Best and worst overall quality/value components/tools/gear from AliExpress?

[jonathanf2]

Sorry to hear. I remember tracevelo also marked them as trash along some other brands.

Buying some spare 30-46 chainrings from Senicx sounds reasonable just to make sure.

1st of the month sales, it's a good time to buy your spare Senicx chainrings right now:

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805631117902.html

[mirphak]

Got them ! .

[sbellote]

any good option of sram 8 bolt compatible chainrings?
I have a Magene P325CS crank+chainring, and soon I'll have to replace the rings since they're pretty worn out (after all it's 3yrs and >20.000km on them). I could go for the official spare but the issue is the price and import duties for Brazil. Since it's >50usd I end up paying double when added taxes 
so I'm looking for alternatives... considering even getting a spider + chainrings in a different configuration if needed


on another note, after taking some time out from purchases in Aliexpress, getting just the essential (some tools, tubes, etc), I'm back on buying some stuff for testing
just got 2 bibs (spexcel and lameda), a spare chest strap for my HRM, and I'm taking my chances with the Bryton Gardia R300L radar - been on the lookout for a long time, now it's on a good price and I'll risk it, it's less than half what I'd pay in any Garmin Varia here... I'll update when it arrives (but probably in the other topic about general stuff lol)

[coffeebreak]

I bought the 48-32 version - came warped from factory. Not minor either, you could see the rings weren't perfectly flat. Sent back. I have now ordered GXP to 110 BCD 5 arm adapter from Fovno. Just gonna use some good ol' FSA rings that were put out of commission by Pass Quest chainrings a while ago.
The adapter in question  - https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805156905073.html $8

The adapter is here and on the bike already. Right off the bat, chain rub issue has gone away with those old FSA rings mounted on it. Not just chain rub but front shifting is exceedingly smooth too, I'm guessing the teeth on those Goldix/Evosid chainrings aren't machined properly.

[Jet the Panda]

I have owned a pair of G8 Performance 2620 insoles for over 3 years and 30,000km. Happy with them, but not the price for replacements as they do wear out. So when I  saw these copies I purchased a couple of pairs.

They look almost identical to the G8s, so much the arch supports looks and feels the same and are interchangeable. Which is good news as the arch supports do degrade over time (a comment BikeFit James made about the G8 on YouTube, I have experienced with my G8 and The difference is in the sole, 2620 are available in 4 sizes, the copy is one size, looks based on a large (I have a med 2620) and can be trimmed to any size between 41 and 46.
The sole looks to be made of similar but slightly different material
The heel and footbed attachment points sit flush with the original, the copy  they protrude a little from the sole.
Very happy with my  purchase and will make good use of them.

Looks like I need to get some of these in soles! Doctor told me I have pancake flat feet the other day

[Hokum]

if you are inclined to do so, exercising your foot can actually help with that. most people would benefit exercises for long and short extensors of the foot, also tibialis posterior. might be worth checking with a qualified therapist. also if you opt for insoles, they should be fitted by someone who actually looks at your gait, worst case random insoles can cause additional problems.

[coffeebreak]

The "Shahe" brand tools are really good. So far I ordered below 3 and their quality at those price is unbeatable.

Inclinometer -
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806182504073.html

Digital Vernier caliper -
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806152639519.html

Micrometer -
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2251832636432679.html

They package goods rather well too. Each of these came in specifically made Styrofoam boxes and reasonably well written manuals. Next up, I think I will try their digital torque wrench.

[jonathanf2]

Having used these Kactus disc rotors on my gravel bike on some steeper 15-25% downhill descents, I can now recommend them. Once the brake pad material bedded into the rotors, they have excellent bite. On my gravel bike I replaced a pair of Shimano MT800 disc rotors that always look like crap due to the light grey rotor material. Also having used both the Kactus and Onirii lightweight floating disc rotors, I prefer the Kactus rotors due to more braking surface which I think makes a difference in performance.

This store had the rotors for much cheaper, but have recently raised prices probably due to the current sale:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806205553049.html

[TidyDinosaur]

Having used these Kactus disc rotors on my gravel bike on some steeper 15-25% downhill descents, I can now recommend them. Once the brake pad material bedded into the rotors, they have excellent bite. On my gravel bike I replaced a pair of Shimano MT800 disc rotors that always look like crap due to the light grey rotor material. Also having used both the Kactus and Onirii lightweight floating disc rotors, I prefer the Kactus rotors due to more braking surface which I think makes a difference in performance.

This store had the rotors for much cheaper, but have recently raised prices probably due to the current sale:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806205553049.html

Same here, they work great.

[ujmo_]

@jonathanf2, @TidyDinosaur how much did you pay for the Kactus rotors and which size did you get?

[TidyDinosaur]

@jonathanf2, @TidyDinosaur how much did you pay for the Kactus rotors and which size did you get?

I paid 32 USD (incl EU tax) for the CL 160mm version. 2 pieces for that price.

[jonathanf2]

@jonathanf2, @TidyDinosaur how much did you pay for the Kactus rotors and which size did you get?

I bought the 6 bolt 160mm rotors and they've held their price around $25 USD for a pair (at sale price). It's the centerlock rotors which have jumped up price.

[dsveddy]

Having used these Kactus disc rotors on my gravel bike on some steeper 15-25% downhill descents, I can now recommend them. Once the brake pad material bedded into the rotors, they have excellent bite. On my gravel bike I replaced a pair of Shimano MT800 disc rotors that always look like crap due to the light grey rotor material. Also having used both the Kactus and Onirii lightweight floating disc rotors, I prefer the Kactus rotors due to more braking surface which I think makes a difference in performance.

This store had the rotors for much cheaper, but have recently raised prices probably due to the current sale:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806205553049.html

Re: the Kactus rotors, I believe these (at least when they were made by ONIRII) have had a failure circulate around social media, no? Good to hear you haven't had problems with them.

Re: the new(ish)-design Onirii floating rotors, I similarly cannot recomend them. After a year of use, the rivets have started to loosen, causing the rotors to emit horrible screeching sounds under braking (coming to a stop literally sounds like a car horn). It's clear they use low-quality rivets/poor rivet application; I had a previous incident where ONIRII sent me the wrong version of the rotors (which they replaced for free), and the incorrect rotors came with a missing rivet. To boot, the bite under braking has always been super underwhelming on these as well.

[Sebastian]

On lightweight cassettes:

I bought an SROAD/Spedao monobloc 11-32 12sp cassette made of steel. Around 6000km and still going strong. Shifts perfectly fine and weighs around 230g.
On my new disc brake bike I took a gamble and bought an 11-34 12sp cassette from Goldix made of an aluminium monobloc and several single cogs made of steel. After around 2000km there's visible wear marks on at least one of the alu cogs. So much so in fact that I can provoke the chain to skip on it. Also, I never managed to set the gearing up on this cassette as smooth as I would have liked. The shifting is just rough and noticeably less smooth than on any other cassette I tried. I now went out and bought another monobloc steel cassette. This time from ZTTO because I think the design is even better than with Spedao/Sroad.
Bottom line: Don't waste your money on these alu/steel cassettes. I think no matter which manufacturer you're getting them from, they're just not that great.

[coffeebreak]

As filler item to get to discount threshold I just bought another Wuzei ultralight 11s cassette with which I have great experience. I guess cassettes in those range are all same, made by one manufacturer and then Goldix, Ztto, Wuzei snap their lock rings on it. It's all hit or miss with such items.

I also bought a 12s 11-34 VG sports cassette because it's the only brand I had never bought stuff from. It's not ultralight and I feel 12s drive trains need much less tolerance than 11s. Don't have much hopes from it honestly. I'm also curious why there are no 11-36 cassettes in 12 speed variety. They all top out at 11-34.