Replica Factor Ostro VAM

[jerozilla]

acino & jerozilla - Thanks for chiming in. 

I bought a frame from First-class on Nov 18, which shipped on Dec 7, but the last tracking update happened on Dec 10, so it seems my frame is trapped in Aliexpress-shipping-purgatory.  IMHO this is BS since First-class charges ~ $133USD for shipping, which I naively assumed that meant it would ship via FedEx or UPS Exp).  All this has me a bit worried, especially since acino got his frame so quickly.  (I'm in the US, btw) 

acino, where in the world are you located and which shipper was used?  jerozilla, you're in Canada?

For anyone else considering buying from F-C on AliX:  I'm 99.9% sure First Class and "RK Ultra Extreme Carbon" are the same seller and probably "Mirror Carbon Fiber" Shop too.  So don't whiz in F-C cheerios and think you'll get better treatment from RK or Mirror.

That's totally normal for Aliexpress based shipping, it's really improved a lot since a couple years ago. What was your last shipping update? Updates going dead for 3 days is nothing to be concerned about. You'll basically get a bunch of dead time then exited country and then not another one until it touches your home country. I do agree that $133 shipping it should be one of the major couriers but also from my exp in Canada you're more likely to get destroyed on fees/taxes via one of those as well.

Anyone know what the blurred  out more expensive frame is on FC's page is? I'm assuming it's the Hanzo TT frame.

[jadenchinertown192]

Ha. Great eyes, I thought nobody would notice  There is about 1-1.5mm play in the headset area. The fork slipped down as I was trying to fit these very snug handlebars on the fork while the bike was lifted in the service stand. To be fair, this happens to me with every bike that I service and it takes me 2-3 tries to fix it - I guess I am doing something fundamentally wrong (maybe I should do it with the bike on the ground?) So I need to refit the handlebars and all will be good.

Inside looked pretty much exactly the same as oralmaster's, I had a thorough look with a flashlight. No bubbles, no wrinkles, no loose material. If you want, I can take couple pictures of the BB area when I refit it.

@Oralmaster: How much did you ride yours? What are your impressions in terms of how it rides?

Its really nice, I just rode it in comparison to the SL8. The power transfer is great, it feels stiffer than the sl8 aswell as stiffer than the sl7, but I do feel more road vibrations and road chatter.

[A.V.G]

That's totally normal for Aliexpress based shipping, it's really improved a lot since a couple years ago. What was your last shipping update? Updates going dead for 3 days is nothing to be concerned about. You'll basically get a bunch of dead time then exited country and then not another one until it touches your home country. I do agree that $133 shipping it should be one of the major couriers but also from my exp in Canada you're more likely to get destroyed on fees/taxes via one of those as well.
...

Hello jerozilla,
I agree that 3 days with no updates isn't a big deal, but it's been 13 days since the last tracking update, which simply reads "Arrived at linehual office"(sic).  I contacted AliX customer service today and they encouraged me to file a dispute, which I have now done. 

Did F-C give you a delivery estimate?  He initially told me 20-30 days.  I protested and I reminded him of the $133 shipping charge.  He shipped very promptly and tracking info showed it was making quick progress, which made me think he sped up the process.  Again, I'm not blaming F-C at this point, it's on the shipper to deliver the goods.

[jerozilla]

Hello jerozilla,
I agree that 3 days with no updates isn't a big deal, but it's been 13 days since the last tracking update, which simply reads "Arrived at linehual office"(sic).  I contacted AliX customer service today and they encouraged me to file a dispute, which I have now done. 

Did F-C give you a delivery estimate?  He initially told me 20-30 days.  I protested and I reminded him of the $133 shipping charge.  He shipped very promptly and tracking info showed it was making quick progress, which made me think he sped up the process.  Again, I'm not blaming F-C at this point, it's on the shipper to deliver the goods.

Initially he said 10-20 days for delivery. But knowing AliExpress I ordered on the 24th and it wasn't shipped until Dec 18th. It's moving along now says at the airport now. So I did have to toss a polite where's my frame message but communication was always prompt.