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Re: Hardtail similar to Specialized Epic
I wish one of the Chinese companies would produce a decent suspension dropper.
If you wanna get a cheap dropper (keeping in mind that most of the parts for your build are from Ali) - take a look to ExaForm 900i. This thing is extremely cheap, comes with up to 170mm of travel and seems to be nearly the same as KS Rage-i. See attached files - they all were located on KS official site (no direct links to them though, but they can be googled easily). Still I have only one ride with my 900i 170mm, but it seems to perform well.

November 17, 2022, 02:24:05 AM
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Re: Interesting Aliexpress finds! - good deals, interesting stuff, new products etc!
They are lying about what they are selling and hoping that most people won't notice the differences. I think that should be reported. For every buyer who catches this difference there are a bunch who won't and don't get the item they paid for.

I wrote Shimano USA asking them what I should do to report, and added the E-bay seller link.   Let's see what happens.

November 29, 2022, 07:16:02 PM
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Re: Groupset News prototype Sensah hydraulic levers





Newest (top) v. Older (bottom) Sensah hydraulic lever patent drawings


future Sensah RD patent drawings




L-TWOO electronic hydraulic lever patent drawings




L-TWOO seatpost battery patent drawings

December 08, 2022, 10:44:39 AM
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Re: Elite Wheels / Aliexpress / Trace Velo Has anyone been able to replicate the costs like he says? I am always surprised at the prices in his videos. They are quite low as opposed to what you have to shell out in real life. I see his $1500 build, go to AliExpress only to find that the same build will cost me 2k+ :S His gravel build using ICAN frame he got for GBP530 ($640~) is actually $850. Same for other components and this is not even 2019. The gravel video is from May of 2022.
December 20, 2022, 03:39:52 PM
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Re: LTWOO RX hydro sets My opinion after dealing with countless issues is these aren't worth the price and there is no help. With sensah you basically received a sram clone easy to work on at a bargain price. These ltwoo are campy clones not easy to work on (no guides) and not cheap.


I've fixed a ton of issues on my own with no support from the seller or ltwoo.  Once more people run into issues the lack of help will show the frustration. 

There is 2 ways for replacing shifter cables.  Both ways are a pain.

 Shifter position and how much forced needed isn't easy to understand and I'm still working on it. Poorly adjusting or assembly can't really mess up the shifters. My shifters weren't assembled correctly and shifted like crap. To make the adjustments you need to remove the brake lever with two t10 then hope you can get a 3mm onto the screw for adjusting. At least that what I'm assuming.

Bleeding brakes is more effort than I've ever needed. The procedure to fully remove air isn't what I've ever done. I need to syringe from both the shifter and caliper. Caliper needs another t (star) Allen, I forgot the size).  You have to own a bleed kit with screw on fittings for the syringe. I'm guess the design is trapping air unless you force it out.

 You need a 10 and 8mm wrench or you will destroy the shifters brake line. The 10mm barely holds onto its bolt.

I hate the extra hardware needed for mounting brakes. I want a nice clean look not all these adapters and screws.

You're going to see a ton of positive unboxing vids but no experience really working on these.

I currently am using my gravel right shifter and road left. They have obviously changed something beyond just screening some words on the shifters. I haven't nor do I want to attempt to fully disassemble the internals without a guide.

In all the last 6 months of cycling products I've purchased so many have been worthless half finished products at excessive pricing.

January 26, 2023, 11:45:27 PM
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Re: price increases I believe that shipping container costs are back down to around $2,200 for a 40 ft container.  In Jan. 2019, the same container cost $1,900, peak was around $11,000 in mid 2022. 
My understanding is that prices for higher volume commodities being shipped to the US are falling again.  For bicycle parts, in the USA, there is a growing glut of parts/bicycles where importers paid very high prices to get the parts sent here, and now they are sitting on a lot of bike parts where they have too much money invested. Thus they are trying to keep sale prices higher as long as they can to try to recover their investments.  This will probably balance out, as competing importers bring in new parts a lower costs, forcing others to reduce prices and get rid of their inventory.
For us, who like to purchase bike parts directly from China for our personal usage, Chinese stores monitor our prices here, and raise and lower their prices, because like us, they want the largest profit they can make.   
I see this every year on Aliexpress,  January through May they try to raise prices and see what sticks.  Then they have their summer sales. Then prices go up some until around Nov. Dec. when they have their supposed end of year sales.

February 12, 2023, 04:40:54 PM
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Re: CarbonSpeedCycle CSC wheels - avoid them
registered 3 weeks ago, your only post is this one. Come on CSC people, do you think we are that dumb?

Just got into the site, my man. Not a spy from CSC. I have wheels from CSC, Hunt, Elite, and am building three sets with rims from C-razycarbon (check them out - prices are great) and a variety of hubs - White, Bitex and Hope.

I sincerely really like the CSCs. Great brake track, nice-looking, Brad took tubeless first try without an Airshot, good price. Stand by what I said - I think they make an above average quality wheelset.

March 17, 2023, 07:24:51 AM
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Re: Chinese cycling clothes been using mostly aliexpress clothes for the past 4y so could say a bit about some brands.. I always try looking for those better ones, because the cheapest are trash after some months :/

Rion I had good experience years ago, but the newest stuff didn't had the chance to test yet...

Darevie I have 3 bibs, 2 jerseys, and a baselayer. All are great quality, the fabric is good and comfortable, the padding is good too, at least the models I have. This blue bib from them is really great, fit well and comfortable, it's beautiful also so gotta say one of my favorites. Been curious about this one too and got it, the 'X straps' and the partially sewed chamois got my attention, but gotta say I didn't find too different from the traditional bibs

From Ykywbike I have a lot of stuff, bibs, jerseys, windproof long sleeve, socks, arm and leg warmers, gloves, thermal bib.. first, they upped their game a lot in the last 1-2yrs, I had some of the old stuff and the quality difference is very clear. But still the prices nowadays are good, although higher than before
This bib with a thicker chamois and this one with Elastic Interface are my favorites, the fabric is really comfortable I almost don't feel it, had 6-7h rides with them and all good too, a lot of use (1,5yrs weekly use) and still look like new
this new summer jersey is a good example of the quality improvement, I compare it with my 2y old jerseys from them and it's like a different brand, better fabric, better finishing.

also got some stuff from Spexcel, their jerseys are really high quality too, nice fabric, different colors from other chinese brands, got this purple, green and a beige one, all really good
the bibs I got one back in 2019 and wasn't a good experience, one of the cheapest with gel padding and in less then 1y I couldn't use it anymore. I've been really curious about their latest launchings, the bibs look nice and seem to have a longer thigh length, but I've already got too many clothes lol

This is something that the other brands are lacking, the thigh is a bit short on most, after riding a bit when the bib 'settles in' it looks a bit short.. hope they start launching some longer ones in the future

also, something that I've learnt is that many times the cheapest items from each brand are not worth, you can spend a bit more but get much more quality with the mid-top products on these brands
the same considering the whole offer of clothing.. like I mentioned in the beginning, those 'replica' jerseys and bibs, and the likes of X-Tiger and other brands that are really cheap, I don't have personal experience but a lot of friends got it and it becomes trash really quick.

also worth mentioning, my references are some brazillian brands, which although we have good stuff here, are too expensive and the chinese products are same or better for a lower price.

March 29, 2023, 12:42:04 PM
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Re: Haidelibikes New 29er boost mold with UDH rear hanger Why BB92? Most MTB people I meet ride SRAM Eagle, and thus DUB spindles.
41mm - 30mm => 11mm /2 = 5.5mm height, is not much space for bearings inside BB cups.
As a result they don't last long. Forcing you to frequent  BB replacement.

April 06, 2023, 02:01:13 AM
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Re: LTWOO RX hydro sets
Do their rim brake shifters still have plastic arms + internals as seen in Trace Velo video? How is the shifting? Debating between Sensah Team Pro and Ltwoo R9 shifters

Yes, the shift lever arms on the R9 are plastic. To boot, they are riveted in, making them irreplaceable. In terms of weight, this doesn't actually change anything, and I actually think the shift smoothness/crispness is decent, despite me running full-internal routing on the shift cables.

I'm not sure what you mean with the internals being plastic--AFAIK all the mechanical shifting bits are stamped steel, and the brake hydraulic housing (edit: I meant hydraulic piston assembly) is machined metal. Really, you get what you pay for, and with the LTWOO stuff you definitely are trading quality in for weight.

I think it's important to do the cost analysis--put all the parts, weights, and their costs in a spreadsheet, and compare. At the time I bought my stuff, ultegra groupsets were scarce, and I couldn't find them as a set without the cranks, which was important to me since I needed a crank-based power meter. When I ran the math, the R9 groupset was going to be less than half the price of going to Ultegra R8000 hydraulic for comparable weight. This math can change even more dramatically if you compare bundle deals, You can get a full Ultegra build kit for ~$1000USD, which is about exactly what I spent on my R9 groupset + power meter crank + ybn chain + sroad cassette + onirii rotors + bottom bracket.

In the short months since, it seems market pressures have eased dramatically and you can now easily find parted-out ultegra groupsets on AE for pretty cheap. For example, you can easily find R8020 brifters+calipers for $500 and a derailleur set for $120USD. At that point, the LTWOO R9 Carbon+ZRACE brifter set is only saving you ~$200, and I really do believe that Ultegra is bringing $200 worth of added value in terms of quality.

So in summary, I really think the LTWOO R9 set should be reserved for aggressively minimizing costs, and it will do that job well. If you can afford the extra $200 though, I would spring for the Ultegra set

April 06, 2023, 09:14:56 AM
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