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Re: Welcome to Chinertown - Introduce Yourself! Hello fellow Aliexpressers.  Yesterday, I received an email from Titus regarding a full suspension TI frame that uses a flex stay.  I was researching the design and ran across a thread posted on this forum.   I am amazed that in all these years of purchasing frames and components from Aliexpress, I never ran across, or even knew that this forum existed.  Great find.  Now I am hooked and will be reading up on perspectives about Chinese frames and components.  I might even be able to contribute now and again because I have made hundreds of purchases of bicycle parts via Aliexpress. 
November 11, 2022, 12:16:34 PM 		3
Re: Elite Wheels / Aliexpress / Trace Velo I started purchasing from Aliexpress in 2011.  I have complete over 200 purchases from Aliexpress (At least $15K in items, not all Bicycle related, but the majority).  Over the years I have had 6 total "bad transactions" and only one where I lost money.  3 of the bad transactions were where the seller never shipped the items, and I had to have Aliexpress cancel the transaction and refund my money.  2 were claimed to be lost packages, and the seller shipped out a new order.    The worst transaction was with "Trifox" about a year ago.  I purchased a 29er carbon fork from them, it took about a month for them to ship the item, and 6 weeks for it to be delivered.   This was during Covid times.    The box arrived beat up, but the fork appeared to be intact.   Upon inspection, I saw that the fork tube was defective and had a big gouge in it right where the lower bearing sits. 
I was told they would send me a replacement when I sent the defective one back.  (Shipping to China was going to cost more than I paid for the fork.)  I complained to Aliexpress, and they offered a $40 credit.   I ended up taking the credit and ate the loss.   I use the fork now for test riding bike builds before putting on a suspension fork.

Regarding Elite Wheels.  I have purchased wheel sets from them without any problems.  (They used to have great sale prices before Covid.)   My Brother purchased a set from them a year ago and the box arrived beat to *hit, but the wheels were not damaged.

I stopped purchasing from Elite Wheels because they told me they were back-ordered on the wheels I wanted, so I purchased from CLANNAD for basically the same wheels/rims.
November 13, 2022, 11:13:37 AM 		1
Re: New Lexon spirit I am becoming captivated with the Spirit frame. 

I have been researching more about this frame and have started communications with Lexon.    It appears that the Scott Spark has a head tube angle of 66.5 degrees, with ZS56/28.6/40.0 Integrated cable headset cups.  One can install zero offset cups or keep the cups that allow one to rotate them for a either a HT angle of 65.8 or 67.2.

Head tube differences:

The Spirit has a fixed HT angle of 67.2 degrees that uses a IS52/IS52 integrated cable Headset. 

The Spark uses what appears to be a custom Acros angle headset: https://acros-components.com/en/headsets/angle-headset-1-52/52?number=310.52.591F-HT110AM&c=46
(These headsets have protruding pins in them that allow them to be flipped 180 degrees.  The Scott Spark has little notches machined into the Head tube portion of the frame to clock/orient the cups and hold them in place.)

I asked Lexon if their Spirit has this feature/provision, and if not, can they add the grooves.

Rear shock differences.   
I believe it is known that the Scott Spark uses 2 versions of custom Nude5 shocks with a mid position set point.  The Spirit uses either the Rockshox Deluxe Selected+, or Rockshox Deluxe RLC3 with remote.  Both of these shocks have their air fill port located coming out the side of the end of the shock.  This makes one have to remove the shock in order to add air/adjust the pressure. (Not fun to do if you are out in the field.)

Frame differences. 
Scott uses a BB92 bottom bracket and the Spirit uses a BSA73.
There are some very slight differences in the front section of the frame geometries, resulting in slight wheelbase differences.  Scott Large = 1190, lexon Large = 1181.

I can't predict if these small difference would affect handling or the ride.  I suspect the Spirit using T800/T1000 fibers would have more of an impact versus Scott's use of carbon nanotube reinforced epoxy resin and T1000G fiber.
November 16, 2022, 01:45:08 PM 		1
Re: Onirii M2 and M4 hydraulic disc brakes The IIIPro E4 hyd. brake set I ordered Nov 2rd arrived yesterday.   I temporarily installed the front brake on my latest build.  (It will be several months before this bike hits the road)
From my perspective, the caliper's body and  hydraulic handle body are very good CNC'd single-piece units.   They appear to be of good quality.
Due to the post about the "caliper flex" I measured the gap between sides of the cylinder then applied as much force as I could on the brake lever, and with the pressure applied, took a second measurement.  No deflection measured.   (Unless the Calipers can become really hot and then expand/deflect, I didn't see any flexing on the brake cylinder body.

Edit:  I had a problem where no matter how I tried, I could not get the brake lever/clamp to fit onto my 22.22mm OD Carbon bars.  I ended up having to slightly slot the hole that mounts the clamp by .003in outwards.  Then all fit well.
November 20, 2022, 03:46:54 PM 		4
Super Boost Discussion Last year, around this time of year, I had Waltly build me a custom TI 29er hardtail that was Super Boost based. (Fits 157 rear hubs.)
I purchased many of the parts for the build off of Aliexpress.   But, I was not able to purchase any cost effective lightweight 157 rear hubs.  I ended up purchasing XT super boost hubs via E-bay deals I found, and built up my own rear wheels.  (Front wheel prebuilt and ordered spokes and additional carbon rims from CLANNAD.) 

Since May this year, I road over 1000 miles on this particular bike, including 2 multi-day bikpacking trips.  I really like how this bike turned out, and do like the super boost geometry, including the wider BSA 83BB shell on the frame.

The reason I am sharing this is that about a year ago, I contacted every seller of hubs on Aliexpress asking if they were going to sell a super boost version of their hubs.  All of them said yes, but close to a year has passed, and few are listed and actually available.

I ended up working to some degree with a couple manufacturers of hubs via Alibaba.   I can get a great price, for an under 250 gram rear hub, but I have to purchase a minimum of 50. (Tried the "sample" route, but they haven't wanted to let me purchase several samples.)

I figure, since super boost hasn't really taken off, Chinese manufacturers aren't willing to manufacture 157mm rear hubs on their own.   
Similarly, I can't find a single super boost frame for sale on Aliexpress.
November 21, 2022, 11:26:08 AM 		1
Re: New Lexon spirit I have to comment that I do not completely agree with your advise.   Here's why.

1. Regarding costs:  Most of the other comparable recommended frames I recently reviewed in the $500 to $700 USD price range do not include the shock and remote.  The supplied RockShox Deluxe Nude RLC3, with remote, costs around $500 these days.($520 retail.)  (This puts the $1,289.99 price down to a $790+- price.
This is only around $100 more than other decent carbon frames being sold on Aliexpress.
2.  The stated weight of a 15.5" frame is 2500 grams.  Take off the 500 grams for the shock and you have around a 2000 gram frame.   Not too shabby of a frame weight.  Perhaps worth an extra $100?
3.  Your comment on the performance of the frame is only speculative.  I don't disagree that there is a slight risk that it could turn out to be a piece of garbage,  but looking at the frame geometry, I would guess it should handle at least 90% the same as the Scott, and I doubt there will be any "surprises". 
4.  Overall, the reviews of the Gen 4 Scott Spark 4 have been positive.  I have a friend in Seattle area who purchased a New integrated shock spark.  I was able to test ride it.  I was impressed with it overall.  I liked it better than my aged and beat to death Kona Process.
Will the Lexon clone perform similar to the original?   Hard to tell unless a few of us suckers step up and take one for the team.
(We need a good review of a built up one to get a better realistic feel for how it performs.)

If I eventually purchase one, it wont be until early next year.  I already have another build I am working on.

 
November 21, 2022, 12:37:55 PM 		1
Re: Super Boost Discussion
Quote from: carbonazza on November 21, 2022, 02:25:37 PM
Tangential question... what made you go with super boost ?

The Waltly Ti frame I had fabricated has sliders on the back and is designed to handle a 26 X 4" rear tire.   Since one of this bike's main functions is for bike packing,  I wanted to be able build light weight strong wheels.  I felt that not having to use an offset rear rim, and have the same length spokes on drive and disc side would allow "even spoke tensions" on both sides, resulting in a stronger wheel.   So far, this has worked out really well.
November 21, 2022, 03:55:11 PM 		3
Re: New Lexon spirit I am sure we are all aware that Scott is making several variations of the 2022+ Spark.  The top-end frame, is the only one that uses nanotube reinforced resin.  HMX-SL version where the Frame and fork retails for $6500 and the frame/shock weight around 1870 grams.   The other versions use lower tensile strength carbon fiber than the Spirit's T800/T1000 fibers.  (As stated earlier, RC weighs about 1990 grams with shock, and costs around $5K.)

I guess that from my perspective, spending around $1500 on this frame (with delivery) could be a good experiment.  What if it only handles around 80% as good as a Spark.  Still could end up handling well, and its weight isn't that bad. (These days in the bicycle world, $1500 isn't much money.)

The FM936 would cost less money and is proven, likely heavier than the Spirit. but it would be fun to try something new.   
I am sure it would be at least as capable as my 2017 Kona process, and end up weighing 5 pounds less.
November 23, 2022, 05:55:35 PM 		3
Re: New Lexon spirit I spent a long time reading/viewing 575 posts / 39 pages, that span close to 2 years regarding the FM909.  Then even more time reading about the FM936. 
On the internet, there still aren't any public/posted reviews on the FM909, and out of the 575 posts, there are less than 10 comments about the ride quality or capabilities of the FM909.  Appears that the FM909 took a long time to be a production worthy frame.  I can't really tell if all the problems are sorted out for an "Inexpensive",close to $1K frame + shipping + custom paint.

The FM936 appears to be sorted and does have good reviews and history.

I am communicating with Lexon, asking for more details.   (Like actual weights with the frame on a scale, of all of the frame sizes without shock.) 

Time will tell...
November 26, 2022, 04:47:51 PM 		1
Re: Interesting Aliexpress finds! - good deals, interesting stuff, new products etc! I purchased and received 2 of the chains that were sold on Flea-bay.   I have already filled out a request for a return/refund.   The boxes appear to be the correct CN-HG901-11 but the chain inside is a lower end Shimano HG-11 chain. 

The first image shows a correct HG901-11 chain. (Note the hollow pins!)

The second image is the chain I received from the Ebay seller.
November 27, 2022, 07:26:34 PM 		1