Orient Express - Cheap Chinese Rims / Wheels / Forks / Frames / Cranks / Etc

Anti-asian thinking

[casual racism] they only weigh 50kg though [/casual racism]

asian dentists are also cheap

lol, got an AliX link?

no but I highly recommend one who replaced my front teeth when a CEN frame/rack failed lol

anti-asian

Yeah, I’m conscious of that.

The Tsunami FAQ is Loren Ipsum. I probably wouldn’t buy from a UK company that was that flakey.

I’ve no idea if the frames are even tested to local standards (and what those are) so there’s a bit of ignorance on my part, but it’s also my money/teeth 😬

You want to buy an Asian dentist?

ok maybe an alternative: https://spacycles.co.uk/m11b0s143p3873/SPA-CYCLES-Wayfarer-Frameset-More-frames-due-late-April-early-May-2021

for more anecdata when I lived in China I rode a Tsunami (track) frame for 2 years. I knew I was leaving it behind so it was used and abused and was absolutely fine throughout.

edit: I decidedly do not weigh 50kg

If anything I'd rather trust an unknown steel frame than all far east carbon we all buy.

I’m 98% certain that my Jamis frame came out of the same factory as those tsunami frames. Just slightly different tubes (Reynolds 631) and eyelets in different places.

The only reason for suspicion about a $250 4130 steel frame is that people have started to expect a surly to be 8 times that. So in that light, this seems ridiculously cheap, and not the surly being ridiculously overpriced.

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Nice bike. Pretty much how I’d build the Tsunami. I’ll try and persuade him it’s worth a go. He’s missing one tooth already.....

Wiggle have launched a v2 of primavera handlebars that people couldn't get hold of many pages back.. Shape looks more ergonomic this time - have my niggles with v1 but not going to go through the aggro of re-cabling hydraulics.
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/prime-primavera-aero-carbon-handlebar

I ordered something on Aliexpress yesterday and they now collect Vat at the checkout, bastards.

they now collect Vat at the checkout, #thanksEU #thanksBoris

 FTFY

The forcing of "platforms" to do the EU's tax collecting for them is typical Brussels protectionism, the acceptance of this by the UK was just one more dismal fuck-up by our moronic ruling class. Alibaba is not the bastard here.

If I change the delivery address to Germany the tax disappears.

EU countries have had a deferral of the regulations to July 1st "due to coronavirus"
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1596024145125&uri=CELEX:32020D1109

Maybe we can start a new conspiracy theory, given the totalitarian nature of the PRC, that Alibaba and others, disturbed by the commercial implications of the EU VAT collection imposition, have asked the CCP to direct state labs to release pandemic pathogens periodically to ensure that the regulations are repeatedly postponed 🙂

there is some money to be made somehow till the 1st of July.

How does the cable routing work on this? Looks like the rear brake cable would run out the back of the central clamping area and into the stem. Does your stem then need a corresponding hole underneath for the cables to exit?

Not the best pictures on wiggle, full routing shown here..
https://www.cyclingweekly.com/reviews/steering/prime-primavera-aero-carbon-handlebar

Gotcha, so you could hide a di2 junction box inside the stem and have cable running out from the other port in the bar and into the frame.

The bone conductor headphones just arrived this morning. I'm actually fairly impressed for the money to be honest. Sound is ok if a bit dark, but actually better than I was expecting (though I had low expectations...!). It does bleed at louder levels, but not an issue in the context of wearing them on a ride.

Went with the ones below as they have volume controls that also allow to skip songs which will be handy though the buttons area is the bit that feels the weakest and most plasticky. It doesn't look or feel like they'd actually be that moisture resistant to be honest (they are meant to be IPX4). If you don't feel strongly about having direct controls it might be worth going for the simpler one button model from the same shop (you skip by clicking like 3 or 4 times in a row on those) as I feel it might well prove a bit more durable over time/sweat/drizzle.

Will report again once I've worn them on the bike, will be interesting to see how easy it is to strike a balance being able to hear around you and hearing the songs/podcasts once there is some traffic or wind.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001364543125.html

I ordered some of those ridiculously cheap Go Proe wheels at the weekend for the winter bike.
They're 1600g or something. Not expecting much but they're just for the wet weather.
Also some silly skinny bottle cages.
Will report back

On this subject I've been looking at getting some windspace wheelset to climb the Kent hills, but atm they out of stock, but also not really a big fan with their decals tbh too.

winspace

I keep seeing these mentioned but haven't seen any in the flesh. They're good I believe?
Not too cheap though