BXT Gravel 135

[Sebastian]

I got my frameset today.
Size 52 in pink. I received it exactly one month after placing the order. It took them around ten days to ship it to Germany.
I paid 380EUR for this in the summer sale and another 50EUR for shipping including customs clearance. That's a very fair price for what you get IMO.
This is nothing special, just a well made frame with all the neat little integrated mounts you could want. I really like it.
It's surprisingly well finished inside. There are no wrinkles, no obvious inconsistencies in carbon wall thickness. The carbon fork steerer is super clean and perfectly round. The BB shell has been faced and there's no paint overspray. The brake mounts have been faced as well but I might have to remove some more paint to get it just right. Headset seems solid.
The weight is nothing to write home about but I didn't expect it to be: 500g bang on for the painted fork (uncut). Roughly 1150g for the frame including all the bolts and the seatpost clamp. That's heavy but alright. I just wanted a sturdy gravel frame.
The worst about it is the paintjob. It's alright, but nothing special.
But all in all this is A LOT for less than 400 quid (shipping not included).

I'm in the process of building it already. Unfortunately, my old wheelset has a front hub for 15mm thru axles. I need a conversion kit with different end caps to get it to fit into the fork dropouts. I had a reduction sleeve from 15 to 12 and thought that's gonna work. But the end caps are too big to slide into the fork drop outs, so I need to convert it.

I'll keep everyone posted.

[Kobayagi]

Hey, where did you find this frame for that price? Looking forward to seeing the build.

[Sebastian]

I bought it in the “BXT Official Store” on Aliexpress.
Like I said: It was on sale and I specifically liked the mounting points e.g for mudguards in the rear and the fact that it uses a conventional seatpost. I’m building this for my wife and I might have to swap components to dial in the fit. Also, I can use a number of components from the parts bin. So that’s a bonus. It’ll be all road focused with 38c tires and a 1x groupset.

[Kobayagi]

Yeah i was looking at the same frame, so I know how much it usually costs. The cheapest offer I can find right now in the official Aliex store is 599 eur and 119 eur for Shipping to France. That's why I asked how you found such a good deal.

[raisinberry777]

Yeah i was looking at the same frame, so I know how much it usually costs. The cheapest offer I can find right now in the official Aliex store is 599 eur and 119 eur for Shipping to France. That's why I asked how you found such a good deal.

There are multiple versions of this frame - the ones that include a seatpost and handlebars are more expensive. The cheapest version is the frameset only. Pretty sure it's this listing:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004622346065.html

[Sebastian]

Exactly. I bought it without handlebar and seatpost which is obviously the cheapest version you can get.
I was planning on using stuff from the parts bin anyway, so that was a welcome opportunity.
Also, note that the prices on Aliexpress include VAT which will be deducted once you go through with the order in your cart. The price displayed for this offer was 460 EUR, but once I went through with the payment it was 382 EUR.
I then specifically asked the seller for a quote for shipping costs, which I always do. The price for "seller's shipping method" you see in the shipping options is not always accurate. So I paid roughly 50EUR for tax free shipping on top (I think it was 52 USD).

[Kobayagi]

There are multiple versions of this frame - the ones that include a seatpost and handlebars are more expensive. The cheapest version is the frameset only. Pretty sure it's this listing:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004622346065.html

Thank you. The link unfortunately doesn't display properly for me, but I will be paying more attention to frame only ads.

Also, note that the prices on Aliexpress include VAT which will be deducted once you go through with the order in your cart. The price displayed for this offer was 460 EUR, but once I went through with the payment it was 382 EUR.
I then specifically asked the seller for a quote for shipping costs, which I always do. The price for "seller's shipping method" you see in the shipping options is not always accurate. So I paid roughly 50EUR for tax free shipping on top (I think it was 52 USD).

Thank you. That's all good advice. Appreciate it.

[Sebastian]

Finally, here it is: It's been built already a couple of weeks ago but it took me a while to find mudguards that I like and to fit them in a way so they look neat.

The build process was the easiest I've had so far with a D2C frame from China. My first impression as to how clean this frame is finished (apart from the paintjob maybe) carried through all the way to finalizing the build. No issues whatsoever. Brake setup was easy. No headset play. No problems with the BSA shell. The BB screwed right in.

I got a 1stgen HED Ardennes wheelset for an incredible 85 EUR. Inspecting it closely, I realized that these HED branded hubs are indeed just some regular old Novatecs. And sure enough I could convert the front hub from 15 to 12mm thru axles by using some Novatec end caps.
I also converted the rear hub from a Shimano HG freehub to Sram XD with Novatec parts I had still lying around (I use more or less only Novatec hubs on my wheel builds).

The bike is a beautiful Franken-build that works perfectly together: LTWOO gr9 mechanical levers with Zrace XG calipers, a Zrace (Rotor copy) crankset with an Aliexpress direct mount chainring, a Shimano GRX rear derailleur and a Sram 10-42 cassette.

Tires are Pirelli Cinturato Allroad. They measure around 38mm in width on these rather narrow 20 internal (by today's standards) HED rims.

Mudguards are Curana C-Lite with Ass Savers mudflaps. The set is very light at just shy of 400g. The entire bike as pictured including the rather heavy flat mount pedals, cages, garmin mount etc. weighs 9.1kg. The wheels weigh somewhere around 1750g. It could easily be half a kilo lighter but it's not an important factor for me.

My significant other rode it a couple of times already. It fits her well and she loves it.
My goal was to build a modern allroad randonneur kind of bike that is versatile and capable for someone getting into riding. This frame fits this purpose perfectly. I can absolutely recommend it. In fact if I didn't own a custom steel gravel frame already, I wouldn't hesitate getting another one for myself.

The fact that it still has a round seatpost and a regular bar and stem obviously makes it a lot easier to adjust the fit in the future if needed.
The integrated fender mounts are a cool touch that other frames don't always have (especially not down inbetween the chainstays).

[jonathanf2]

I think I'm going to pull the trigger on the BXT 135. I regret not buying it last year during the 11.11 sale. BXT raised the prices for 2024. I was considering several frames, but the 135 checks most of my boxes for features.

[Sebastian]

The price is crazy atm. They raised it prior to the 11.11 sale. Like I said, I paid 380EUR not including shipping. If you can get that sort of price, I say it’s a steal for this frame. Obviously I don’t have long term experience, though.

The build was super cheap because I was able to use heaps of parts that I still had lying around from earlier builds. In the age of proprietary parts, all my regular seatposts, bars and stems collect dust. And nobody wants them.
I also bought a number of things used such as the cranks, the cassette and the RD. And obviously the HED wheelset.

[jonathanf2]

The price is crazy atm. They raised it prior to the 11.11 sale. Like I said, I paid 380EUR not including shipping. If you can get that sort of price, I say it’s a steal for this frame. Obviously I don’t have long term experience, though.

The build was super cheap because I was able to use heaps of parts that I still had lying around from earlier builds. In the age of proprietary parts, all my regular seatposts, bars and stems collect dust. And nobody wants them.
I also bought a number of things used such as the cranks, the cassette and the RD. And obviously the HED wheelset.

That's the one area where this BXT frame shines. There's nothing proprietary and I have spare components laying around, should make a for an easy build. 11.11 prices have come in, the frame should be $409 USD (before tax) and that's also not including 11.11 coupons or coin deals. Standard shipping to the US is free.

Did you pay for expedited shipping? BXT told me it would be $40 USD extra.

[Sebastian]

I paid 52 USD for shipping to Germany including customs clearance. Which is  considerably cheaper than what I paid with other sellers.