All my Aliexpress MTB purchases reviewed.

Flow-Rider

Burner
I've just bought a $20 saddle and enough bearings to do 2 bikes for $58



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I've been running these chainrings for the last few years, they work well however I do seem to loose teeth off them but that is probably from bashing them on things.

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I've had a couple of pairs of these shorts. They do the job but they do have issues, mainly stitching in the pockets.

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Love this tape, beats the shit out of the whatever random cloth tape I had on the shelf Id normally use.

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Been using these pads for years, no real issues to speak of.

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Upgraded to 203mm rotors on centrelock hubs using the below. Maybe these discs are a bit thinner than shimano but I have had trouble adjusting the levers far enough out from the bars after swapping (I like the levers engaging a long way from the bars).


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These hubs aren't on my main bike but I think I've done about 500km on them, not a particularly easy 500km either. Planning on building another set of wheels with these at some stage. Cant fault them yet.

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Using these shims on both my bikes, seem to do the job.

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These were fine, still in my forks

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I've broken a couple of these axles, not sure if its my fault from over tightening or if they are a bit weak.

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Why the fark is the cable on these joined with a magnet? I just wanted a wire with a fitting on the end to drag cables through.
Fixed it by cutting off the magnet and soldering the cable directly to the fitting.


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Buy these grips in bulk. Leave them out in the sun for a month so they go sticky and soft and they are sweet.

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Chain kept getting stuck between cage and jockey wheel with these. no good.

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Awesome

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Awesome

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Great place to get genuine shimano bits

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Some of the cogs bent just from normal riding - id hope they have fixed the issue by now.

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Good pump, fitting works on my rockshox shox I have to file the shrader fitting down on to fit in the scott genius.




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Good shock bolt, still going strong


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Does the job, no idea how accurate it is calibrated but at least I can get the spoke tensions even (pretty sure its accurate anyway).


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I've about 5 pairs of those shorts and the stitching in them is all different on everyone, if looks too dodgy I just give them a few backup hand stitches. I haven't had the plastic strap break or any other problems, not even fading in colour.
 

CHEWY

Eats Squid
I've about 5 pairs of those shorts and the stitching in them is all different on everyone, if looks too dodgy I just give them a few backup hand stitches. I haven't had the plastic strap break or any other problems, not even fading in colour.

Yes I've had to do plenty of stitching on both pairs. The first one the buckle would slip so I put a zip tie through it and wore them like that for over a year.
 

fjohn860

Alice in diaperland
This "untra" thin shim kit turned up yesterday. Bought it (and a few separate shims below) to shim-a-dim-dim my damper.

Looks to be an OK kit, probably will never use all of them but was pretty cheap so why not.
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AU $11.55 44%OFF | 500/1200pcs M3 M4 M5 M6 M8 0.1 0.2 0.3mm 304 Stainless Steel Ultra Thin Flat Washer Plain Ultrathin Adjusting Shim Set Kit Box


AU $0.95 28%OFF | 10-100pcs M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8 M9 To M30 Stainless steel Ultra thin Flat precision Adjusting Washer gasket shim 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.5mm
 

beezlbub

Likes Dirt
Has anyone actually had issues with Shimano stuff from Ali (as in non-genuine parts arriving)? Did a search of this thread and all seem to be positive experiences..

I’m looking for a new XT groupset (minus brakes) and nothing in stock locally (at least not without mix and matching from all over the shop), but JHOutdoorStore have them for around $650 (+Gst), which seems good and saves the hassle
 

Flow-Rider

Burner
Has anyone actually had issues with Shimano stuff from Ali (as in non-genuine parts arriving)? Did a search of this thread and all seem to be positive experiences..

I’m looking for a new XT groupset (minus brakes) and nothing in stock locally (at least not without mix and matching from all over the shop), but JHOutdoorStore have them for around $650 (+Gst), which seems good and saves the hassle
Most of the fakes are obvious when you look at the pics, like the cheap XT cranks that have a solid forging instead of hollow casting and decals on the boxing of the chains.
 

Mr Crudley

Glock in your sock
Has anyone actually had issues with Shimano stuff from Ali (as in non-genuine parts arriving)? Did a search of this thread and all seem to be positive experiences..
There is always a risk but so far my Ali Shimano bits have been legit or really, really good replicas :D

I think with all Ali purchases then it is worth only picking sellers with a longer track record and good feedback.
I don't have any sad stories yet, but other do.

They must have loads of OEM parts on hand and we really can benefit from dipping in that pool and not having to deal with fahn extortionist geo-blocking business practices of the usual suspects. Once you get a few things that you happy with then Ali pops higher up the list for many other bike bits. Sometimes, we love our capitalistic communists.
 

Isildur

The Real Pedant
Has anyone actually had issues with Shimano stuff from Ali (as in non-genuine parts arriving)? Did a search of this thread and all seem to be positive experiences..

I’m looking for a new XT groupset (minus brakes) and nothing in stock locally (at least not without mix and matching from all over the shop), but JHOutdoorStore have them for around $650 (+Gst), which seems good and saves the hassle
Yep, all good experience here, I've onlyi bought from DelicBike though, on the advice of other people in this thread. Zero issues and definitely can't tell it apart from genuine stuff that was already installed or in the shed.
 

Isaakk

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Doing some AE snooping whilst stuck at the desk sick. They're branching out in copied designs haha. Annoyingly, they're almost always 35mm length whereas I prefer 40-45.

(not) Turbine R stem: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004444350092.html
(not) kinda Renthal stem: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005344178738.html
(not) Spank stem: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004361419902.html
(not) Funn stem: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003451078215.html
plus various others

They've got the anodized fade and splatter going on nowadays too, presumably as a result of Unite doing the cerakote designs.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004833625100.html - honestly the cyan into dark blue/grey is kind of sick.
 

moorey

call me Mia
It’s not Ali, but posting here anyway because it’s kinda Ali.
Grabbed one of the MTB direct ‘Winners’ XD 9-50 12sp to try as a back up. It looks for all intents and purposes, like many other cheap cassettes on AliExpress, except I can’t find one like it under any other name. As suggested by @ozzybmx when one of these was mentioned the other day, at least if it shits the bed, I should get some support from Mtbdirect, unlike, and AliExpress seller.

First point, it’s meant to look like this.

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It actually looks like this, which is odd because black isn’t an option at all in the listing.
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Second point, it’s a bit lighter than they claim, at 509g. An XT 10-51 is 480g on the same scales.

The hideous labelling also wasn’t pictured. I’ve emailed them to ask what’s up. Really not keen on this look, but will give it a crack if they don’t have a silver as listed.
 
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