Full Alibaba Bike - recommendations?

[asdqwerqew543]

As the title suggests, I'm looking to order a full bike or parts from china. I'm curious what specs, components I should be looking for, or to avoid and any anecdotes about brands, parts, etc.


Examples of bikes I've found. There seems to be a lot of this brand from different sellers:
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/700C-105-groupsets-22-speed-gravel_62113041830.html
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/700C-25c-tire-carbon-t900-gravel_62511067559.html

[j_spline]

I recently joined the forum and interested in getting a complete bike too (would be my first road bike) but I am skeptical about the price of the bikes you linked. I mean, for starters how would you know if the groupset is an authentic Shimano 105? Seems a little too good to be true. In general, where do the suppliers usually skimp on the quality to meet the price point?

From what I've read on this forum so far, it seems like people only go for individual frames / groupsets / rims when going down the aliexpress route. Why aren't the complete bikes more popular?

[cst_jpr]

I recently joined the forum and interested in getting a complete bike too (would be my first road bike) but I am skeptical about the price of the bikes you linked. I mean, for starters how would you know if the groupset is an authentic Shimano 105? Seems a little too good to be true. In general, where do the suppliers usually skimp on the quality to meet the price point?

From what I've read on this forum so far, it seems like people only go for individual frames / groupsets / rims when going down the aliexpress route. Why aren't the complete bikes more popular?

These are the claimed 105 components:
Derailleur Handle   SHIMANO 105/R7000-22S
Front Derailleur   SHIMANO 105/R7000
Rear Derailleur   SHIMANO 105/R7000

The rest are not 105 and likely inferior (crankset, chain, etc.). You can click on the seller reviews and see some comments from purchasers, although they are not terribly detailed.
Personally I do not buy a complete bike, because I want to fit specific components to it, most of which would not match what this vendor is using.

I have not seen fake Shimano 105 shifters, but maybe someone else can comment if they have.

[j_spline]

The rest are not 105 and likely inferior (crankset, chain, etc.).

Yes I agree, but at the pricepoint of $500 USD I can't really complain and would upgrade over time as the off-brand components inevitably wear out.

Personally I do not buy a complete bike, because I want to fit specific components to it, most of which would not match what this vendor is using.

Can you elaborate on what wouldn't work with this bike as far as upgrades go? So that I can know what to look for in the future. I tried to spec out a complete build on a Seraph (Tantan) 2021 TT-X3 frame, which looks nearly identical to this Twitter frame - however, the frameset alone would be $355. So you could probably see why I would lean toward getting a full bike for now to start with, and then upgrade parts of it later as needed.

[cst_jpr]

Yes I agree, but at the pricepoint of $500 USD I can't really complain and would upgrade over time as the off-brand components inevitably wear out.

My concern about off-brand components is not wearing out but failing prematurely.

Can you elaborate on what wouldn't work with this bike as far as upgrades go? So that I can know what to look for in the future. I tried to spec out a complete build on a Seraph (Tantan) 2021 TT-X3 frame, which looks nearly identical to this Twitter frame - however, the frameset alone would be $355. So you could probably see why I would lean toward getting a full bike for now to start with, and then upgrade parts of it later as needed.

I don't think anything specifically would not work, its likely using standard components. The only exception being the aero seatpost, which you would not normally replace.
I just don't want to buy something, immediately strip half the parts off, and then replace them.

Ask them for a shipping quote and see if its reasonable for you.

[j_spline]

Ask them for a shipping quote and see if its reasonable for you.

I did this and they said minimum order is 20 pieces lol. No wonder the price was that good

[cst_jpr]

I did this and they said minimum order is 20 pieces lol. No wonder the price was that good

They state "sample 1 piece" on the page, and people have ordered one in the reviews. But maybe at this time they are busy and don't want to deal with single orders? not sure.