Thoughts on this guys??
About $350 shipped…
Personally, I wouldn’t trust it and it being carbon all over means it’ll be painful if it breaks as well as unfix-able.
I’d ask on a bike forum to see if the drivetrain is legitimate, but I’d doubt it since the drive train would cost more than the bike.
I think these are the shifters lol
Checking out the frame on your last link shows a price of around $5k… and thats only the frame.
I think I’ll stick with my Trek Y-Foil for now.
Hum yeah. No way to judge quality here. I know it cannot be branded parts…
Unless youre competing, I don t get the attraction of carbon. Yes I know its light, but alloy bikes today weigh next to nothing anyway, and cost nowhere near as much.
it has shimano 105
Functional Art:
Heh doing a cat1 climb should be easier than the 14kg mountain bike I currently use 
Oh yeah, totally uncompetitive and leisure rides! More often riding alone too.
I would always opt for a local bike shop over these. You pay extra and won’t get a “carbon” frame, but you know and see what you get and get service in return. I wouldn’t be suprised if these chinabikes are as much hit and miss as the chinalights.
I’ve worked on many bicycles, proffesionally and as a hobby, from the simplest second hand city bicycles to the most expensive mountain and race bikes (literally). I can tell you this, when they are new they all look great to decent. After they have been used for a couple of months, that’s when the price difference starts to show. Cheaper bikes have cheaper parts like, wheelshubs, wheel bearings, bottom brackets, quality spokes, rims etc. Not parts people look at when buying a bike, because it has a decent frame and a good (shimano) groupset and that’s all they look at. You WILL make the climb on your 14kg mountainbike much more easy, then on a 8kg chinabike with busted rims/cranks/chain etc. :bigsmile:
On the other hand, for the price of a whole bike you can only get a decent frame in “the west”. So if you got some spare cash laying around, I’d say try it.
Yeah you are right Nbabu. IT will cost me 2x to 3x to buy a partially carbon (maybe fork only) reputed bike locally. Still, I can wait a bit as I do not really have cash lying around. I do hope to save to eventually get one but at that price point and getting a carbon frame with shimano groupset seems a decent deal.
Id probably avoid “new” unless you’re competing in the upper levels. You can find incredible deals on newer local used bikes that have been well taken care of and have had limited use. Ebay is also a good source, even if it costs $100 to have the seller have a bike shop professionally package and ship the bike to you. I bought a carbon bike delivered for $500 that had never been ridden before. The wheels alone sell for $1600. Just do your research before you buy and you’re sure to get a great deal.
That is one very expensive fish hook
That price seems way too low. That price is about the same just for chinese made carbon fiber wheels.
If it looks too good to be true……….it probably is. Buy once, cry once. Just my .02
This one looks even better to be true for only $152 shipped. I’ve got a decent Trek road bike and could use a decent mountain bike
Edit: oops, forgot my link
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Stout-xc50-rack-cr5-wheel-slx-kit-java-carbon-fork-lightweight-mountain-bike-bicycle/1737517086.html
Is it an Asian brand?. Problem with these Asian bikes is they’re often not ascetically made for westerners. There’s quite a few Asian Brands in my area which look great and seem to be a great deal, even seem to use the right brand components but I just don’t trust their frame design.
I am a competitive mountain bike racer and vintage road bike collector. That shimano tiagra groupo is entry level. But that groupset alone costs $350-$400 brand new. If the wheelset and frame are junk you will at least be left with a functional groupset that you can sell to recover most of your money back.
I prefer the look and ride of vintage Chromoly steel though and I do not mind downtube shifters. Look around Craigslist and eBay for vintage chromoly steel framed bikes 70s-80s. I have put thousands of miles on my retro bikes.
For those still unsure, its just another typical aliexpress scam.
I figured it was too good to be legit
what part is the scam? are they just clones, or completely different material…