Interesting Aliexpress finds! - good deals, interesting stuff, new products etc!

[jonathanf2]

I just received my Onirii CD-02 center lock disc rotors and took them on a 31 mile ride which included climbing and fast descents. I'm thoroughly impressed. They brake well and look cool. Also they make a whooshing sound when hard braking on the downhill. Not sure if there's any performance benefit, but it didn't hurt the braking performance either. Weight of rotors was about 102g, lockring was 9g. Though I opted to use my Shimano lockring that uses the cassette tool (as opposed to a BB tool) which is about 11g.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804246204984.html

I also picked up an UNO AL7050 stem. Mounted with titanium stem bolts, it comes under sub 100g easily. Fit and finish are top notch as well. The bar clamp comes with two separate pieces. Clamp fit is clean with barely any gaps.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803385990783.html

On a side note, I guess Chinese cycling gear is starting to become more popular. On a group ride this morning, a few cyclists were really curious about my setup since they've been watching YT channels like China Cycling. If Panda Podium takes off and can offer solid support, it might help open the door to a wider audience.

[dsveddy]

2 months in on the Onirii CD02 rotors checking in here. I've put in about 500 miles on them so far. I'll echo the same thoughts, they're nice and super light rotors for the price. Only thing I'll knock them for is size of the holes, they're so large I think they're actually losing potential surface area for shedding heat, I've gotten them to temporarily warp to the point they hit the pads when released after some heavy braking a few times. I also question if their design acts as a cheese grater on my brake pads. I don't live in a mountainous area so heat management is not really an issue for me. To their credit they bounce back after getting heated, which means the floating rotor design is working as intended. I've done a couple of races in the lower mountains in the northeast with huge braking zones and they didn't have major issues beyond a little temporary warp. But I would probably feel nervous coming down a long series of switchbacks.

[jonathanf2]

2 months in on the Onirii CD02 rotors checking in here. I've put in about 500 miles on them so far. I'll echo the same thoughts, they're nice and super light rotors for the price. Only thing I'll knock them for is size of the holes, they're so large I think they're actually losing potential surface area for shedding heat, I've gotten them to temporarily warp to the point they hit the pads when released after some heavy braking a few times. I also question if their design acts as a cheese grater on my brake pads. I don't live in a mountainous area so heat management is not really an issue for me. To their credit they bounce back after getting heated, which means the floating rotor design is working as intended. I've done a couple of races in the lower mountains in the northeast with huge braking zones and they didn't have major issues beyond a little temporary warp. But I would probably feel nervous coming down a long series of switchbacks.

I think for road the Onirii CD-02 rotors work well. I'd be curious to try these ZRace rotors though for my gravel bike. They look to emulate the Shimano Ice Tech rotors for heat dissipation:

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804876527784.html

[wwnero]

Can someone send me an aliexpress link to stores selling legit YBN 11 speed chains please.

I recently bought a shimano 11s chain as a backup from Ali and am only now realizing it’s a fake. I bought it from “preference cycling store” who had pretty good reviews for the chain but looks like the people reviewing it are not able to tell. The key giveaways were that the check mark at the front of the box on the bottom is printed (should be done by hand) and the quick link is in the same package as the chain (should be separate). I’ve read some good stuff about YBN chains, so I think I will give that a try instead

[kbernstein]

Can someone send me an aliexpress link to stores selling legit YBN 11 speed chains please.

I recently bought a shimano 11s chain as a backup from Ali and am only now realizing it’s a fake. I bought it from “preference cycling store” who had pretty good reviews for the chain but looks like the people reviewing it are not able to tell. The key giveaways were that the check mark at the front of the box on the bottom is printed (should be done by hand) and the quick link is in the same package as the chain (should be separate). I’ve read some good stuff about YBN chains, so I think I will give that a try instead

https://aliexpress.com/item/1005004864551092.html

This is the one I bought. I ended up not using it because they sadly only make 116L in 11 speed and my bike needed 118 links

[Tijoe]

Personally, I will never use YBN VG Sports brand again.  The YBN VG Sports chains I purchased off of Aliexpress a couple years ago, stretched and wore out in a couple of months.  They must use some sort of very soft elastic metal. 
For my riding, the most affordable and longer lasting chain brand is KMC.

[00Garza]

Personally, I will never use YBN brand again.  The YBN chains I purchased off of Aliexpress a couple years ago, stretched and wore out in a couple of months.  They must use some sort of very soft elastic metal. 
For my riding, the most affordable and longer lasting chain brand is KMC.

Are you sure they were legit YBN chains? Only recently did I learn how to spot fake shimano chains. I'd have no idea how to check if a YBN chain is the real deal or a fake.

[Tijoe]

Great catch.  After looking back in my purchase history, my aging forgetful mind recalled the brand incorrectly.   The brand I did not like is VG Sports.  I edited my above post.

Big no on these!

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2251832785546102.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.877.6f7d1802ngII5k&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa4itemAdapt

[00Garza]

Luke (Trace Velo) was supposedly giving VG sports a second try. Hoping for an update soon.

[wwnero]

Zero friction cycling who is an independent tester has found YBN chains to be really good, almost equivalent to dura ace. From everything I can tell about the testing he does for both chains and lubricants, he seems very trustworthy. Main concern now is to get a real YBN or shimano chain for a decent deal. Not really interested in a KMC chain.

[kbernstein]

Zero friction cycling who is an independent tester has found YBN chains to be really good, almost equivalent to dura ace. From everything I can tell about the testing he does for both chains and lubricants, he seems very trustworthy. Main concern now is to get a real YBN or shimano chain for a decent deal. Not really interested in a KMC chain.

Surely they wouldn't bother making counterfeit YBN products? What a shame they don't come in 126L for 11speed 

[coffeebreak]

Like chains are there fake cassettes too? Looking for a 10s road cassette and looking for recommendations.

[Tijoe]

Regarding KMC chains,   When I look at all my KMC chain purchases, they have been bought either off of Ebay or Amazon.   I found that Aliexpress sellers often have higher prices for these chains than purchased domestically in the US.   

KMC publishes that they have 11 factories in these countries:  Taiwan, China, Holland, USA, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam.  Plus 14 distribution centers around the world.

YBN, publishes that they are headquartered in Taiwan, with production bases located in Taiwan and Vietnam.  (No china?)

[kbernstein]

Like chains are there fake cassettes too? Looking for a 10s road cassette and looking for recommendations.

Look no further than sunshine/goldix imo. I find them better than stock shimanos. (sunshine 10s 11-40 on mtb and goldix 11s 11-40 on gravel)

[00Garza]

Look no further than sunshine/goldix imo. I find them better than stock shimanos. (sunshine 10s 11-40 on mtb and goldix 11s 11-40 on gravel)

I wouldn't necessarily call them fake as they are not actively trying to deceive you like the fake shimano chains. I bought a sunshine 11-16 cassette for my gravel bike, but ended up going with a tried and true sunrace cassette just to minimize potential headaches. I'll keep it as backup just in case.