Maybe reselling is a point….however not for me…and besides that I would never buy a used carbon frame.
It‘s just nearly impossible so judge, what „went“ into it…
But hey…it’s all about everybody’s own preferences….
I just find it awkward to blame Chinese companies for evolving into kind of their own boutique styles and brandings.
With all it’s downsides…
…maybe we see a Tour Team sponsored by a Chinese bike company in some 3-5 years…at least that’s what their visions seem to be

I mean, Giant went from a kind of no name OEM to a top road bike brand by doing 2 things. 1 getting bikes in the Tour, and 2 getting into brick and mortar stores for better sales and service support. That's pretty much all these brands have to do to justify what they are charging.

I got Elite Edge gravel 35x31s. They weigh ~1370g. They were on sale for about $600 a while ago; don't know where they're at now.

Actually I must apologise, I misunderstood what tavelo is and can understand their prices now. They're not a bike company, they're a marketing company selling bikes, it's like specialized on steroids. They charge this much because they can. At the end of the day it doesn't matter what the value proposition product is if it sells.

Their exorbitant markup for non-chinese market is because every frame they sell here potentially loses them eyes in their main market and because they don't really need us the sales quantity losses are balanced out by the suckers that will pay this much.

I think this is overly cynical.

Ultimately, all carbon road bikes are luxury goods. Even the cheapest Tiagra build. So there is some form of "value", but it's not the typical add up all the components on a spreadsheet and divide by $. A lot of it is intangible. The big selling point for Western brands IMO is pro Peleton credibility. If your bike is in the TdF or other big pro races, it's legit and the sky is the limit on pricing. Unless I'm mistaken, that's exactly how Giant and Canyon went from run of the mill OEMs to premium bike sellers. In fact the only big Western brand I can think of that isn't in the pro circuit is Factor.

So IMO all brands like SEKA and Tavelo need to do to legitimize their brands is get in the pro circuit. They don't even have to be that good. Personally IDGAF about pro cycling nor would I pay more for a bike on TV. But someone could easily come up with reasons why even a cheap Aliexpress build is a waste of money.

Anyone running these with Shimano derailleurs? Is that thumb shifter comfortable? How do they hold up over time? And how much do the shifters weigh? I feel like these shifters + Shimano derailleurs are a cheap weight-weenieish setup.

There is a new model of the 80-90g full carbon saddle.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003923285995.html

The previous available came with a 1.45mm carbon sheet, while this new one is 1.75mm
Probably less prone to cracking than the previous one.

This saddle is painful. Look at those hard edges. They need to rethink the shape. I have an old one collecting dust in a drawer.

Johnathan you make a good point about ride comfort and seat stay height. My gripe with the Aethos style frames is their seat stays are so low they almost look like XC bikes. The average newish road bike frame usually gets it right to me.

SP Cycle and Light Carbon have proprietary seat tubes which I don't like for a couple of reasons. R1018 has been on my radar for a while but I don't know where to buy them or what they look like built up.

The Speeder is growing on me. I still don't like the front triangle aesthetic, and I have been warming up to fully integrated cabling. But the weight and geometry is perfect. How much is the R48D with paint? Tantan FM639 is killer value ($600 w/paint).

There used to be more like the R01/R02, but tire clearance was tight. I think I am OK with 28c as I have a wide wheelset that will help lower pressure.

SC-48D is OK, def a more traditional shape but that squared off front end is a little bit of a turn off. Would like something with plain round tubes or soft edges all around if I could be picky.