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

I wanted but never in stock in 120/130mm in 36 or 38cm.

Went with the Avian Falcon above, there is a beefier version of the original which is still about 250g lighter than the Hollowgram setup it was replacing, and comes with the same printed spacer you specify. Could do without the bird decal but it's relatively subtle/it was bought for narrow width/performance, not aesthetics.

Ok, I'm only after the handlebars not the full cockpit

How flexible is it - do you think the lighter one would be a bit bendy? Looks like exactly what I was after but I'm a sucker for anything lighter

EXS aerover (integrated cockpit) seems to be well regarded but often out of stock and difficult to get hold of

So you reckon the handlebars without stem would be good to go for as well? It's these

No idea but EXS at least have reputation. The aerover has 48 pages of chat on ww

No idea, but the weight difference between the first and second iteration is 40g and the Falcon II a bit cheaper so I didn't consider.

Also I am ~75kg with cyclists arms so not the best person to comment...

Put the Bikedoc bars on tonight, took maybe an hour. Routing four cables wasn’t awful but not an enjoyable experience (is it ever?). Pliers and cable liner helped.

Quality seems ok, maybe not what I’d hoped for for something twice the price of other AliExpress bars. Definitely not a premium product like the Aerofly II I took off. The shape is a bit odd, square-ish tops and the forearm dip. Should hopefully feel better after taping. One thing I did notice is the bar ends are much tighter, a good bit more material than the S-Works, bar ends won’t go in even before tape 🤔

Anyone else used them?

3 Attachments

My straight up alix CSC wheels arrived, no import charges so now qualify as HIGHLY affordable. Rim quality seems good although I'm no wheel expert. 24h bladed spokes. Came with what I can only guess as low-grade rim tape which I mounted poorly because I'm going to run tubed. Centrelock rotors and cassette mounted fine, quick spin had no brake rub and shifted well. Going to head to the nature reserve at lunch, will send content of the estuary or the back of an ambo

1 Attachment

How compliant were the rims? Did you squeeze them and see if you could get your finger through them?
Knock once for yes.

Went to the sea, did some hardpack singletrack, some gravel, four bunny hops and a little bit of gappy promenade. All good! These are probably the best wheels available to humanity

so, very chuckable ?

I was chucking it everywhere!

will send content of the estuary

forgetting something?

I thought the constant stream of shit was a sufficient proxy🙂

Oops

1 Attachment

Anyone have experience of Lightcarbon framesets?

Not sure if you’re still looking but there’s been lots of documentation on ww of very poor machining on the avian integrated stem/bars - I was very close to pulling the trigger as I got so fed up waiting for exs to have their aerover in stock but some of the photos were pretty scary. Also lots of talk of real flex and poor quality fit of proprietary spacers, though the quality in the photo up thread looks good. I gave up on the avian in the end (mostly swung by the hideous logo) and settled on some exs r175 bars until I get lucky with the aerover being in stock

What are your thoughts on the EXS r175 so far then?

No idea as they’re currently waiting for me in a box at home, I’ve had to be away unexpectedly for the last few weeks but I’ll let you know once I get back. General consensus is that exs are very good from what I gleam online

Ok, looking forward to hearing your thoughts on them :)

Iirc the flex comments were aimed at the original Avian. Not seen it for the updated version which I have...in any case I can't get mine to flex. But then am road bike TT-ing rather than being the Vansevenant on the club ride.
As to machining issues, again, no complaints with mine but that's n=1.

I’d like to buy a new frame next year or new bike. there’s nothing really wrong with my 10-year-old planet X cross frame.
I’m not gonna use it for racing ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. But I’d like something that looks similar to it and quite wide tires. and mudguards can be fitted easily and then taken off easily. I don’t need all the frame fork etcto mounts. What is out there that looks similar and is reasonably well priced?

I'm going to piggyback on the back of @Chalfie's post and ask if there are any 'hybrid'/flat bar specific frames that anyone would recommend? Use case is slooooow tours with the family.

Forgot which thread this was, NVM.