Never had issues. Ordered a 105 2x12 Di2 set from anrancee cycling store (which i find to have some of the best Shimano stuff on aliex) and it arrived in a few weeks, all fine. Have also purchased an Ultegra Di2 set second hand from another dude who got it off AliEx. Definetly legit stuff.

Would be interested to hear if anyone had any bad experiences with this to be frank!

Cheers for the input! And appreciate that this dumbass project gets to impose on your sleep, haha.

I guess it should be noted that the wheels, when done right, would do a lot for the overall look. I was sort of expecting something like what Trek has done with their Icon series sort of paints, but i guess a case is being made for them being just as underwhelming IRL and that all the promo pictures just make them look way too good.



Either way. Not disappointed really, but torn between just completing this, ironing out the kinks in this build (can't wait to figure out the chainline on the 5mm too wide crankset) and calling it the first iteration - or just perfecting this on the first go with a different frame.

Wheels are easy. Any supplier such as TanTan or Lightcarbon will paint your rims any color you want.
White wheels from LC:
https://www.lightcarbon.com/lightcarbon-non-paint-road-disc-wheels-super-light-full-carbon-spoke-wheels-anti-scratch_p249.html

Cheers, thank you!

I have been in touch with several manufacturers and different sellers on AliEx these last days, and it seems my biggest problem simply is these stupid MTB-specific hubs. There is little will to cooperate between decent-looking carbon rims and MTB standards, and anything close to what i would want (even white or something like the picture below) with 28 or 32 holes would force me to put in an order for at least a 1000....!



So, we have to find a way to make this work. Luckily, i found someone who did more or less that, with some Bitex hubs. Appearantly a dude in the US has these ordered in bulk and in funny colors, so when i found this here listing (https://www.bikehubstore.com/product-p/bx106fr-os.htm) and found out i could get the set of them home here for around $300 i figured, you know, whatever. It costs like 5-6 times as much as the stupid Tanke/Koozer MTB hubs but at least i'll get to build some proper road wheels, and finally maybe persuade someone over there to sell me some of those rims like that Dragon Bike thing earlier in this thread had.

Mate, hate to break it to you, but I think "Dragon Bikes" beat you to it ...

They don't have the transparent bar tape though!

Source:

Code: [Select]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvUlH2JOUm8&t=1048s

Well well well! Someone out there is reading this thread, haha!

Not miffed about this at all of course, i'm not expecting this build to be a first-ever invention for sure. That thing looks brilliant though.

For a while i considered a bespoke seatpost/frame set but i tend to dislike non-standard parts like that and opted for the standard seatpost solution, mainly because aluminium oil slicked parts have to look better than the painted carbon counterparts.

For this build, we will be looking at a bit of a different (and certainly way jankier) feel, and, dare i say it - MORE slick parts than pictured! Chain, cassette, spacers and screws, details on the gruppo, hubs and spokes!

That Dragon bike has one thing which i really would want though. Them rims!

So another big order went in at the tail end of the last mini-sale here, for all the tiny bits & bobs that are available in oilslick color. Lots of Risk stuff, lots of titanium, lots of useless little pieces i had from before.

This should at least also help stock up my big box of spare parts with some pristine screws and other junk. Which i likely won't ever use, like when is the last time you stripped a brifter fixing screw?

Also, as some other build projects have come around i ended up with a GRX 1x11 gruppo to spare, so that's what is going to go on this bike. I have milled back and forth for a long time about some details here. Lot of considerations to write out here, but the short part of it is i will lose out on the opportunity to get 3-4 additional screws or small parts oil slicked by making this choice (as opposed to jerry rigging a 1x12 Deore shifter and XT 8k MTB calipers), but all in all it saves me some trouble and a bit of money for very small gains. The overall impression will still be banging, and every part of the groupset will have oil slick parts on it.

There's a lot of green in the Spreadsheet now: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rijnv8PMk7xFtnipKxQlh5-QqzKrYwkKbFE4DLIcKU4/edit?usp=sharing

Just a few small pieces to go apart from the last hurdle: The wheels. Upcoming sale is gonna help settle that part of the bike, finally.

I think it was Deda who used to make a transparent version. Seems like they discontinued it. Probably too low demand. If you do not wrap it super nicely, it will look like shit 

Did not find much online either. Only this seller in Taiwan but the min. order size is 500
http://www.counion.com.tw/Clear-Handlebar-Tape-CB-0108PUH-pd6827384.html

I wrap new bartape like twice a month on average and would hope i have the technique down well enough to not make it look entirely crap... But every tape is different and things always turn out a little wonky, don't they? And looking at that stuff, it's kinda hard to tell if it will look good or just make the nice metal handlebar look dull and...cobwebby?

I'll keep a look out for that Amadeus stuff, maybe i can find a compatible/shippable listing somewhere. I see that that ebay listing at least has been offered by several different accounts, so it might not be that much of a holy grail and at $8 it's not expensive at all.

Quite giddy about this now, i must admit haha!

So a note on the drop bars. While absolutely everything is available in oil slick color, road bike drop bars simply do not exist. Anywhere. Not ebay, not Taobao, not Ali or Temu.

I find this fact extremely odd. Like, why?

After looking around for a long time, i actually found someone that has these. Singapore-based Tsunami bikes, which does singlespeeds and the like (and whose other products are readily available on AliEx, though with no official store), happen to produce one. In their so-called "Weapon" line.

The graphics and cringe level on this stuff is quite high. Imprinted with the text "Like a bullet... All the way!!!", and with a price of $70 shipped, this is by far the most expensive oil slick component that is gonna be on this bike.



As you can see, it's also gonna add to the "I'm too embarrassed to ride this"-factor, but that can only be considered a Good Thing.

It's a bit of a steep effort, i mean - not much of this bar is gonna be visible behind the bar tape. But we're doing this proper, so the order has been placed.

Meanwhile, the frame listed as "shipped" but isn't actually moving, and the tracking number doesn't seem to comply with anything. So not sure exactly what is going on, it doesn't seem to have been put into any sort of shipping system yet.

As an additional note, Surprised Store (which ended up having the best price by some $40 odd margin), contacted me to pay $40 extra for DPD shipping, correcting themselves and noting nevermind, DPD ain't available for my non-EU country anyway. Ceccotti's official store was a bit miffed that i didn't order directly from them, which i definetly will next time. But surely there's gonna be a bit of a nail-biting game waiting for that frame to come home.