HA!  My main riding buddy has the top of the line $7k Look 765RS gravel bike.   He's an automotive mechanic by trade but can't figure out how to properly take care of his chain, despite my offers to do it/show him how.  We will be on a ride and I'll say something to the affect of "Do you wear your ear bud in the right ear because because your chain sounds like a couple of Transformers trying to screw or is it just a coincidence?"

Also, some people say that the big ones don't do 24 mm aluminium axle for a reason.

I'm currently using three 24mm alloy spindle cranksets, two are carbon and one is hollowed alloy. The cranksets I'm using all use the 2 pinch bolt setup similar to Shimano, but like I said they use the smaller M5 bolts (4mm hex) that aren't as strong as M6 (5mm hex) bolts that Shimano uses. The cranksets I have all use direct mount/GXP (3 torx bolts) chainrings while using the hollow tech style non-drive side, so they're a hybrid of Shimano and SRAM.

I'm somewhat determined to figure out these AliEx cranksets. The weight savings, price and direct mount/GXP chainring options are quite attractive. Also these 24mm axles use 7075 alloy and mine came with a date/time stamp on the shafts. Even though my cranksets were ordered from different vendors, the axles appear to be the same design that probably came out of a single factory. So far I haven't had any issues, though I rotate the bikes I ride based on my mood and terrain I'm riding in.

A previous post on here was talking about a different Zeroing crankset mentioning the preload alloy bolt as a weak point. So I'm wondering what the deal is? If it's garbage, has it been addressed or is it possibly user error? Also I don't take everything Trace Velo says as absolute, his last bike build had the same crankset I'm using and he mentioned flex and other issues. Yet I'm not having any of those problems.

They're almost there. The Racework carbon crankset I'm using is pretty darn good. They could have just ditched the 7075 alloy shaft, used a steel axle gaining a minor weight penalty/increased durability and swapped the M5/4mm hex bolts for M6/5mm hex bolts on the non-drive side crank arm. Also I tend to like the flexibility of GXP/direct mount chainrings.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805023659024.html

Lexon has a carbon 3D printed saddle on sale. This is the cheapest carbon version I've seen. Most AliEx searches deceptively shows the non-carbon saddle price while the carbon version is priced much higher.

PSA: Please please please don't buy this groupset if you're price conscious and can't afford to write the purchase off. This is not the product for someone who simply wants something that 'just works' and can't stomach the pain when something goes wrong. The software is barely 1st gen, as is the hardware and everything is subject to change in later revisions/generations. I'm excited in the eRX because the underlying foundation could truly shake up the industry but evidently there is still much to improve.

By the way, zero proper reviews exist on the Chinese side of the internet as everyone there is waiting for someone else to take the risk. Just this week someone posted about aftermarket DM hanger clearance issues. Again, don't be a guinea pig.

Lastly--anyone have experience with these "9D" or "20D" pads they put in these? It seems that across all the companies, you get a "9D" or "20D" pad, I'd love to hear some testimonials on what they're like.