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Re: Racework is peddling $hit.
What did you return?
I know Temu and Aliexpress have European hubs for example, so if you return stuff, sometimes they send you a prepaid label and it goes back to their sorting center. Usually sending stuff back to China is stupidly expensive.

I had bought a chain but they sent me a chainring. I'm guessing they had me return to the US hub but they didn't send me a prepaid label. The app told me to pay for shipping, enter a tracking number, and promised that I would get a chance to submit my receipt and get the return shipping cost refunded. I did as I was told and was never given an opportunity to enter my return shipping fee. So I ended up getting a refund on the item but I also ate the $10+ cost on return shipping. Super disappointed by this experience. 

March 03, 2024, 01:37:49 PM
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Re: Best and worst overall quality/value components/tools/gear from AliExpress?
I don't touch any mixed alloy/steel cassettes. Especially if a cyclist does a bit of climbing, those big alloy cogs will wear quickly. Just to make note Goldix and Ztto have the same design all-steel lightweight cassettes. Goldix just sells them only in black. I believe Ztto sells them in multi-color.

I beg to differ, I have a whole season CX on a goldix XDR cassette with an aluminum low-end cog, lots of climbing in abrasive conditions, and the black anodization is hardly worn.

The reality is that with these larger cassettes that have prevailed in the last years, the wear is distributed over so many teeth, that the problem that the lowest cog wears too quickly is no longer a major issue.

April 01, 2024, 08:27:31 PM
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Re: 11 Speed Cassette Recommendations - XD 10-42T or HG 11-42T The SPEEDAO 1-piece cassette is a design that's been sold under a lot of different brands including S-ROAD and ZTTO. It's a solid unit, I've bought 3 of this specific kind of cassette in HG guise, used them for road, CX, and commuting. It's a solid-performing ultralight cassette for the price. I'll echo the sentiment that they aren't as refined, but I haven't managed to put noticeable wear into any of my units so far.

Contrary to nicklej, I actually prefer the HG design. In the XD/XDR design, the cassette is clamped to the splines (near the hub) by the threads, and all static forces are cantilevered off these splines. (you could argue that some force transmits through the sleeve, but since this is a sliding component, it will only transmit force if the cassette flexes into it--potentially causing wear and creaking)

There's also the issue that the soft aluminum threads on these XD/XDR bodies are super-fine and susceptible to cross-threading. OEM SRAM MTB cassettes are manufactured with super tight sleeves that are almost impossible to turn without using a lot of force, making it very hard to feel the engagement of the threads. I've watched a couple bodies get damaged in this way. The GOLDIX XDR cassette that I've used doesn't have this tight-sleeve problem, interestingly. 

The other issue is that since XD/XDR is a system of moving parts, arguably the manufacturing tolerances of the system need to be stricter in order for the system to work properly. The HG cassette is much simpler to manufacture in comparison. When you're buying cut-rate equipment on AliEx, it's generally safer to buy the design that has fewer moving parts and lower demands on precision.

Lastly, HG splines do not really wear with these one piece cassettes. The main reason HG splines wear is that when you use cassettes with loose cogs (and fail to tighten them properly, which everyone does), the force applied to the spline is only distributed along the width of a single cog. One piece cassettes have solid engagement splines spanning the the width of ~2 cogs on each side. This means all forces are transmitted to the freehub splines over a much wider area compared to single cogs. I've been using one-piece cassettes for around 8 years now (SRAM Red before the SROAD cassettes), all freehubs I've put these one-piece designs on look virtually brand-new.

If you don't have a pressing need for a 10T cog (i.e. 1X bike with large demands for range) I can't really recommend pushing for XD/XDR, but I also won't recommend against it.

April 02, 2024, 10:06:52 AM
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Re: Looking for Tri/Short nose saddles I have the padded carbon sitero copy, and the WildSide version in plastic and metal rails. The WildSide is slightly wider than the carbon. On both, I find it difficult to not sit pretty much on the nose, forward of the cutout. And I have pretty wide hips for a man AFAIK.

As a long-time sufferer of numbnutz, compared to my Spesh power saddle that is my reference, both are supremely comfortable for nose sitting, but will not make you impervious to numbness. I think for that you need something like a Dash saddle.

Anyways, it’s a nice saddle. Its width makes it hard to use a lot of the surface area, but also makes it fairly comfortable to sit on the nose. I’m still deciding if I’m going to swap out my power saddle, but I think it’s worth a shot if you think it could be a fit for you.

April 02, 2024, 02:55:25 PM
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RIRO cassette failure See attached photo. This cassette has been super cool and lightweight, albeit has exhibited some very rough shifting around the 3-tooth jump between cogs 7 and 8.

After no more than 100 miles of riding I noticed a tooth was sheared off. Thankfully I was granted a return (after nearly 3 months of ownership), but I'm posting this as a fair warning to everyone else.

May 01, 2024, 04:46:39 PM
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Re: What do you think of my theft-resistant mountain bike idea? First off Gene, interesting website. I'm perplexed, but intrigued. You seem to have a lot of ambitions.

Serial numbers are not a new innovation. All bike frames have serial numbers. All fancy wheels have serial numbers. All groupsets have serial numbers. Anyone can record their bikes' serial numbers, and even share them with their states' stolen-bike registry where you can post the serial number of stolen bikes, and bike resellers like pawn shops are supposed to check against it. Most places don't check, because there isn't really enforcement, and because it's more trouble than it's worth in most peoples' opinion.

It simply doesn't work. In part because US laws basically don't punish criminals who steal less than $1000 or so in value. And police aren't even interested in investigating bike thefts for bikes that are worth more, because they aren't worth that much compared to other crimes like home burglaries and car thefts.

The other issue is that the VIN system literally costs money, we pay car registration fees which in-turn pays for the record-keeping that makes the VIN system useful. The VIN system works fairly well in cars because they are an order of magnitude more in value, so people are willing to spend a little more for the extra time it costs to deal with the VIN system. People are evidently not motivated to pay $20-50 yearly to register their bike to a bike registry system, because pretty much every past effort has failed.

The premise a bike will get stolen before a 70k SUV with the keys in the the ignition would, is also simply not necessarily true in the US. Depending on the city you're in, car theft is a much bigger problem in the US in terms of total monetary value stolen, and similarly the criminal justice system is not responding to increases in car thefts (see "Connecticut Kia Boys" on youtube). There is also a fairly large black-market for exporting high-value cars that circumvents the VIN system entirely.

I appreciate the thought of trying to prevent bike theft. But this idea barely works well for cars, has been tried before in bikes, and it isn't the answer.


May 07, 2024, 08:54:52 AM
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Re: Magene QED 12spd groupset showcased in Shanghai
I just really want directmount chainrings

I bought Magene's QED crankset with direct-mount chainrings before it got pulled from the markets. Horrible experience, Magene bungled the design and they would bend and become permanently deformed from normal pedaling loads. Magene's warranty department was useless and asked me to delete my chinertown thread on the issue to cover up their screw-up. The most I got from this was a new chainring, which bent again. My experience might be part of the reason why that product got pulled from the shelves in the first place.

Even worse, they have a proprietary chainring interface and no aftermarket spider or alternative chainrings, which means I am completely fucked and have a $500 brick of a crankset. In summary, be thankful they learned from their mistakes and aren't making DM chainrings anymore.

I know the spider based PMs are great, PES is great, and their accessories are great, but damn do I feel bitter about Magene after my QED experience.

May 07, 2024, 10:02:33 AM
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Re: How addictive is bike building?! Wheelbuild has been phenomenal. 1320g for a set of 50/55mm deep/28mm wide wheels, steel spokes. I'm planning to make a dedicated post detailing the adventure soon, as well as some tips and tricks. Lots of time invested though.
May 07, 2024, 11:41:21 AM
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Re: Magene QED 12spd groupset showcased in Shanghai
What's the difference between the QED chainrings, and the optional chainrings supplied with the PES? I'm trying to understand by Magene's QED video.

Are the QED rings similar to SRAM Red's one-piece design?

As a follow-up:

The QED crankset was launched in 3 versions. 1) A standalone crankset with the integrated chainrings, no PM, 2) crankset with the beloved spider-based PM and bolt on chainrings--the exact same PM and rings as on the PES, and 3) with integrated chainrings and Stages/4iii-style P325-model PM in the crankarms, dubbed the "QED P325".

You can watch my unboxing on the P325 model video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt1B119gEiA&t=157s&pp=ygUKbWFnZW5lIHFlZA%3D%3D

May 08, 2024, 03:17:44 PM
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Re: Tavelo Aero Frame
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 really don't get what the hand-wringing is over the markup. They are charging what they think the market will bear for the perceived quality and service.

I've bought a Lightcarbon LCG071 and a Seka Exceed; the Seka Exceed cost me around 3x more and frankly I think I got my money's worth with the Exceed. The finishing kit on a Seka is much nicer, and every part included is far-superior quality spec. They replaced my whole damn frame (and even painted a new frame just for me with an out-of-production color) at no extra cost after I discovered an issue with it over 6 months after buying it. It's just a much nicer bike with much better after-sales service than what I'd ever expect from Velobuild or Lightcarbon. I absolutely think that a company that essentially exists to retail, market, paint, and (hopefully) QC frames can add enough value to justify a markup like this, and I also think that if PP adds enough value through after-sales service, then their markup is justified too. (note: I still haven't seen evidence that they really do enhance the after-sales service)

The calculus here is easy: is the added risk/hassle of going through a Chinese company worth the cost-savings when compared to buying an equivalent-spec frame locally? Different people will make either decision depending on their circumstances, and hopefully PP and Tavelo have found a price and level of service that adequately suits the needs of many people making this decision.

May 10, 2024, 10:34:54 AM
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