Chinertown
Chinese Carbon Road Bikes => Cyclocross Frames, Wheels & Components => Topic started by: Changebiker on May 15, 2025, 06:02:52 AM
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Kind of the antidote to my other question, asking for your favourite go-to value-for-money parts from China when building a gravel bike:
https://chinertown.com/index.php/topic,5896
Which parts don't you get from China for good reason?
- What's not worth it, What's where you don't find the quality you're looking for, where do you prefer to rely on a trusted brand?
No bashing, really just trying to hear personal opinions. E.g
On my folding bike, I ride a lot of china parts, though the carbon handlebar is from a trusted brand as I felt safer with it and a failure could easily end up fatal.
Looking forward to hear your decisions and choices!
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in my gravel build the only parts not from china are Rotors (shimano) and tyres.
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Tires. They aren't actually much cheaper (probably due to higher shipping costs for larger/heavier items) and quality is questionable. For an item that heavily impacts your ride I'm not willing to sacrifice quality for a 20€ saving.
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Chain. Why ride fakes or dubious quality for such an integral part? Genuine chains are not too expensive.
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I've tried a few Chinese chains, and they've been so-so in performance. Now I only use KMC and SRAM chains right now. They handle third party cassettes better and can safely handle the degrease and immersive wax process. I don't like Shimano chains for immersive wax and they seem more prone to rust once degreased. I buy my tires locally because it's cheaper. Other than that most Chineseparts can be used reliably and in some cases are even superior in performance.
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- I ususally find a better deal on cranks in the german "buy&sell" than on aliexpress.
A pair of Easton EC90 SL can regularly be found for 120 € (slightly used or as new), they weigh 360 g. Chinese cranks (leese, etc.) are a bit heavier and pricier, or a bit lighter but much more expensive (Exception: Short cranks, 165 mm and shorter. They're basically not available in the used market).
- I couldn't find any good pedals on Aliexpress yet.
- Chains
- Computers
That's it :)
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There aren't any good Chinese chain, rotor, brake pad or tire brands AFAIK - echoing others.
KMC and YBN are good obviously, but they're Taiwanese.
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Tires, bottle cages and pedals (for the later two, Chiner products are okay but not perfectly smooth)
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Chinese branded tyres - no way.
Branded OEM tyres - absolutely (eg continental terra trails, continental grand sport). Been using them on both my road and gravel bike and they have been flawless.
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what I don't get from china:
- Tires-> cheaper and more high performance in Europe
- Groupset: shifters, derailleur, crank-> if you want to go one level above 105 or rival you're better of with SRAM/Shimano. Also I'm a big fan of the sram red cranksets (with chinese powermeter of course 8))
- Chains: YBN might be the best option in china, but with respect to durability it's not even close to Shimano Ultegra or SRAM Force chains
- Pedals: Shimano is still install and forget while the aliexpress variants lack durability.
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- I ususally find a better deal on cranks in the german "buy&sell" than on aliexpress.
A pair of Easton EC90 SL can regularly be found for 120 € (slightly used or as new), they weigh 360 g. Chinese cranks (leese, etc.) are a bit heavier and pricier, or a bit lighter but much more expensive (Exception: Short cranks, 165 mm and shorter. They're basically not available in the used market).
Someone in the liked thread about vfm go-to recommendations mentioned those, very similar in price and weight
https://a.aliexpress.com/_EHGAnPC