Interesting Aliexpress finds! - good deals, interesting stuff, new products etc!

[ChrisB]

Thank you for the update and the image of the damaged crank.
Going to check mine carefully around that area... but I think there is no such damage on mine.
Let us know how your fix works for you.

BR Chris

[jonathanf2]

Thank you for the update and the image of the damaged crank.
Going to check mine carefully around that area... but I think there is no such damage on mine.
Let us know how your fix works for you.

BR Chris

I think the the crack formed because I was forced to use the spacers to get my 2x chainring aligned properly. It put uneven clamping pressure on the Racework carbon crank arm. Having the 2 bolts on one side was probably the design work around using a carbon crank arm with a 24mm Shimano style spindle design. I don't think it would be an issue on a 1x setup since you don't have to worry about chainring rub. Also my reasoning for going with a 12 speed chain is due to these AliEx chainrings being used across 10/11/12 speed drive trains. My guess is that they opt for aggressive ramping pins to cover the range. 12 speed probably requiring the longest ramping pins due to being the thinnest chain.

I think the solution if you need to use the BB spacers is to not use the Racework left crank arm. Leave it in the drawer and stomach the 50g weight penalty using an alloy crank arm in exchange for better durability. Even with this mix-n-match setup, I'm still under 600g for a 2x crankset.

Now I'm just waiting for some dry weather to go ride consistently since S. California has been raining all month!

[ChrisB]

Interesting information... I tried mine on my 105 Di2 / 12 speed setup, but it would not work due to the Sygeyi PM rubbing agains the BB housing of the frame.
No way to fix that with spacers, I made a short trial but decided it was not safe to do so.

On my 1x11 Sensah Pro drivetrain with 386BB it seems to work perfect.
But will know only after the first longer rides...

BR Chris

[jonathanf2]

Interesting information... I tried mine on my 105 Di2 / 12 speed setup, but it would not work due to the Sygeyi PM rubbing agains the BB housing of the frame.
No way to fix that with spacers, I made a short trial but decided it was not safe to do so.

On my 1x11 Sensah Pro drivetrain with 386BB it seems to work perfect.
But will know only after the first longer rides...

BR Chris

I'm on a threaded BSA setup on my road bike, so I can use BB spacers that Racework sells. Though I'm thinking I might give these style spacers a try which puts the spacer between the crank arms and BB. This way my BSA BB is fully threaded into the BB shell. These might also work on PF BB.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BB6Z3TND

[jonathanf2]

A couple photos of the mix-n-match Racework crankset with a Shimano Ultegra R8000 crank arm. Also a few shots utilizing the Racework supplied BB and 3 spacers.

[coffeebreak]

Received RXL SL handlebar from Amazon today and quickly got to install it. First off, the internal cabling is a joke - you get to hide all off about 8 inches or less cable coverage and the holes are rough. I had to file every inlet/outlet before I could put cables thru.

But that's not the major issue, after installing I found that these are overly flexible. The ones that came with my VB frame are exponentially better. There is not even a contest.

These go for $45-50 on Amazon and & $40 on A-ex. These look copies of a Toseek model on A-ex. Wonder if Toseek would have been a better choice. Any how,
You have been warned.

[s3si1u]

Curious what you think of the carbon cage ... usually they're avoided because of later flex which causes problems.

I didn't see much in the way of lateral flex on the one test ride I took, but I've already removed it because there's very little clearance between this cage and the chain with the stock pulley wheels. Wouldn't be surprised if it started rubbing. Perhaps the J&L pulleys would fit better, but I'd rather not use those. Oh well, probably shouldn't have bought this one 

[00Garza]

Received RXL SL handlebar from Amazon today

I was under the impression any chinese carbon branded RXL was just a knockoff of the old Bontrager RXL line of products. Or just using that name for recognition.

I had Toseek aero handlebar on my road bike and they were ok. Routing was a pain.

[coffeebreak]

I had Toseek aero handlebar on my road bike and they were ok. Routing was a pain.

Last month I converted one of my bikes to flatbar and I used Toseek bar. The quality was excellent, no flex at all, came with an "authentic" hologram sticker and all. Just a great bar overall on the cheap. That made me think it is one of the better brands on Aliex. But of course, flatbar vs dropbar I should not be making blanket assumptions. I might just go with tried and tested VB bar to hide me cables.

[coffeebreak]

I have been wanting some accents on otherwise plain looking bike of me. Not Ali-ex but I found these tiny flag stickers on etsy - https://www.etsy.com/listing/623422788/american-flag-united-states-flag-usa

They have all other flags too.

[jonathanf2]

Finally got some sunny weather where I'm at. I took the Racework crankset out for a test ride. Feels lighter, and spinning felt pretty good on the cranks. This Racework chainring also rides/shifts well. Maybe it's in combination with the 12 speed chain? Anyways, hopefully I can get more miles in for a long term review. The seller agreed to send me a replacement left crank arm after the holiday so I'm going to keep them now.

[Tijoe]

A couple spare 32 tooth 104BCD wide/narrow 1X chain rings I ordered arrived today in record time.  (11 days.)  For $5 bucks a pop, who cares if they wear fast.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803939436080.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.11.1eb11802MKVQkp&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa&_randl_shipto=US

[jonathanf2]

I actually ordered 2 Racework carbon cranksets. My 2nd one arrived and I bought this one with a 1x 44t chainring to go on my 1x road/gravel bike. 1x was definitely less of hassle with no FD to worry about and this frame comes with a PF BB386. I replaced a GRX 600 1x 42t crank setup. I was also super careful to mount the left crank arm using my torque wrench in small increments. I torqued it at around 4-6nm. The crank arm that cracked was torqued at 8nm, so I'm being extra careful. I'm also using Wolf Tooth crank arm protection tape on this crankset.  I've contacted Racework to get exact torque specs. The contact said he/she will get back to me after the holiday.

[hahel]

Anyone has experience with A-Ex gloves? Need pointers. I need to rethink my glove buying strategy. Second pair of the set (Specialized) I bought on 4th July 2022 has given up today. That's $50 every 3-4 months. Not sure if that is the expected life from road gloves but to me that sounds terrible.
The first pair developed holes on index and middle finger and on the cushion of the thumb and I retired them around October. The second pair now has hole on index finger tip of left hand and is disintegrating around the rubber pads. My thought process was to not skimp on products like this (gloves, bibs, shorts etc) and always get a good name brand stuff. Now I am thinking how bad those $5-10 gloves will be off of Amazon?

I've had good experiences with "FireLion" shortfingerd gloves from Ali, i have pairs that been in rotation since 2016.
At the time of purchase it was one of the few brands that had sizes large enough for me (XXL).

[coffeebreak]

Thanks. Like everyone mentioned earlier sizing is odd on these Chinese gloves which I found to be applicable to many other Asian apparels. I will look for this brand you mentioned. Just to make sure, what size do you wear normally? How much did you have to upsize?