That is one absolutely breathtaking build. Guessing it came in around 8-8,5 kg with those big tires? Wheels look sick by the way, where did you get them?

I went and sprung for a set of these Kore hubs as they were priced very nicely and i figured it would be worth a punt. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008666087905.html

Will compare them to some of the standard Goldix offerings and see how they hold up.

Speaking of bleed kits, my mineral bleed kit has always been a little janky. I've jerry rigged a little ring to fit around the end of the tubing which attaches to the nipple from the syringe, but it's not really doing it's job very well and i always get a little spillage at the caliper.

Park's BKM 1.2 kit has a specific little Shimano hose-end nipple that i would really love to have, but i haven't seen anything like it listed on Ali, and there are so many bleedkits with a lot of different plastic jank where none can really show clearly if such an item is included. Any tips?

I would also add the re-sellability is an issue to consider. Shimano groupsets have a set hierarchy and a measurable aftermarket price. You know exactly what you can charge for a used, good condition carbon (chiner!) frame with a 6800, 7020 or 8120 groupset. With a chiner groupset: much less so. It would also be inviting lowball offers, struggle for value retention and not least it would help cast your frame or wheels in a "cheaper" light.

So, sometimes you can come across listings on Aliex that have stock based in Europe. For people like me, based in Europe, that kind of stuff can entirely make or break a good deal. So i thought i would put up a thread here where one can share decent purchases shipped from closer to home, to save money, time and the environment.

I needed an upgrade on my cheap old truing stand, and have been wanting to spring for one of them fancier Centrimaster copies you can find on ali for around €100-150. The shipping on these things usually comes in at around the same (around €100 minimum), and i had in fact ordered one in the summer (at sale for €190 w/shipping) only for the shipment logistics to get killed on the way.

That's why i was chuffed to find one during the black friday sale period, which was stored in Czech Republic. It arrived 10 days after ordering at a final price with tax for €117. Listing here if anyone's curious: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005270626539.html

I have just ordered one of these frames, gonna try to find the time to build it up before springtime comes.

Been looking at that Zrace Unchained crankset, how do you like it? Does anyone know how it compares to the similar style LEESE cranksets?

Looking at fitting mine with a standard GRX setup, but not settled just yet.

I have bought both Senicx and Kactus ceramic T47 BBs, no complaints. Senicx have much higher quality construction than Kactus. Cheaper ZTTO BBs have been fine too. No complaints. Just remember to generously grease threads when installing.

Quick tip, if there's an item you really like leave it in your AliEx cart for awhile and check periodically. Sometimes the system will automatically give you an exclusive discount separate from the store vendor or even other AliEx deals.

My cart always has like 50 items in it for this reason - And to pick up coins discounts in the discount finder, though this can get wonky with a big cart.

Also, for most sales where you can't "collect" the code but have to copy it, i usually go to checkout on desktop with a large sum (it will not let you paste a code for ca. 600$ if you don't have the amount to check out) and enter every code for the current sale so that it applies automatically and i don't miss out on anything.