the way the Evo executes it actually presents more frontal area compared to a conventional, lower top tube.

The Evo's super-narrow downtube does next to nothing to shield the water bottle. I'm of the opinion that every aero bike should be designed with round standard bottles in mind. The reality is that sane people not racing a TT will ride with round water bottles, and the water bottle will spoil all the airflow coming off that narrow down tube on the Evo. In contrast, the Seka's downtube gently flares out as it approaches the bottle to shield it a bit more. The shielding isn't perfect (as on most bikes), but at least it's considered on the Seka.

All in all, I would not be surprised if someone put the Seka and Evo in a windtunnel (with 2 water bottles on each bike), that it turns out the Evo is not actually faster than the Seka.

Lastly, I think the fact that Seka is willing to show off their carbon under clearcoat while Elves paints over EVERYTHING says that either Seka's paint and finishing is just a tad better, or that Elves may even be trying to hide imperfections in layup. Seka's paint isn't exactly phenomenal (soft, scratches easily, comes with subtle scratches/swirls in the clearcoat), but it's very special to see the carbon underneath.

Coulmain made the point that for average riders, "aero optimization" doesn't really matter. My counter to that is that a) all of these un-optimized features add up, and b) if it doesn't really matter, then don't bother with an aero bike, or at least not one that postures as a super-aero bike. You pay for "aero features" in weight, comfort, impact resistance, and added engineering/manufacturing complexity that trickles down to cost. I think Coulmain weighed in a 52cm at over 1200 grams. If that's a 52, what could a 56 be? 1300g?!! Meanwhile a 52cm Seka Exceed Std is about 950 grams I think. That means the Evo is ~20% heavier! I have a hard time believing the Evo's aero gains--if there are any, are enough to offset that much of a weight penalty.
May 25, 2023, 01:57:21 PM 		7
Re: Magene QED P325 Crankset Seems I got the final word today on their offer. After getting hot-potatoed between the Aliexpress store and their service email, it seems the Aliexpress store has offered me the option to pay to send them the crankset, pay a service fee, and then pay for it to be shipped back. Absolutely ridiculous in my opinion.

Quote from: zerstorer on May 25, 2023, 08:20:15 PM
Sorry to hear that. I have had mine since last August and I am quite happy with how it's performing. Maybe you took too long to complain about the runout, might as well just get a new chainring and close this chapter.

I get the sense this is the case. I received the crank in the beginning of March, contacted them at the end of March. Clearly, 3 weeks was too long. It's just very disappointing that these guys refuse to do the minimum for warranty, which would simply be to send over a new chainring. What is someone to do if their power meter craps out? This $500 power meter is now going to cost me $80 more than originally intended.

I've attached my chat and email logs so people can see what my customer service experience has been like. I had alerted them about this problem no later than a month after receiving the product. I made nice videos explaining the problem. I am pretty upset with the poor service and at this point, I have no confidence in the Magene official store's service. I hope anyone thinking of ordering from them at least take my experience into consideration.
May 25, 2023, 09:29:58 PM 		1
Re: Interesting Aliexpress finds! - good deals, interesting stuff, new products etc! 2 months in on the Onirii CD02 rotors checking in here. I've put in about 500 miles on them so far. I'll echo the same thoughts, they're nice and super light rotors for the price. Only thing I'll knock them for is size of the holes, they're so large I think they're actually losing potential surface area for shedding heat, I've gotten them to temporarily warp to the point they hit the pads when released after some heavy braking a few times. I also question if their design acts as a cheese grater on my brake pads. I don't live in a mountainous area so heat management is not really an issue for me. To their credit they bounce back after getting heated, which means the floating rotor design is working as intended. I've done a couple of races in the lower mountains in the northeast with huge braking zones and they didn't have major issues beyond a little temporary warp. But I would probably feel nervous coming down a long series of switchbacks.
May 29, 2023, 11:19:13 AM 		3
Re: LTWOO RX hydro sets I have discovered the secret to getting good front shifting out of the LTWOO RX shift lever paired with latest-generation Shimano "switch" front derailleurs (i.e. Ultegra R8000)

Normally the installation instructions for the Shimano FD tell you adjust cable tension until two markings on the front derailleur are aligned when the derailleur is shifted into big ring. When following these directions and pairing with an LTWOO shifter, the shifter's front derailleur trim settings don't work, they are too far away from the outer and inner limits, and therefore cause the derailleur cage to touch the chain when trimming.

I have now realized that the solution is to simply increase the cable tension way past Shimano's suggested set point. Then, you adjust the lower and upper limiter screws on the front derailleur to set the outer and inner limits of shifting. With this higher tension, the trim stops will now be be much closer to the outer and inner shift stops, making them useful again.
May 31, 2023, 01:06:38 PM 		3
Re: Aliexpress wheels - What's wrong I wouldn't say anything is wrong, but there are reasons for why it's so inexpensive:

-seller isn't well-known
-rims are aluminum
-narrowish rim width for modern standards (helps with weight, but also is not attractive to customers)
-shipping isn't free

These look like they are either on clearance sale or are being sold as loss-leaders. All considered they look like a great deal, but 1480g is not so hard to achieve with such narrow rims.
June 02, 2023, 10:00:04 AM 		1
Re: Aliexpress wheels - What's wrong The rims' tire bed profile looks like a tubeless compatible design. The bead seat has those shelves/shoulders required for tubeless. I would say maybe roll the dice and throw in some tubeless tape and set them up tubeless anyways.
June 02, 2023, 12:06:22 PM 		1
Re: SROAD lightweight cassettes I've bought 3 cassettes from SROAD, all shimano-lockring style, I believe the old design, and honestly had a fine time with them.

I run an 11s/11-32 on my road bike, 11s/10-42 on my commuter bike, and 10s/11-36 on my cross bike. I've run them with mechanical SRAM road, 1x-road/gravel, and MTB derailleurs, as well as LTWOO's R9 derailleur, and a Shimano Ultegra R8000 rear derailleur. They all do fine.

They do NOT shift as nice as Shimano. They are loud, and are more prone to rough shifts. But they have been seriously ok. No breaking of teeth. The shifts happen, and they are smooth enough for me. On my road bike I've had the occasional "slippery" shift when my rear derailleur wasn't set up right, but that's the worst of it.
June 14, 2023, 08:10:31 AM 		1
Re: Yoeleo R12 & SAT C50 PRO Wheels - Revamped and Refreshed Thanks as always for the reviews Patty. You're really the MVP of the chiner-space.

1305 grams...wow I did not expect it to be so heavy, it's nearly 300g more than the weight quoted for the 47cm on their website.

For comparison, my Large Seka Exceed Std is only 37g more than a Small in the same color, as reported on WW. So about +20g per size. Using that math a 56 shouldn't be more than 50g heavier.

When I was speccing my Seka Exceed build I had considered getting this frame instead. At KSR last year, I met a guy on the Canadian Yoeleo team riding an R12 who said he loved it and offered me a discount coupon. Given the price and low claimed weight on their website, I almost got this bike instead of the Seka.

Those wheels, though, look VERY cool, and I definitely am considering them!
June 14, 2023, 03:07:15 PM 		1
Re: SEKA Bikes? Out of contact? I just wanted to update this thread with some recent discussion from the Weight Weenies Seka thread.

Seka has announced they have stopped sending frames to Cycling100, even those destined to fulfill open orders on C100. At the same time, there were people on WW with open orders who claimed to have been ghosted by C100 following requests to cancel their orders. A few users have shared that C100 has eventually promised to return order payments since the announcement, but it seems there are others who are still in limbo

Seka, on the other hand, is offering a 30% discount to individuals with unfulfilled orders with C100, which is a bit less than the cost of the deposit. The big catch is that they are only accepting payment via bank transfer for these orders. It remains to be seen if their upcoming webstore will also only accept bank transfers, or will accept more conventional forms of payment.

I urge people considering to buy from Seka's upcoming webstore to approach buying a frame through them with cautious optimism. While yes, much of the blame for the sourcing issues people have faced is pegged on Cycling100, Seka's retail store is also unproven. Fundamentally, what went wrong with Cycling100 is that they promised unrealistic lead times.
Seka's production is clearly dynamic. Users who order the same color frame seem to get their orders all at once, suggesting that Seka produces their frames in batches of one color and/or version.  I think Seka themselves are better equipped for quoting lead times than a retailer is, but ultimately it depends on their ability to maintain a stable production line and have good production forecasting. If they don't, then I would expect people's experience with Seka's store to mirror that of Cycling100. I am not suggesting that this will be the case, but I want to urge people to not assume that everything will be perfect going forward.

Because of this, I urge everyone to always use payment methods with buyer protection when buying bike parts internationally, and know your payment method's buyer-protection policies well enough to use them. I say "internationally" because these issues are not restricted to Seka, or even the Chiner-space. I've had to dispute charges from a European retailer before. Whenever you buy goods from abroad, you basically can no longer count on legal protections, because even if they are there, trying to use them is almost always more expensive than taking the loss.

Some of you may find what I say regarding buyer protection obvious. Based on the discourse I saw on WeightWeenies, it is not obvious to everyone, so I hope to broadcast this message as broadly as possible.

Forms of useful buyer protection:

AliExpress--when you buy on AliEx, you get 90 days starting the day your item ships (I believe the moment a tracking number is created) to make a buyer protection claim for non-receipt of your items. There is indeed a store carrying Seka on AliEx, the 10 week lead time is dangerously close to the 90 day protection window. Users from Weight Weenies have reported waiting 6 months or more for frames ordered through this store, which far exceeds the protection window.

Credit card charge dispute--if you use a major credit card like American Express and Visa to make your purchase, you have up to 120 days after the charge to start a charge dispute for non-receipt of goods. You can start this process by calling or emailing your credit card's customer service. Some CC companies like AmEx will be more likely to side with customers than others in cases where you dispute for receiving goods not-as-described, so choose your CC wisely and read their buyer protection terms and conditions before making a purchase.

PayPal--Buyers using PayPal have until 180 days after purchase to file a dispute for non-receipt of goods or goods received not-as-described. I believe PayPal have the strongest buyer protection in these cases. Incidentally, Cycling100 was actually dropped by PayPal for having too many disputes over delayed delivery during the pandemic.

For all of these choices, they depend on you actually filing the dispute on time. If you use one of these payment methods and don't have your frame in hand by the time the dispute window closes, you need to start your dispute no matter what, or at the very least contact your payment service's customer service and explain your situation if you anticipate receiving your goods just after the deadline.

Forms of payment with NO buyer protection:
-Debit cards
-Bank transfer
-Wire/money order
-Crypto

If you use any of these, you are at the mercy of the seller. Again, do not count on any other country's legal system to help you recover your money.

I look forward to seeing Seka's store open soon. I myself hope to buy a direct-mount hanger for my bike from them. But as they open, I urge everyone to approach buying a Seka with a conservative attitude.

Update 6/16/23:
Looks like C100 is actually refunding everyone for non-deliveries. Many users on WW now reporting receiving their refunds.
June 14, 2023, 09:29:47 PM 		3