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Bike frames from AliExpress

Old 07-16-20, 07:40 PM
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hamcereal
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Bike frames from AliExpress

Has anyone bought any bikes/frames on AliExpress? I see some decent looking frames, some aluminum, some apparently made with Reynolds tubes, I'm actually very tempted to buy and see what they're like. Anybody ventured into that realm?
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Old 07-17-20, 02:46 PM
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Originally Posted by hamcereal
Has anyone bought any bikes/frames on AliExpress? I see some decent looking frames, some aluminum, some apparently made with Reynolds tubes, I'm actually very tempted to buy and see what they're like. Anybody ventured into that realm?
not yet but yes looks tempting.
they sell shimano stuff as well but is it shimano.
helmets go for $10- $20. crazy.
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Old 07-17-20, 03:00 PM
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I dont mind buying some small knick-knacks from AliExpres, but would not trust a bike frame or helmet or anything that my life potentially depends on. There is also 3-4 month shipping period to take into consideration as well, so for some that is whole summer of riding gone
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Old 07-17-20, 03:07 PM
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Originally Posted by hamcereal
Has anyone bought any bikes/frames on AliExpress? I see some decent looking frames, some aluminum, some apparently made with Reynolds tubes, I'm actually very tempted to buy and see what they're like. Anybody ventured into that realm?

BUYER BEWARE.

Any issues always decided for their seller. I took the time to beat them w my card company.

Avoid.
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Old 07-18-20, 03:46 PM
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Towards the end of this video the guy goes a pretty good job of weighing the pro and cons of buying cheap parts.

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Old 07-18-20, 05:58 PM
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Originally Posted by hamcereal
Has anyone bought any bikes/frames on AliExpress? I see some decent looking frames, some aluminum, some apparently made with Reynolds tubes, I'm actually very tempted to buy and see what they're like. Anybody ventured into that realm?
The operative word in your post is 'apparently'. In reality you have no idea what you're going to get. Is the image even of the actual item? I've seen many items for sale on AliExpress that seemed to be good prices. When I checked further I found that the images of those items were simply taken from various websites and were not images of the actual item being sold. Caveat Emptor.
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Old 07-18-20, 09:27 PM
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Really how could anyone consider purchasing a frame from AliExpress at this time. Do people have no ethical compass what so ever. These frames are made with no environmental considerations what so ever, employment standards are horrendous, quality control and safety standards are sub par. That is not mentioning what is happening to the world economy based on our addiction to cheap goods.
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Old 07-18-20, 10:59 PM
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Originally Posted by velopig
Really how could anyone consider purchasing a frame from AliExpress at this time. Do people have no ethical compass what so ever. These frames are made with no environmental considerations what so ever, employment standards are horrendous, quality control and safety standards are sub par. That is not mentioning what is happening to the world economy based on our addiction to cheap goods.
- you assume there are no environmental considerations in all the factories that make the various frames sold on ali.
- you assume the employment standards in all the factories that make the various frames sold on ali are horrendous.
- you assume quality control and safety standards in all the factories that make the various frames sold on ali are subpar.

Are all the ali frames made in worse conditions and with worse quality control than large brand frames? How could this ever be proven?
Are the frame less expensive simply because they don't have marketing and design costs close to what large brands have?

Large brand frames fail all the time and the internet is littered with countless examples of horrendous quality control.


As for your comment about what is happening to the world economy due to its addiction to cheap goods...most of us operate on a finite budget. If $1500 is spent on a carbon frame from a large brand instead of $350 from a generic/unknown brand, then thats $1150 less with which the consumer has to spend on other goods and services.
If the frames perform equally well, then the consumer wins.
Cheap goods absolutely can be an environmental problem. They can also be an answer for some situations since nowadays cost isn't linear with quality.


If I buy a dengfu or ican frame, or some ali frame I dont know the brand of right now, how can you confidently say it is made with less quality control than a cervelo? How can you say the frame is less environmentally clean than a trek or a scott frame also made in china?


To know all this would mean you know all the factories and conditions. Come on now.



....i don't own a carbon fiber frame. i also dont own a frame that was made in China. Dont think my motivation for posting is to defend what I own.
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Old 07-18-20, 11:36 PM
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I just bought Ti handlebars from AliExpress and the left side rose by 0.5" higher than right. I argued the case and my options were to get 50% of refund without sending the bars back or a full refund if I sent them back with tracking. The latter would cost more than 50% of the purchase price. The same manufacturer produces Ti seatposts, forks and whole frames. Roll the dice...
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Old 07-19-20, 02:23 PM
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I bought a frame from AliExpress, but then I was looking to build a titanium mini velo, so didn't have a lot of other choices to acquire one here in the States. I used an outfit (Titan in Xi'an) that I had read a lot about, here on the forums and elsewhere, so was confident they were legit. A few thousand miles later, I'm very happy with my choice, but there's no question you're giving up most of your recourse if a problem develops down the road. If there's a problem upon receipt, however, I've mostly heard positive stories about resolving it, and had one myself regarding a wheelset I purchased.
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Old 07-20-20, 02:46 PM
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Originally Posted by Trocadile
I bought a frame from AliExpress, but then I was looking to build a titanium mini velo, so didn't have a lot of other choices to acquire one here in the States. I used an outfit (Titan in Xi'an) that I had read a lot about, here on the forums and elsewhere, so was confident they were legit. A few thousand miles later, I'm very happy with my choice, but there's no question you're giving up most of your recourse if a problem develops down the road. If there's a problem upon receipt, however, I've mostly heard positive stories about resolving it, and had one myself regarding a wheelset I purchased.
tell me more about the ti mini..love the idea
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Old 07-20-20, 03:10 PM
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Originally Posted by thehammerdog
tell me more about the ti mini..love the idea
Is a picture enough?

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Old 07-20-20, 03:41 PM
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Originally Posted by Trocadile
Is a picture enough?

that is very cool.
is it fun to ride.
I've been debating one for years.
any info on site. I don't need Ti. but it makes the bike that much more better!!😀
cost?
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Old 07-20-20, 04:27 PM
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Originally Posted by Trocadile
Is a picture enough?
In the photo below are my handlebars, with those on top manufactured, to the best of my knowledge, by the said company next to Xian. In the bottom, for comparison, are OEM Brompton handlebars, symmetric as they should be. Those premium Ti ones from AliExpress are so messed up that even a Ti specialist would not be able to fix them. The photo is borrowed from another thread.


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Old 07-20-20, 04:48 PM
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Originally Posted by thehammerdog
that is very cool.
is it fun to ride.
I've been debating one for years.
any info on site. I don't need Ti. but it makes the bike that much more better!!😀
cost?
With apologies to the OP - I don't want to hijack the thread - yes, it's a great ride, quick and comfortable. If you search on aliexpress for - titanium minivelo frame - you'll see the current price.
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Old 07-20-20, 04:59 PM
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Originally Posted by 2_i
In the photo below are my handlebars, with those on top manufactured, to the best of my knowledge, by the said company next to Xian.
Sorry about your experience - looks very irritating. Titan sells several handlebars, but they don't show any in that Brompton style. Unless they were a custom order? There are many other bike manufacturers around Xi'an.
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Old 07-20-20, 05:14 PM
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Originally Posted by Trocadile
Sorry about your experience - looks very irritating. Titan sells several handlebars, but they don't show any in that Brompton style. Unless they were a custom order? There are many other bike manufacturers around Xi'an.
The manufacturer's link to my handlebars is here. They are located in Baoji, "Titanium City", next to Xian. Sorry, if I am projecting one manufacturer onto another. The one for my handlebars uses names such as "Titanium Bike", "Ti Bicycles" and "Comeplay". As far as I can tell nearly all Ti handlebars for Brompton in the market stem from there, just get distinguished with a distributor's brand name.
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Old 07-20-20, 05:59 PM
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Ali Express is like Amazon - things being sold on the site are not necessarily being sold by Ali Express themselves. As such moste of the vendors are legit, others -- not-so-much.

Why like Amazon? I've gotten 'new-in-box' parts that have been either painted or marks from being installed, greasy fingerprint boxes, etc...
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Old 07-20-20, 06:28 PM
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Originally Posted by Cougrrcj
Ali Express is like Amazon - things being sold on the site are not necessarily being sold by Ali Express themselves. As such moste of the vendors are legit, others -- not-so-much.
If I were buying on Ebay, I would have received a full refund for the bad handlebars I received, else the buyer would have needed to pay for shipping them back. On AliExpress I only got back half of the purchase price. Of course the difference must have some economic root and can be tied to lower prices on AliExpress and maybe also to a less persistent filtering of the sellers.
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Old 07-20-20, 07:06 PM
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I've actually bought 2 helmets from AliExpress and I'm very pleased with their quality and price! It's been 3 years and I'm still using the helmet, all the straps still holding strong, nothing is detaching or failing.
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Old 07-20-20, 07:35 PM
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Originally Posted by hamcereal
I've actually bought 2 helmets from AliExpress and I'm very pleased with their quality and price! It's been 3 years and I'm still using the helmet, all the straps still holding strong, nothing is detaching or failing.
And some of us apparently mistakenly bite our fingernails checking how particular helmets do in the Virginia Tech tests, before going ahead with a purchase. Instead you just need to watch straps and how is everything holding. Well, I recall a story from the past where the tests were actually carried out on AliExpress helmets and these strongly suggested that some of us need more luck in riding than others.
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Old 07-21-20, 06:12 AM
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Originally Posted by hamcereal
I've actually bought 2 helmets from AliExpress and I'm very pleased with their quality and price! It's been 3 years and I'm still using the helmet, all the straps still holding strong, nothing is detaching or failing.
Have you crashed whilst wearing your AliExpress helmet and hit your hed on the pavement? Interesting results in the tests shown in another poster's link.

From that article:
"During trial, the United States introduced evidence showing that Stepp purchased counterfeit Specialized S-Works Prevail, Giro Aeon, and Catlike Whisper bicycle helmets on Ali Express for between $50 and $70, and sold those helmets on eBay for $150 and more. The retail value of the helmets was over $200.

Samples of the helmets seized from Stepp were tested to see if they satisfied Consumer Product Safety Commission safety standards.

"The counterfeit helmets were found not to contain roll cages or the internal reinforcements that are standard in high-end authentic Specialized and Giro bicycle helmets. When placed on a head form and dropped onto a testing surface at approximately 11 miles per hour, the counterfeit helmets broke into pieces during impact testing, resulting in direct contact between the head forms and the testing surface," the U.S. Attorneys Office said in a news release.

"Testimony at trial revealed that a consumer wearing one of the counterfeit helmets and suffering a similar impact might suffer a fractured skull, brain damage, or death.""

Buying from ALiExpress is a crap shoot whether it be a helmet, a bicycle or a bicycle frame. You do NOT know the quality, or lack of quality, of the item. There's usually a very good reason why something is substantially cheaper; = it's NOT anywhere near the quality it should be. It's probably a knock-off, pirated, counterfeit copy of the original and lacks the stringent quality control of the original item.
Cheers
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Old 07-21-20, 06:27 AM
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Originally Posted by Miele Man
"The counterfeit helmets were found not to contain roll cages or the internal reinforcements that are standard in high-end authentic Specialized and Giro bicycle helmets. When placed on a head form and dropped onto a testing surface at approximately 11 miles per hour, the counterfeit helmets broke into pieces during impact testing, resulting in direct contact between the head forms and the testing surface," the U.S. Attorneys Office said in a news release.

"Testimony at trial revealed that a consumer wearing one of the counterfeit helmets and suffering a similar impact might suffer a fractured skull, brain damage, or death.""
Day-um!

To me, saving event the full price of an authentic helmet would not be worth that sort of risk, especially after seeing what can result from a head-ground collision.
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Old 07-21-20, 06:54 AM
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Originally Posted by Miele Man
Have you crashed whilst wearing your AliExpress helmet and hit your hed on the pavement? Interesting results in the tests shown in another poster's link.

From that article:
"During trial, the United States introduced evidence showing that Stepp purchased counterfeit Specialized S-Works Prevail, Giro Aeon, and Catlike Whisper bicycle helmets on Ali Express for between $50 and $70, and sold those helmets on eBay for $150 and more. The retail value of the helmets was over $200.

Samples of the helmets seized from Stepp were tested to see if they satisfied Consumer Product Safety Commission safety standards.

"The counterfeit helmets were found not to contain roll cages or the internal reinforcements that are standard in high-end authentic Specialized and Giro bicycle helmets. When placed on a head form and dropped onto a testing surface at approximately 11 miles per hour, the counterfeit helmets broke into pieces during impact testing, resulting in direct contact between the head forms and the testing surface," the U.S. Attorneys Office said in a news release.

"Testimony at trial revealed that a consumer wearing one of the counterfeit helmets and suffering a similar impact might suffer a fractured skull, brain damage, or death.""

Buying from ALiExpress is a crap shoot whether it be a helmet, a bicycle or a bicycle frame. You do NOT know the quality, or lack of quality, of the item. There's usually a very good reason why something is substantially cheaper; = it's NOT anywhere near the quality it should be. It's probably a knock-off, pirated, counterfeit copy of the original and lacks the stringent quality control of the original item.
Cheers
Yes I have crashed and hit my head on the pavement, head first over the bars, helmets good! What about helmets from Walmart or Canadian Tire? Why do you immediately reference high end brands?
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Old 07-21-20, 06:59 AM
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Originally Posted by hamcereal
Yes I have crashed and hit my head on the pavement, head first over the bars, helmets good! What about helmets from Walmart or Canadian Tire? Why do you immediately reference high end brands?
Because high end brands are usually better made with better quality materials and quality control.

I didn't mention Walmart or Canadian Tire because this discussion was/is about buying a frame from ALiExpress not from those other two stores.

Cheers

Edit. BTW, it wasn't me that mentioned the high end brands; it was the article I posted the quoted section from that mentioned them.

Last edited by Miele Man; 07-21-20 at 07:18 AM. Reason: Added comment
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