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Re: Thoughts on Panda Podium?
... I get that reasoning, but for me as a European customer, I don't see pandapodium scoring higher in that regard than ali. If the R&R policy refers to warranted returns due to severe product flaws (and not just sending stuff back for funsies), it's kind of crap (maybe different from the lottery with ali sellers, but crap still). Unless I just didn't find it, there is no mention whatsoever of import duties/tax, which is a huge deal (add customs + ~20 % import tax + highway robbery fees from the delivery company ... or not, nobody knows, because not telling). Now, I'm not saying it couldn't turn into something really good, but, as of now, it's mostly the same stuff for slightly more money (or significantly more depending on the import-duties thing) because trust me bro. August 26, 2023, 04:36:59 AM |
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Re: Painting over UD matte finish
I am not a painter. But if the frame already has a decent surface finish (which the clearcoat should be), I'd save me the hassle and just rough it up with fine sand paper. If you can get rougher scouring pad, that might work, too, and is way easier to handle wet. If you want the paint job to last a while, finish with a 2-component top coat. You could look for ETOE on yt to get some ideas. He shows how to do a lot of cool paint jobs, awesome effects and stuff, on the cheap (rattle can jobs). The first few minutes might be a bit cringe (with his very German brand of English, all the overacted enthusiasm and sometimes suuuper cheesy dance tunes), but you get over it and the videos are rather informative. September 05, 2023, 12:45:39 PM |
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Re: Goldix/Evosid Dimpled Crankset
I am ditching my 2x setup for a 1x setup, and this provides me with an opportunity to rethink things. One of those things is the entirety of my crankset/chainring combo. Right now I have a chainring power meter and 5 bolt 105 cranks. The cranks are fine, but if I have the opportunity to ditch 5 chainring bolts in favor of a solid direct mount chainring, that doesn't seem like a bad deal. Oh, I get it. I might have been jumping the gun with my first reply  Then ... if it ticks all your boxes, why not, it's cheap enough for an experiment (even if it was trash). There is another super cheap goldix direct-mount CNC crank on ali with lower Q and 24 mm steel spindle - I'd rather take that one for those reasons, but that's just personal preferences (fuck, I'd put narrow track cranks on all my bikes if I could). It's usually around 30 bucks for the crank alone (a bit more with EU import tax). I have one, but never mounted it (because reasons on my end), so, never ridden one.  (I kind of like the rawish chunk-of-aluminium-with-minimal-cnc-work look) PS: There is a rather similar looking crank with aluminium spindle and slightly more milling. I think there might be a tracevelo video on it. Not sure, if it is as tight as the one above, though. September 18, 2023, 12:10:14 PM |
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Re: Interesting Aliexpress finds! - good deals, interesting stuff, new products etc!
I bought these photochromatic glasses on a whim. I thought they would be junk, but they're surprisingly clear and the photochromatic feature works decently for sub $5 USD. I now use them exclusively when I know I'll be riding into the night. Though I still use tradition tinted glasses for daytime. If that kinda dorky 70s-but-modern style is your thing and the ~135 mm width works for you, you might also like the x62's sister models (x64 and x63) with identical temples but different front frames. Most of them can by found with both Kapvoe and SCVCN branding; looking to be the same thing. Some also come in funky frame colours (multicolour, gradients, sticker-bomb like prints) and transparent variants. Now, if that doesn't look like fine (modern) vintage porn?!  (Seriously, I think the light grey/brown transparent frame looks super hot. The rarer "sticker-bomb" prints are fun, too (I just don't have the face to go with them ... or the personality, not sure).) September 23, 2023, 10:27:32 AM |
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Re: Mechanical flat mount brakes
I'd personally vote against the TRP Spyre/Spyke solely because fiddling around with a hex key* to manually adjust for pad wear every few weeks (on both sides, of course) is such a massive pita. It drove me nuts; and it becomes so much worse when you have a bike with actual decent brakes (= hydros) at the same time to compare to. Where fully hydraulic is not an option, I'd either research those cable to hydro converter thingies (no clue if there is a decent one you can actually buy or if that went nowhere) or try a hybrid caliper (still manual pad wear adjustment, but way less painful) or maybe, just maybe, research other mechanical options (but I didn't like my Avid BBs either). It being flatmount (vs having to use an adapter) would be the very very lowest of my priorities. * For clarification: I do know barrel adjusters, but they can only do so much. Also, the brake really starts to feel a little different, if you try to utilise the whole motion range of the swing arm for adjustment - but it's still nowhere near enough to get through a full pad. September 30, 2023, 05:45:59 AM |
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Re: Lewis Bike (Trickstuff 2 & 4 piston clones)
own a pair of Lewis LV4 4 pistons (piccolo HD copy) They certainly look nice. Could you put the full set on a scale? According to Lewis' claims, they would be roughly 100 g heavier than a current set of PCA HDs (which seems an awful lot). Did you have to take care of customs stuff or did the brakes arrive just like that? Sidenote: When I asked Lewis for a quote some days ago, either the prices had gone up quite a bit or they just tell different people different prices willy-nilly (I was given a price (for buying directly from them) that they also list now as RRP on their website). November 09, 2023, 01:34:28 PM |
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Re: Best and worst overall quality/value components/tools/gear from AliExpress?
Not in the overal-best category, but imo deserving of a place on the more-than-decent-for-the-price list: I like these softshell cloves.  Apart from the gimmicky zipper, these are very basic no-nonsense gloves for autumn or very mild early/late-winter days. Beware, the different-colour materials might also feel different. I have a new-version set in grey and an older set in black. The black ones are of thinner material on the outside. As for looks, the red rubber thingies can be removed with a sharp blade (the one on the zipper has to be cut, for the other the seem can be cut without damaging anything else). As pointed out by others (and me), these particular SCVCN sunglasses are kind of nice for the price (for people with smaller heads).   Between decent and good: Plain photochromic lenses, black and blue polarising lenses as well as those colour variants that mostly stick to a single colour (depending on taste and use case). The funkier colour-gradient lenses, I find meh (red among them, which is really more like red-golden-something and shows notably different colours depending whether you look straight or to the side). So far, this tiny smart tail light does what it is supposed to on my daily driver (and completely on its own, apart from charging)  It does the auto-on/off thing with an ambient light and an accel sensor (if you want it to) and has a brake light function (which gets a bit nervous with heavy vibration/shocks as well, but that's not a bad thing). All of the above seem to be regulars in the 3-for-6-bucks-shipped shelf. Basic variants of the glasses go for as low as 2 bucks, same with the gloves (but 3 bucks for the grey ones, when I last checked). The tail light was 6, I think (but there where several of similar functionality, some cheaper still). With the ridiculous pricing in mind, pls do manage expectations. (I didn't post links as they might or might not work depending on region and stuff. I hope the pictures are showing, though.) November 11, 2023, 12:35:02 PM |
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Re: Best and worst overall quality/value components/tools/gear from AliExpress?
Not the least bit bike-related, but I just have to. I kind of fell in love with Hobibear barefoot shoes. Apart from the obvious barefooty stuff (thin flexible sole, virtually no dampening, no arch to speak of), they're the most comfy shoes I've worn in a long time, and by a lot. They feel soo good, it's ridiculous (but feet are different, ymmv). Now as for value: They sell in the 40-bucks range on Amazon (some as Hobibear, some as Within) and the BF crowd seems to like them at that price. On Ali, you can get some models below 25 bucks more or less regularly, and a few as low as ~15(!)* - shipped to the EU. Quality looks decent for 40 bucks, but for ~20, it's almost stellar (now, there will be lemons, but I have yet to get one; uh, shouldn't jinx it). Great value.    There are a few slightly different cuts (where overall shape and fit seems rather similar), a few different colours, textile and faux leather options. Unless you're triggered by the slight clown-shoe look that comes with a wideish ergonomically-shaped toe box, they look really nice. *) Click around a bit to stuff your search history and then check the coins discount-finder page** (discounts there only work when you "buy now"). And then click around some more. Some have the 3-20 deal on them, some go cheaper as early-bird deals and what have you, and then, some of those are listed on the coins discount page. YMMV. **) Will for some reason show higher discounts when visited through a mobile browser (probably the same with the app). December 20, 2023, 03:10:17 PM |
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Re: III Pro PEERAGE 4 brakes - piccola clone
Peerage. Goldiex. As an englishly-challenged, I have to ask: I assume that "Peerage" (an actual word) becomes funny if you read it "pee rage" ... yea, it actually is pretty funny. But why is everybody giggling about "Goldix"? January 05, 2024, 06:44:08 AM |
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Re: Interesting Aliexpress finds! - good deals, interesting stuff, new products etc!
I'd highly recommend checking out the Pick 3 & Save deals on AliEx. They don't have any major items, but it's perfect for small accessories you wouldn't want to pay full price on. Items I've purchased have included cycling gloves, bike lights, compression sleeves, computer mounts, headset caps, shoe cleats, etc. Also shipping has been incredibly fast. The average delivery time to the US west coast has been less than a week and as fast as 4 days. Only downside is that there's no way to search for an item you want. It's based on your search algorithms and loosely categorized. Yep, it's good advice for small stuff you want (or even just to try out). Additionally with slightly pricier stuff:
January 12, 2024, 01:14:53 PM |
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