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

Just been contacted by the courier companies customs person to confirm whether or not the rim in the box is actually worth $20, or whether the sender "might have made a mistake".

Just say its a sample of 'no Commercial value'.

Obviously its 'worth' more. But the Exchange is for a $20 'sample'.

I was (possibly unwisely) totally honest.

Buffoon

I was (possibly unwisely) totally honest.

Must be a character flaw.

I've been in E-mail Exchanges With Norwegian customs themselves, swearing blind that the declared value is correct.

I was (possibly unwisely) totally honest.

Duuuuude..

I was (possibly unwisely) totally honest.

£43 charge (including £12 "handling fee")

£43 charge (including £12 "handling fee")

Kudos for your honesty. Good Karma coming your way I'm sure.

Could be worse I guess mate.

In the event of this happening again, what would others suggest??

Also how did this develop? Men in black coats at your door? email, phone?

Phone call from the importer.

The vendor had marked the total value (goods+delivery) at $20, and the importer didn't believe it.

I see. Hence difficulty blagging

Who was the courier co?

Say its a sample.

We're forever sending stuff from here marked about £10 regardless of what it is.

I had a $30 sample belt drive system and custom 29er frame, delivered a few years back. Luck me.

The Norwegian import duty officers opened it, and held it. I wrote an e-mail to explain, joined the website and sent the same. In the end they got bored of me and sent it on.

Say its a sample.

We're forever sending stuff from here marked about £10 regardless of what it is.

I had a $30 sample belt drive system and custom 29er frame, delivered a few years back. Luck me.

The Norwegian import duty officers opened it, and held it. I wrote an e-mail to explain, joined the website and sent the same. In the end they got bored of me and sent it on.

The modified Lefty was worse. But its always worked out.

Ok thanks. In terms of convincingly explaining to an importer/customs humanoid why I got this sample, any ideas? Reviewer of some kind maybe? Basically I don't work in the trade so porkies would be required.

Hopefully will go off without problem (seemingly like majority of others) but just wanted to punt for ideas while I'm at it.

Thanks

This is why it's handy to have an ongoing sole trader business with Bank/PayPal accounts :-)

This is why it's handy to have an ongoing sole trader business with Bank/PayPal accounts :-)

For high end porkies

After reading Colin's post I've ordered some stuff from AliExpress. Different stores for different bits: some Rapha and some Castelli 3x bibs, 3x jerseys for £75 posted. Will update here when they show up.

Recieved a shipment today. Faster than expected + I will do a review later.

Recieved a shipment today. Faster than expected + I will do a review later.

Look forward to seeing what you think - was tempted to order some of the Castelli shorts

Get ready. I have two of the buggers.
GF says stitching isnt the best, but externally looks good. All will be revealed.

stitching isnt the best...All will be revealed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tQ6qOC9kjg

This set was purchased from Pro Team Cycling Wear (513563) on AliExpress. I got a medium in both for $31 delivered to my door. Sizing is decent - snug in the arms but not overly tight, well cut and decent round the waist and belly area. The shorts are maybe a bit long in the leg but the straps were perfect for me at 5"9.
The shorts and jersey both came with grippers which is a nice feature and the chammy seems comfy enough, but time will tell. The most annoying thing is how heavily branded with 3T stuff the kit is, especially on the back where it is pretty plastered with writing - unfortunately the photos from the seller did not show the back so I had no way of knowing.
Overall, great value - arrived in week and a bit, would buy again.

Next up are these from Cycling clothes online shop (337316). Again both medium, this time costing $38 inc delivery.
The jersey has an almost wool look to it, despite being polyester which is interesting. Again the shorts had grippers, but the jersey didn't (no big deal). The worst thing about this kit was despite the jersey being very tight in the arms, it is far too loose in the belly (and I am currently sporting a reasonable beer gut. Hopefully I can alter this somehow but it is not ideal. The bibs again seem a little long and the chamois seems to come up a little too high in the front and protrudes a little. It doesn't seem so comfy as the other set.
Overall - would probably not buy again, knowing the comparable price and quality of the kit from Pro Team Cycling Wear.

Repped

I have a fake Rock racing tour of britian kit (well who'd pay for the real deal?). The top is fine, good infact. It has arm and waist grippers, and the Pockets work well. The pad of the shorts is very good. But the bibs are only surface printed so whiten when stretched over my epic thighs. Plus the stitching is pretty laughable throughout. Just a single stitch through single layer lycra. So they split pretty quickly. I got a lot of turbo use out of them before they were unwearable.
Still use the top. Its no Rapha or Assos. But aside from being ugly, it works as well as any of my mid range cycle tops.

If they used a sensible stitching and colouring technique it would be good kit.

I purhased again from Pro Team Cycling Wear. (I dont work for them or anything like that). Still waiting for some knock-off wapha stuff that has only just been dispatched.

Anyone know of Oriental frames with a 135mm rear end, chainstays shorter than 380mm and information available on head angle and BB drop?

Not picky on materials but geometry is pretty important.