Seems like this is the new thing that will be pushed until it becomes the norm. Are there any 32" gravel or road racing frames starting to become available by OEM yet?

They are blowing this trash out on Ali right now because they are f'd.

I bought some with the chainrings way back (I posted about 1 issue way back in the thread, never followed up). The chainring would not fit on the spider because the spider was f'd and had discrepant dimensions. I eventually just filed it some and then was able to basically walk it on using the screws, the screws are also aluminum (or at least the female insert which is crazy).
Then I put a 12 speed chain on, and it would not fit at all. Tried an 11 speed, same. The teeth profiles aren't right and a f'kn bike chain wouldn't even fit, they just get jammed on because they are either too wide or the spacing is slightly off.  The height of the teeth appears very short as well.
The spindle length is some absolutely bizarre length that is in between a road and MTB spindle length that requires a ton of spacers and results with a f'd chainline.

Lexon were such pain in the asses to deal with I gave up trying to send it back.
I have their MTB crank, which actually is ok. Would not recommend even at that $50 price.

Would this crank be usable with a 1x? Or is the chainline going to be massively screwed on a frame with a BB86 or (anything for that matter...it seems like their engineers designed a MTB spindle for a road spindle by mistake)?
I need to figure out what to do, Lexon Official is being really annoying saying I need to take videos of the issues and that it's normal.
Does Aliexpress have much power over the vendors to force refund and make them pay for shipping?


Here is why the chainring doesn't fit on the spider, the depth of the tab is 0.581" in one direction and 0.562" in another (0.5mm deviation)...which is pretty bad if the ID of the tabs on the ring are uniform and meant for 0.581". 

Quote from: Tines on December 14, 2024, 03:12:43 AM
Why didn't you just send it back?

And with regards to testing the cranks when your build is done: Most of the issues repoman observed can be checked off bike I guess?

Lexon doesn't really respond to messages. I've sent them probably 4-5 messages about the chainrings not fitting the spider and just get 'did you try pressing it together?'  I shouldn't have to put a spare chain on the ring and fiddle with it to see if the chain sticks on it. I shouldn't have to put the bolts in a hardness tester to see if they are junk or not. The stuff should just work out of the box.

Most people don't know how to build up a frame/want to invest in tools.
You have to do a lot more research with OEM/Aliexpress brand stuff and you have to be prepared to get burned on bad stuff sometimes. 
You don't get dealer/warranty support.
The stuff has dubious reputation that is realistically never going to be shaken in the minds of 90% of consumers.
Lots of people don't care about the difference between a 16 lbs road bike and an 18 lbs road bike.
Resale value is basically non-existent, to the point where you are probably losing more money building up bikes with OEM stuff vs having name brand.
If I didn't enjoy building up bikes so much, I would probably not be riding OEM carbon/using Aliexpress stuff.   
The stuff is getting more and more expensive and closing in on brand pricing these days, with the coming tariffs in the USA, there might be a massive increase in the cost to the point where it is totally not worth it. An example I was reminded of was that It's basically impossible to find a bare carbon saddle these days on Aliexpress for less than 100 bucks, they are more expensive than saddles that cost a lot more to make which have 3D printed surfaces, Chinese sellers have learned that people will pay more for the lightweight stuff and are now doing the same performance per gram stuff as western brands. 7 years ago I bought a bare carbon 50g saddle for 25 dollars on Aliexpress.  A lot of groups, like non serial number stuff from Sram is now more expensive on Aliexpress than legit retailers in the West. 

Ok this thing is legit crap. Do not buy. 

The chainrings are awful, I had the issue of it not fitting, Lexon did nothing to help so I forced them together using the bolts to basically clamp them together, eventually they deformed the surfaces that were too tight to come together.

The bolts are cheap aluminum, they are marked 7075 but I don't trust that at all. They are terribly designed so there is no hex on both sides of the bolt, it is one hex head and the other has these slots, and the outside is knurled for a vise grip, but they instantly deformed when any load was applied, incredibly soft aluminum. I would not trust these bolts at all. The knurled surfaces are all marred. You need an enormous screwdriver to span the distance of the slots, these will quickly get chewed up if you remove them more than a couple times and then removing them will be a nightmare. 



The spindle length is ridiculous and requires over 1cm of spacers for a BB86.



The machining for the threads for the preload collar is terrible and 'facetted' more than actually round. It's very tight to move and feels awful. 

 

The chainring teeth are terribly profiled and suck the chain up in them.

Lexon is being irritating to deal with. The chainrings they sent with the order don't fit the spider.



 

Been trying to get someone at Lexon to deal with this for a week now and they just keep sending me a response of "can you try pressing it in?" after multiple explanations that they don't fit and I can't just 'press it in.'
There is legit interference in the fit, I'd have to file part of the chainring to get them to fit together. 
Chinese products are just getting more and more unappealing. They are moving their prices up to actual brand names but are often way more annoying to deal with.

I weighed mine: here are the weights

Arms: 170mm 357g
50/34 rings+spider: 219g
Bolts: 8g
Lockring for spider: 5g

Total: 589g Typical price seems to be $260-300

Compared to

Red E1 165mm 2x 557g $700
(difference of -32g)


Shimano Dura Ace 170mm crank 50/34 685g Typical price range is between $400 and $500
(difference of +96g)


I can't find the weight of 105 chainrings, are you sure they are lighter than 180g for the 50 and 34?

I'm seeing $400 for the new Red crank for the arms alone, $700 for 2x with a weight of 557g with 2x, 309g for arms/spindle. 
The Ti spindle with 50/34 rings and spider weigh 581g, I wound up paying $264 for them. Not in the same universe as Red E1 pricewise for a 24g penalty.

oof

Quote from: biceryder on November 29, 2024, 09:23:58 PM
I've got a set of the 30mm DUB axle cranks I got over the summer for 180.00 USD.  Running them on an old Spesh frame with BSA BB.  I just sourced a cheap BSA BB that could handle 30mm spindle.

So far no major issues.  Only noticed a minor wobble/oscillation, about 2mm. I checked the spider, couldn't find any issues.  Swapped the Stone chainrings over to Ultegra.  Reduced it significantly but I can still see or sense it.  Probably need a different spider.  I put the Stone chainraings on a different bike, no issues with oscillation.   Overall, I'm very happy.

So happy, that I ordered a set of the 24mm spindle cranks for a new build.  250.00 USD is hard to beat.  Right now they are selling for 233.00 with coupons.  I received mine today with the RYET chainrings.  Have not tested them but just an initial inspection out of the box, I'm very impressed.

Do your chainrings fit on the spider easily?

I've not owned a Hongfu MTB, but did own a road frame from them, I currently own a Lightcarbon MTB.
I think they are about the same in terms of quality.

Is anyone using this with the Ryet chainrings they sell along with it?
I bought some with it and they don't fit on the spider provided (it's too tight, I might be able to bash it on with a hammer or something but...yeah I don't really think that's good.) 

There's also an incredibly powerful chemical stench that wafted out of the box when I opened it...had to open up my garage to air it out.   

The crank arms/spindle look pretty nice. Chainrings and spider look pretty cheap compared to low end Shimano/Sram like 105/Apex.

Anyone know if this frame is UDH compatible?
Their newest frame says it is and the dropout looks the same, although on their website it doesn't list UDH for this specific frameset.

We have to pay way more in the US I guess. 

Quote from: c.etzo on November 17, 2024, 11:14:27 AM
i've paid 160€ for it  + 10€ of taxes at italian customs

When was this? That's WAY cheaper than what I get for a price on Aliexpress now in the US.