Wheels ordered from AliExpress, anyone else get a message saying production is lengthy and requesting to extend the ship date?

they said to me production would be 15 days and shipping 20 days. the wheels arrived in just over a week. I guess they dont have live stock tracking so covering their backs? The anniversary sale will be busy for them

"In stock" often means: "We have a bare frame in your size somewhere" I think. 
So chances are they still have to paint it before they can send it.

I asked for a bare frame as I'm painting it myself. I guess I was spoiled by elitewheels delivery in 8 days. The wait continues...

Ordered my Edge Wheelset on 3/3 got delivered on 10/3 via DPD to UK. Thats insanely quick.

Paid 520.52 + 65 shipping USD with the AliX $50 coupon.

I have ordered a YFR068 today, will make a build thread when everything arrives.

Sorry for not answering the question but why not just go Shimano? The RDs are pretty cheap nowadays with all the discounts going on and if you're spending for Shimano shifters you may as well get the full experience.

Well they made it to GCN, we've come full circle. 

I just hope Elite dont drive prices up.

They are pushing their own site which has models not available on AliX with higher prices and different specs.

The Edge wheelset are still the best with the same weight as Drive but half the price, no mention on GCN though.

Thanks a lot for your help guys.
I am going to forget about Chinese groupsets and just get 105 or slowly gather used Ultegra/105 to finish a bike in time for summer.I have no idea what a derailleur with a clutch mechanism is, do the shimano road derailleurs have this feature? I'm going to need to do some research. Why does going 1x require a bigger cassette? is it so that you can get a bigger range of gears?

The clutch is effectively a much stiffer spring in the rear derailleur to allow higher chain tension. Its useful for riding over rough terrain as it stops you chain slapping around so much. Shimano 105 does NOT have a clutch, only shimano GRX and MTB derailleurs do. You're better off looking up a youtube vid if you want more detail, will be much more intuitive.

Yes, to get a bigger range of gears, this is a big minefield and was the hardest decision when I built my first bike.

Example; 2x setup with 50-34 Crankser and 11-34 Cassette.
The easiest uphill gear is 34/34
The hardest downhill gear is 50/11

Example2; 1x setup with 40t Crankset and 11-34 Cassette.
The easiest uphill gear is 40/34
The hardest downhill gear is 40/11

In both extremes of the gear range you are more limited than the 2x setup. Therefore you have to compensate with a bigger cassette such as 11-50 which will be heavier but give you an easier uphill gear of 40/50. You are still limited in the hardest gear to the same 40/11 which is why you see most speed focused roadies opt for 2x.