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Patty's Long Rant and Guide To Affordable Frames
I’m going to be honest here: I very much miss the glory days of this forum during the pandemic years. It was a perfect storm. People were stuck at home with extra discretionary income and free-time, while major bike brands were dealing with fulfillment delays. The rise of Chinese alternatives during this time brought so much excitement to this forum. Forum members were passionate about helping each other, and the overall vibe felt like a positive community of budget-minded enthusiasts. You could easily spend hours each day reading pages upon pages of new posts. The forum was basically a party everyday. I’m lucky to have joined during COVID. Now I don’t proclaim to be perfect or infallible to constructive criticism. Quite frankly, the support of this forum is a large reason why my YouTube platform even exists. I cannot thank you all enough. Sadly, a lot of the super experienced members don’t come here as often anymore. Perhaps the negative vibes these past 12 months ran them away or just simply their needs changed. Who knows… What I do know is I plan to keep supporting the forum as long as it makes sense. I’ve started to review more mainstream bikes, but my heart will always have a place for affordable Chinese frames/wheels. It’s how I got my start (Yoeleo R6). I wanted to write up a quick guide for anyone looking to jump into the world of “cheap” Chinese bikes. While I made a video on this very topic over a year ago, a reminder never hurt anyone. PLEASE feel free to add your insight and guidance below. Step 1: Passion Project vs Functionality As a cycling reviewer, I obviously don’t have any emotional attachments to my bikes. Except for my believed T1500. To me it’s about being functional and fast. If the “best” frame for (my) price range and riding style only offers matte black…I’ll take it every time. Custom paint means nothing to me if the frame is either a noodle or destroys my back. But I’m a performance-first person. Step 2: Riding Style and Geometry Can you slam your stem? Cool for you. Do you prefer an endurance style bike? Also very cool. Geometry is critical obviously. I cannot stress seeking a professional bike fit enough. Or just comparing your current bike to your target bikes using something like Geometry Geeks. Step 3: Budget vs “True” Budget If your budget is “only $600” for a frame, ask yourself if an extra $300 will be significant to you a year from now. How about an extra $500? How about two years from now? Buy nice or buy twice. Might be worth spending the extra money if you plan to keep your bike for longer than two years. But be warned: cheap bikes are addicting. Step 4: What is your “pain” threshold for cheap bikes? Cheap bikes are cheap bikes for a reason. Sort of. The value-add for these types of bikes is you are willing to put in the work yourself to troubleshoot, should bike build problems arise. If you do however find yourself frustrated, fear not! The forum is here to help. Typically the more you spend, the less potential for problems to arise. Or the brand will be faster to rectify. Unless you’re Yoeleo…  Patty’s Brand Picks $500 - VeloBuild - Custom paint, decent customer service, and solid provided hardware. Both the VB-177 and CX002 are very solid frames for the price. Won’t be the best performing frames ever, but they are “good enough.” You won’t get dropped from a race or fast group ride due to these frames. $1000 or less - Yishun/Light Carbon - No question one of the best affordable brands/frames you can buy without spending money on a Winspace. Sadly…paint options and frame availability may be questionable since (Yishun) is setup for B2B. But the quality and performance is all there. Fit and finish is really good, except for the plastic headset dust cover on my particular application. $1600 or less - Winspace - The T1500 has been talked about to death now for 4 years so there really isn’t anything left to cover. If you have the budget for it…buy it. Proven race bike. Fit and finish on par with the major brands. Wheel Brand Recognition - Elite Wheels, Winspace, and Magene - All 3 brands are great at what they do. The main thing these brands all have in common is they offer solid customer service. Each of them secretly lurk these forums, which means they are making an effort to listen to what customers want. Despite the fact Yoeleo makes solid bikes too, their customer service has been awful (again) based on customer feedback sent my way. Unfortunately my dealings with these brands for reviews does not translate to me being able to escalate customer complaints. Always remember the forum is here to help. There are no stupid questions if you’ve taken a little bit of time to research previous threads and watch a few YouTube videos. The more honest and transparent we all are with our questions, the quicker and meaningful the responses will come. Spend the love! January 25, 2024, 04:12:15 PM |
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Re: Patty's Long Rant and Guide To Affordable Frames
I've been purchasing items off of Aliexpress since 2011. For the first several years, many of the bicycle parts I purchased were questionable at best, - quality and durability. It appears to me that when Interbike died, 2018, the bicycle parts being sold through Aliexpress started to become a lot higher quality, lighter and higher end. I started shifting more and more of my part purchases to Aliexpress, and/or Alibaba. I joined Chinertown over a year ago. Discovered it via a reference someone made in another forum. I've been a member in 6 other forums for many years. My interest in all of them has dropped significantly. Chinertown is where I spend most of my "forum" time these days. Every forum I am a member of has ended up losing its appeal over time. Trolls, too many off topic distractions, the same old topics over and over. Too many ads. (Verticalscope owned forums.) So far I enjoy the members on this forum. Most stay on topic and contribute. I learn something new here every day... January 25, 2024, 10:10:10 PM |
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Re: Ornan Bike gravel frame build
One final build update!  I'm thinking this will be the last update. I've come to the realization that when I first built this bike, I didn't really know much about gravel geometry and what I built here is not a true "gravel" bike, at least not for the kind of riding I've grown to enjoy. What I created is essentially the sickest endurance bike of all time lol. The short wheelbase and more compact "allroad" geo make it a great bike for city riding on nasty surfaces, curb hopping, endurance rides, short fun rides, easy/flat gravel, etc... it can even fit 700x43 tires. It's truly a perfect do-it-all one bike solution. One of my favorite iterations of this bike is with 700x35 Gravelking slicks, a longer stem and my road shoes/pedals for riding on the road. Unfortunately, it's also good at eating a lil shit on rutty singletrack. Hence, I'm now in the search of something very different geomtry-wise. I still dig this bike and plan on keeping it around (with a different groupset) for its newfound allroad/endurance purpose, but what I really want is something with drop bars better suited for the rutty trails and technical offroad stuff I've come to enjoy.Anyway, here she is in her current state. The latest upgrades include: - Ryet carbon wheels - Aliexpress Ingrid crankset with a genuine 44t Ingrid chainring - GX AXS derailleur - X01 cassette 10-50 - XX1 copper chain - a fleet of Panaracer and WTB tires that I swap out depending on the ride I'm now in the search for a more "progressive" gravel frameset and I'm having trouble finding a carbon frame with my desired geo and specs, so this time around I think I'll be going for a steel frame with custom geo from Marino Bike this time (prices are reasonable af). https://www.marinobike.com/ January 26, 2024, 01:09:54 PM |
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Panniers, Bike Bags, Stuff sacks, and Saddle bags
I want to get a dedicated thread going to review and discuss available carrying of your gear for Bikepacking, Adventure cycling and Bicycle touring. I want to keep this thread to items that are used to carrry your gear on your long multiday rides. - Panniers, Bike bags, Stuff sacks and saddle bags. Aliexpress lists and sells a lot of different items in this category. I am always looking for the lightest, most durable, perhaps water proof, and best bang for the buck. For this years planned trips, I am trying to remove more weight and am looking for the lightest durable gear packs I can find on Aliexpress. (Perhaps other brands outside Aliexpress, if they are affordable.) I am hoping other forum members will have some good recommendations for bags you have purchased and used. I purchased a set of Rhinowalk panniers over a year ago. They have held up OK, on 3, week+ trips, but they are already showing signs of wear, and are having issues. https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2251832858229989.html I purchased and use one of these NEWBOLER saddlebags for overnight trips. https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2251832636637212.html I have purchased numerous sacks off of Ali express. https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2251832771567611.html https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805087053087.html https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805093049693.html January 26, 2024, 02:07:34 PM |
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Re: Titanium custom gravel build
Finished and tested January 28, 2024, 04:37:51 AM |
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Re: Patty's Long Rant and Guide To Affordable Frames
Also I know people on this forum who are REALLY down the rabbit whole that can piece together builds for sub 2k at similar spec. I would guess the main benefit this forum has spread is education on how to get cheaper carbon wheels. Many argue wheels are the most important upgrade ATM, you can only really save serious money if you go full low budget with direct2consumer-parts from China. I built my TT-X38 with LTWOO er9, Magene powermeter and full carbon wheels + a number of 2nd hand parts (like my Sram cranks, saddle and Vittoria tires) for less than 2.5k EUR. But to do that, you're required to invest A LOT of time researching parts, be prepared to deal with problems when building the bike up and you need to take the risk that customer service and warranty might be troublesome or even more or less non existent. I mean, there's a GIANT concept store in my city. For not that much more money, I could probably walk in there, grab a bike and come back and have the shop deal with issues, should there be any. But for me, this is also about the journey. I like to come up with the idea of "my dream bike", source all the parts and think every little detail through and then build up something that I couldn't buy anywhere else and that potentially no one else has. January 30, 2024, 01:00:15 AM |
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Re: Patty's Long Rant and Guide To Affordable Frames
Is there anyone else on here who just rides for fitness? I actually don't follow bike brands, components, etc. as long as it's functional and hits a target price point. I just try to make sure my bike fit is good, mechanics are pristine and weight+aero positioning is optimized. I'd rather focus on nutrition, rest recovery, cardio and strength training. Plus I guess I'm more down the rabbit hole than most, since I can take advantage of questionable weight limited components and smaller/stiffer bike frames. I somewhat enjoy trying obscure and unknown bike frames/parts!
January 30, 2024, 11:57:37 AM |
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Re: Chinese Carbon 29er Pic Thread.
Here are pictures of my recent build. super happy with the outcome and really like the frame. 2023 Carbonda FM1001 Frame LG 2023 Fox 34 Performance Elite 44mm 140mm fork 185x55 Rockshox Deluxe Select+ Raceface Kash Money Bars 770mm PNW Components Loam Grips XL Raceface Aeffect 50mm Stem Fox Transfer Factory 150mm Dropper PNW Components Dropper Remote WTB Rocket Seat Raceface Turbine 175mm Cranks Raceface Cinch BB Look X-Track Race Pedals SRAM NX Derailleur w/ Eagle XX1 b bolt upgrade SRAM GX 12 speed shifter Bontrager Line Elite 30 Carbon Rear Bontrager Rapid Drive 108T Rear Hub Bontrager Line Comp 30 front Ultralight Rear Cassette ZTTO 12S 50T XD Cassette Rainbow 375g III PRO E4 4 piston Front/Rear Brakes Hope Race Pads - Green Shimano Ice Tech 203mm rotors Front/Rear Continental Kryptotal Re 2.4 Trail Rear Continental Kryptotal Fr 2.4 Trail Front February 01, 2024, 02:35:14 PM |
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Re: Another Seaboard GR02
That is actually a very nice looking frame and a really good looking build ! congrats and enjoy it !
February 03, 2024, 02:10:39 PM |
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Re: Titanium custom gravel build
The more I see it and ride it, the more I am tempted to get rid of all the other bikes. It is such a perfect fit and the ride quality so good both on road and off-road (once you bring down the pressure of those knobby Cinturato S/M tires)
February 03, 2024, 02:20:39 PM |
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