First bike build, Carbonda CFR 505 SL

[demeaux]

That's really helpful thanks.


What are the headsets like?

[Lapskaus]

Yes. The axles are good: they are lightweight and durable. I would opt for them to make sure you have the right dimensions.
The headset is standard FSA ACR dimensions. My experience with headset bearings is that for longevity it's mainly a matter of putting loads of sticky grease on them to avoid water ingress rather then choosing the relatively more expensive branded (from FSA, canecreek) ones over the cheaper ones.

[jfcb]

Between farsports (FS) and light-bicycle (LB): whatever you choose, you cant go wrong with both of them. I believe LB has a bit more high-end options with their flyweight rims, but since the price of FS is unbeatable, I often end up with them. They just offer a large variety of excellent rims (and wheels). I'm using their gravel rims for 2-3 years now on all sorts of terrain and so far they have been indestructible. 
Last black friday, I ordered a FS wheelset for a friend similar to the ones I'm using:RD261 hubs, Pillar 1420 spokes, alloy nipples and fs50/30g hookless gravel rims -> 1350gr -> 800EUR incl shipping because of their Black Friday deal. Those hubs are similar to the DT swiss style hubs with similar freehub system. 

On the chainring size: likely since I used a 2X spider and installed it on the outer ring to make it 1X, you can go easily up to 50T. If you would use a 1X specific crankset, the chainring ends up in the middle of where a small and large chainring would come, so I imagine the space is less.

[demeaux]

Sorry for asking more questions - I'm speaking with Carbonda, what mounting points does the SL come with?
I don't want frame warts all over the place, i only need two bottle holders rather than fork mounts, bb mount, top tube mount etc.

[Lapskaus]

AFAIK 2 bottle cages and front derailleur on the frame and bike computer mounting point on the handlebar. None for bike packing etc.

[demeaux]

email from Wing (v fast)
bottle cages and one under the bb.

[jfcb]

email from Wing (v fast)
bottle cages and one under the bb.

correct.

[Lapskaus]

After purchasing the frame I am currently sourcing the rest of my build. While doing so I came across a problem when buying stuff on aliexpress. There are sometimes several listings for the same item:

• Goldix 10-36T XDR Cassette | Ali Cycling Store -> 77,39€
• Goldix 10-36T XDR Cassette | Goldix Store -> 105,39€

I did enough research to at least trust that the goldix cassette is a good enough alternative to the original SRAM cassette. Is there a rule of thumb, that I should avoid non official stores? Is it safe to buy from the other store or are there too many fakes? What makes me especially skeptical is that the weight is listet alot lower on the "Ali cycling store" than on the official one.

[jfcb]

It will be the same product, but concerning weight: yes likely it's better to rely on the weight provided by Goldix.

[demeaux]

Sorry to keep asking questions in here - but it seems like the right place:
is there internal routing for a dynamo on this frame?

[Lapskaus]

I don't know, but I don't think so. I can not verify that as my frame has not arrived yet. Best ask Carbonda, they answered relatively quickly even during their holidays.

[Chiyou]

Is there a rule of thumb, that I should avoid non official stores?

I think the concept of 'official' stores is fraught with uncertainty. It is my impression that store owners can name their store pretty much anything they want, no matter whether they are affiliated with a given brand or not. Which doesn't mean that factory stores don't exist on AliExpress but it's difficult to discern what is what. It's probably safest to assume that there isn't any direct affiliation between a store and a brand unless there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary - more likely than not it's just an enterprising store owner trying to lure in unwitting customers by using the brand name.

The store very well may purchase their goods from the brand but so can anyone, no matter whether they are called Official Brand Gold Store or Sundries and Scented Candles 60 Designer Store.

[Lapskaus]

I just found out, that there seems to be a kind of certificate from AliExpress called "Top Brands".

From AliExpress:

Top Brands are top-rated stores on AliExpress. When you're shopping at these stores, you're either directly buying from the brand itself or from an authorized reseller.

According to most articles I found about this, TopBrands are verified sellers and you can be relatively sure that, if you buy from a TopBrand, you get the real deal. I guess that doesn't help alot in finding out if the 20% lower priced non top brand store sells fakes or not, but still.