I am thinking of buying some items from AliExpress. What was your experience?
Depends on what you’re getting.
Bought a knockoff Aston Martin key case for $7, totally worth it.
If you’re talking bike stuff - these days, there are a number of legitimate Chinese bike component distributors (Nextie, Lightbicycle, etc.), as there’s been a movement to legitimize Chinese companies (as opposed to US owned companies that just manufacture there). Because of this, I question the quality/legitimacy of a company that chooses to sell through AliExpress instead of forming a more legitimate channel.
I used to be all about the no-name Chinese components 10 years ago, but these days it feels like there are more and more counterfeit products (as opposed to just open mould/unbranded products). When a company chooses to counterfeit, you know they’re no longer worried about complying with any kind of legal or testing requirements. Because of that, I only stick to legitimate companies now. Which I’ll say - Nextie and Lightbicycle are both top notch suppliers.
I’ve bought a lot of stuff off aliexpress. A LOT.
I wouldn’t buy most bike parts there. Like the other poster said there are some very legitimate Chinese carbon companies that have their own website and its better to go through them than aliexpress.
Worth mentioning that most stuff on amazon these days is just off aliexpress/baba as well.
I buy a lot of jerseys from CUSROO through AliExpress.
$23 per set is pretty good.
I’ve bought a lot of bars and stems and a couple of track frames.
buy some fishing gear and clothing from AliExpress, experience has been excellent for all of that - goods as described, shipped and tracked well, all problems quickly addressed and resolved.
As others noted I wouldn’t buy bike parts there, the risk is too high. If my reel fails (hasn’t happened yet though) I toss it back in the truck and switch to the fly rod. If the handlebars/wheel/brakes/etc fail I’m potentially hurtling off a cliff/into traffic/etc.
Where do I start…
- Velosa trispoke (revolver copy) and disc with track conversion axle
- Passquest 56t narrow wide chainring
- Ridley Noah SL copy frame
- Fouriers narrow road bars
- Elite Wheels SLT 82mm
- 3T Sphinx copy
- 3T Scato copy
- 3T Brezza copy
- Kiae long sleeve suit
- Swiftofo short sleeve suit
- 3 Deda subzero stems copies of different lenght
- Controltech shorty aerobars copy
- ISM Adamo copy
- Fizik Tritone saddle copy
- Elite aero bottles copies
- Tektro R539 brakes
- Sensah brifters
- Arundel Mandible copies
- Bottle mounts, tubeless valves, cleats
There’s more, but that’s some of what I got in the last two years.
It’s all been great, really, with up to fifteen thousand km on these items so so far, depending. You have to research your sellers and particular items, but that’s it.
I only had bad luck with track sprockets that were off center, but at $3 each I didn’t care, a Velotech suit copy where the sizing proportions were way off and one stem I did not trust the quality upon inspection.
Where do I start…
- Velosa trispoke (revolver copy) and disc with track conversion axle
- Passquest 56t narrow wide chainring
- Ridley Noah SL copy frame
- Fouriers narrow road bars
- Elite Wheels SLT 82mm
- 3T Sphinx copy
- 3T Scato copy
- 3T Brezza copy
- Kiae long sleeve suit
- Swiftofo short sleeve suit
- 3 Deda subzero stems copies of different lenght
- Controltech shorty aerobars copy
- ISM Adamo copy
- Fizik Tritone saddle copy
- Elite aero bottles copies
- Tektro R539 brakes
- Sensah brifters
- Arundel Mandible copies
- Bottle mounts, tubeless valves, cleats
There’s more, but that’s some of what I got in the last two years.
It’s all been great, really, with up to fifteen thousand km on these items so so far, depending. You have to research your sellers and particular items, but that’s it.
I only had bad luck with track sprockets that were off center, but at $3 each I didn’t care, a Velotech suit copy where the sizing proportions were way off and one stem I did not trust the quality upon inspection.
I love those Fouriers narrow road bars. I have a set of 32cm bars on my track bike and a set of 34 and 36’s laying around ready to go on a road bike.
I recently bought 2 of these bars
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804277788091.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.13.141b1802ml1jFM&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa&_randl_shipto=US
I am thinking of buying some items from AliExpress. What was your experience?
Hit and miss on some items I have received. I received one saddle where the rails were too wide to fit into my seat clamps. Got a couple carbon aero bars that needed cleaning up and better cushions.
Have gotten some great lego kits for the kids though.
AliExpress oversees a collection of small and large businesses that sell all sorts of things. Some have great reviews others not so great, so your experience will vary. However having bought lots of things through Aliexpress I can say that on the three occasions that I had a problems with the items I received, I had excellent customer service either with the buyer directly or through Alixpress. So if you are worried about dealing with a far off foreign buyer you can be sure that Aliexpress has your back, at least that has been my experience.
AliExpress oversees a collection of small and large businesses that sell all sorts of things. Some have great reviews others not so great, so your experience will vary. However having bought lots of things through Aliexpress I can say that on the three occasions that I had a problems with the items I received, I had excellent customer service either with the buyer directly or through Alixpress. So if you are worried about dealing with a far off foreign buyer you can be sure that Aliexpress has your back, at least that has been my experience.
That has been my experience as well. One purchase was refunded in total as it was missing part 2 of a manual (found the manual online). Manual was pretty important in this case but they were very good about the whole deal.
Just remember to not put too much stock into the reviews. Far too many fake ones nowadays.
Have gotten some great lego kits for the kids though.
100%. I’m not sure I would use AliExpress for anything on a bike anymore. I used it to research carbon mtb frames, and then bought from a good manufacturer.
Things I bought from Ali that I’m very happy with:
“Buffs” - polyester fabric tube that functions as a multipurpose accessory (headband, neckwarmer, etc.). I purchased 400 with a custom logo screened onto each one, and individually packaged for resale, for about $1000. They helped with the logo too, and had design ideas that improved the end product. The logo is for my sons xc ski team, and having them individually packaged let us sell them. It’s been a decent fundraiser, although it turns out that 400 is an awful lot.
Lego kits - Star Wars kits are crazy overpriced, and every year I bought an Ali one for my son. Purchased in July usually arrived by September. Roughly 1/6th the price.
Where do I start…
- Velosa trispoke (revolver copy) and disc with track conversion axle
- Ridley Noah SL copy frame
- 3T Sphinx copy
- 3T Scato copy
- 3T Brezza copy
- Controltech shorty aerobars copy
- ISM Adamo copy
- Fizik Tritone saddle copy
- Elite aero bottles copies
- Arundel Mandible copies
There’s more, but that’s some of what I got in the last two years.
Remind us again, please: Other than performing limited QC—since none is guaranteed for fakes/copies/forgeries/counterfeits—why are you supporting intellectual property theft? Just asking.
Just ordered a “Roka” swim skin for $25. Will be interesting to see how it is.
Not the person you’re replying to, but I also order a decent amount of things from Aliexpress but try to stay away from the direct copies and companies that make those copies. I ordered the same Velosa Tri-spoke which I don’t think is a copy of anything, but rather a generic mold a bunch of companies have used for their trispoke. I did a breakdown of that wheel here for those interested.
While I’d fully admit that more often than not stuff from aliexpress is a blatant copy of a real company’s IP, there are plenty of instances where it’s still just the generic version of a company selling with a big ass markup. And honestly, except for a few of the very best companies out there, I suspect their QC is just as limited as a lot of these sellers. Logos on products don’t magically make them impervious to problems.
Logos on products don’t magically make them impervious to problems.
While you sidestep my question, you also bring up a related issue: why to avoid generic junk. I’m glad you highlighted the prevalence of lack of QC in open/unbranded/generic products.
Which is why the reputable players dictate quality standards, send representatives to factories and production facilities to inspect process, production and products, and stand behind their brand with warranties and customer service.
While buying knock-off apparel might result in chafe, junk carbon/epoxy can delaminate, shatter, catastrophically fail, etc. leading to less favorable outcomes.
I guess the point I’m making is that from what I’ve observed, I don’t think there is evidence that “generic junk” fails at a higher rate than other stuff. Sure, there are more Zipp wheels out there than Velosa tri spokes, but I’ve seen infinitely more pictures of Zipp brake tracks falling apart compared to the wheel I have. I get that’s anecdotal, but stuff from reputable companies fails all the time. The biggest difference then comes down to customer service and warranty support, where a company like Zipp is obviously going to win over a no name seller.
Have used it multiple times for basketball jerseys & bike bibs – have never had any issues. Quality has been good. Prices even better.
if you look at reviews from sellers (as you should with any seller on any platform) you’ll get a general gist of who’s making legit products and who is trying to run a grift. Sellers with good feedback don’t sell junk in general, as feedback is worth more than a quick buck.
Logos on products don’t magically make them impervious to problems.
While you sidestep my question, you also bring up a related issue: why to avoid generic junk. I’m glad you highlighted the prevalence of lack of QC in open/unbranded/generic products.
Which is why the reputable players dictate quality standards, send representatives to factories and production facilities to inspect process, production and products, and stand behind their brand with warranties and customer service.
While buying knock-off apparel might result in chafe, junk carbon/epoxy can delaminate, shatter, catastrophically fail, etc. leading to less favorable outcomes.
I wouldn’t classify any of the carbon I’ve bought on AliExpress as Junk. This goes for frames, wheels, bars and stems.
It’s some of the best stuff I’ve used. The companies in China are very good at making carbon parts.
with as much legitimacy as a couple of horror stories on the internet gets, can you imagine the sh*t show it would be if aliexpress parts were truly failing at the rate some folks suggest they are.
That said, despite Rev-X wheels surviving crits, triathlons and at this point decades of abuse, every time someone throws a set up for sale on a forum or marketplace someone has to comment “wouldn’t ride those if I valued my life” because a set failed at some point in history and someone made a post about it on the internet… so the power of a few incidents to tarnish a reputation is definitely real.