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

Ufff... I was thinking going tubed to save some money, maybe the Open Pave if they're still knocking about on Wiggle

Great on wet cobbles but dry flinty tracks, not so much

Wibbly

1 Attachment

I’m often seen moaning about tyres prices on the gravel thread but bit the bullet on these

I love them

What's the store for a Canyon-style split flexi seatpost?

I received this https://es.aliexpress.com/item/4001288075645.html yesterday. It's well machined and refined all in is around 650gr. it's a DUB crank set and the axle is massive. The bottom bracket is not the best ever i guess and there were no instruction so i had to built and unbuilt it a couple of time to understand where the spacers was supposed to go. I Think i will buy a direct mount chainring to try.

3 Attachments

Your link has led me onto a rabbit hole of cheap 2 hundred quid "Sigeyi" power meters which from what I see from a quick google, actually get decent reviews....

I've been looking at something similar, but can't see to find any with 24mm axle. This looks really good.

You could buy a used one direct from 4iiii for about that.

This is the new SRAM standard . It's definitely look bigger then the Shimano 24mm axle

This is the new SRAM standard

Technically, it's the new SRAM being complete pricks when 386EVO was already fine; DUB does nothing for the consumer, it just adds unnecessary expense for third party BB suppliers so that they look uncompetitive next to SRAM's own offering.

Looks in this case are not deceptive. DUB axles have a 29mm OD.

What is the current forum advice on LB’s shipping options and handling charges? When I’ve ordered wheels before they had various shipping options. Also, up thread a 5% discount is mentioned / still good?

Any comment on Winspace carbon frames? I'm considering the T1500d aero frame to build up for next summer, but can't find too much on them trawling through forums.

They've recently hired 'China Cycling' as PR manager (i think?) and now lots of cycling youtubers have got their hands on the frameset. Seemingly positive reviews across the board, but £1200 for a frameset is a bit too much to take a wild punt on.

I know their wheels are well respected - just trying to convince myself that their framesets are of the same quality.

I'd imagine probably in the same ballpark as many branded £1200 framesets, the increase in cost over a 'china carbon' frame being commensurate with hiring people to do things like PR and Marketing, increased QC etc to 'western' standards. (probably still to a lesser degree than big brands, but also at a lesser economy of scale?)

Don't know the recipe, just supposing.

If you want to do a forum order, I will be interested

I saw one video, you may have seen it too, where a guy sent his frame in to a carbon repair/repaint place who did all sorts of thermal imaging and things on the frame before giving it a new paint job. The owner said he was extremely impressed with the frame's construction and quality, better than some of the big brands.

Edit: this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMgvvKt4RDk

I just received my AR46 wheelset. Went for the TPD, pre-paid customs option, and once built they were delivered in just under 3 weeks time to Amsterdam

The folks over at Weightweenies are quite a fan of that from what I can remember.

I sorted a group LB order recently. Shipping was £336.46 in total for 2x wheelsets and 5x rims. It was shipped in two boxes in the end. One box has arrived so far (7 weeks after payment), no customs fees incurred. Second box has rims/wheels with longer lead time, should arrive soon (i.e. 9 weeks after payment).

Big orders work out better in general, and rims are cheaper to ship than wheelsets. But it's nuanced and it's all about filling the shipping boxes efficiently - you get charged per box. Our first box came with 4 rims and 2 wheels and was packed really efficiently so that the rims filled the space around the wheels.

Note that the shipping calc on their website shopping cart is not accurate. Just get an order together and email them. You can ask for a discount by email, and yeah 5% is the most they offer.

Ta, I had seen that and it's put my mind at ease quite a bit. Not many people in the west seem to own them, so it's hard to get proper impressions

Update on my go-proe wheels, my front wheel has gone out of true by a few mm, after about 1500km. Obviously not the worse thing to happen, but not ideal. Rear wheel is still relatively straight.

I was under the impression that pre built wheels are likely to go out of true after you've used them initially as the spokes bed in (no idea if this is true, correct me if I'm wrong), so I'm not too concerned. With that in mind, my Scribe wheels are still true after about 4000km in winter conditions.

1 Attachment

correct me if I'm wrong

You're wrong🙂
Properly built wheels should not need any attention. Going out of true in such a short time usually indicates either inadequate stress relief or residual spoke wind up.

Rotor ID? Looks like centrelock