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

[Fat Larry]

Only a few mtb cranks I've seen on ali that use a 24mm steel axle. Can't find any road or gravel steel axles, but most have moved to larger diameter alloy axles. I'd still prefer steel.

Are there any Ali mtb cranks you'd recommend?

[jefflinde]

Are there any Ali mtb cranks you'd recommend?

Raceworks makes some mtb cranks with steel 24mm axle. I have been running them for a few years now with no issues.  Also they make a few road cranksets.  TraceVelo had the CVR one that I see listed by a few vendors. 

[00Garza]

Are there any Ali mtb cranks you'd recommend?

The Zrace Blade claims to have a steel axle, but I have no personal experience with it.

[Fat Larry]

Anyone have a suggestion for IS and PM adapters? I bought some ztto branded versions but they're soft and heavy. Stripped the threads out of one today doing nothing more than would be reasonable when tightening a brake bolt.

[Zomb1e]

Are there any Ali mtb cranks you'd recommend?

Fovno makes good ones. Most models have 24mm axle and one latest - 29mm. All axles are aluminum, but one 24mm on my gf's bike successfully survived whole this season with no issues. A buddy of mine uses 3 Fovno cranks (all 24mm also) - one on his training bike and 2 on his childs' bikes.
There is a thread about them here: http://chinertown.com/index.php/topic,2959.0.html

[00Garza]

Some fovno cranksets have had tolerance issues. But like most things Ali, you may get a solid one, or a dud.

[coffeebreak]

These small but valuable tidbits were unavailable locally so got them from Alix. I realize the importance now. Always assumed them to be unnecessary bits until I built the bike and was unable to find them easily.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2255800624536826.html

Ordered one of each.

[Zomb1e]

Some fovno cranksets have had tolerance issues. But like most things Ali, you may get a solid one, or a dud.

Interesting video, thanks. Never noticed such problem with Fovno ckanks I held in hand, but good news are that solution is two-minute work on grinder.

[Tijoe]

I just ordered some disc brake hydraulic hose service parts. I need to cut down one of the lines on the IIIPRO E4 Mountain Bike Brakes I purchased a month ago.  Until now, I have never had to cut down the hose length of a hydraulic line.

I sometimes spend hours looking at all the little cool small parts that they have for sale for cycling, camping and other activities.

[coffeebreak]

You won't believe. I just spent whole afternoon looking at stuff and was about to pull trigger on ezmtb bleed kit and ztto hydraulic hose tool. I don't even have full hydraulic setup yet.

[jonathanf2]

You won't believe. I just spent whole afternoon looking at stuff and was about to pull trigger on ezmtb bleed kit and ztto hydraulic hose tool. I don't even have full hydraulic setup yet.

I tend to double check looking on Amazon or Ebay before buying small items, so I don't have to wait a long time for the items to arrive (though they arrive fast). Sometimes the obscure stuff shows up as a Prime item or there's a local Ebay seller who has it in-stock. My recent favorite small purchase are heat shrink cable ends and aero stem spacers. It's gotten to the point where I can't even talk to other cyclists about bike gear, they're so caught up with whatever mainstream item their LBS tells them to buy.

On ocassion, I ride with some big group rides and I think I've only seen 1 Chinese carbon bike in the wild. 

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256801092418788.html

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803856878211.html

[coffeebreak]

Those heat shrink ends have been in my cart for some time. I hope you give an update on these whenever.

I have been reducing my Amazon usage of late and only resort to them in case of urgency. The “free” delivery is a total bs gimmick IMO but their return policy is a winner. The LBS is even below Amazon. For one they aren’t keen to talk about Chinese frames and wash their hands off immediately. My LBS has chains and few other things with REI labels still on them. Why on earth would I go there when I can simply buy them from REI, collect points and be able to nice people not trying to upsell.

My last draw was when mechanic at LBS told me my shifts aren’t smooth because SRAM chain was on it with Shimano cassette and they were incompatible, so I should get a new chain. The real problem? Too short of a chain, creating lot of unnecessary tension on RD. REI folks diagnosed that in minutes and gave me extra links to be added and that solved it. I understand LBS are under a lot of pressure but fooling customers with misdiagnosis is where I draw the line and we haven’t even talked about prices which is whole another can of worms.

[Tijoe]

I get it:

LBS = bad
Amazon = bad
REI = good
Aliexpress = good the majority of the time if you can wait 2 weeks to a month for delivery.
Other online bicycle part suppliers = good when the price is right.

Working on your own bicycles = priceless.

[coffeebreak]

Haha true that. REI is okay dependent on location. Best thing is Craigslist

[Fat Larry]

I just ordered some disc brake hydraulic hose service parts. I need to cut down one of the lines on the IIIPRO E4 Mountain Bike Brakes I purchased a month ago.  Until now, I have never had to cut down the hose length of a hydraulic line.

I have that muqzi needle insertion device. It works well but is probably over kill given most people do that operation using those cheap plastic blocks either side of the line and tapping the barb in with a mallet.

The cable cutter is bullshit and is hard and finicky to get a straight cut with, which is annoying as you want a straight cut to sit flush against the end of the barb. If i bought tools for this again i'd look for a proper hydro hose cutter form park or at least the Chinese equivalent.

Also have the full ezmtb bleed kit, which has been good so far.