With all due respect, Making America Great Again is more important to me than poor shifting $25 cassettes.

Over 4 years of doing this whole YouTube thing. And still the only brands I can convince folks here to buy from are Winspace, Yoeleo, and to some extent FarSports. That's literally it. The western brand culture has a powerful stronghold here. Rightfully so with local dealer support. But there seems to be a proven trust with those aforementioned brands versus me trying to explain how they could save money with TanTan, Light Bicycle, or VeloBuild.

Branding and customer experience is still important to those who don't waste hours on the internet like myself.

This is a controversial take, but I've noticed that the rise in ultra affordable frames has inadvertently made cheap frames the "fast fashion" of bike trends. Disposal if you will. You may love your affordable frame but you may also find yourself just wanting "a little more." This is perfectly normal. I felt this way with my original VeloBuild 168. Might be a good idea to just save a little more to ultimately get the frame you really want. A frame you'll be happy to keep for years.

Thanks everyone for the feedback, I agree that the extra $ for the branding probably isn't worth it, other than slightly better customer service and more reviews. Although I really dont plan on reselling either unless the bike doesnt fit (still a newbie when it comes to fit, but using bikeinsights to compare dimensions). Ill take a look into speeder, serge. And Macedingle, if you dont mind me asking, how much did you pay for the t1550 frame during black friday?

Took around a week for me to ship to where I live.

Same. a riveted FD hanger would've been nice for longevity, but seeing its a budget frame can't really complain.

And home trainer xD. I wonder how much Magene is doing in house against how much they use subcontractors. I find a lot of their product is similar to Geodid for example and a cheaper variant of their home trainer is offered by Decathlon.