My local bike shop mechanic does most all bike repairs EXCEPT the most basic work on all my bikes. That way he stays in business and I get professional bike mechanic work with professional bike parts.
Unless you think you're going pro, there's nothing wrong with a moderately priced, solid frame and some cheaper parts....as long as they're reliable enough to not break and cause injuries
@darrenwall5439 I'm with you on that. I'm not advocating for rip-off cheap parts, but I'm always shocked at how many people are riding top end bikes with kashima coated suspension for their once a week trip to the park
@@darrenwall5439 Its a fitment issue, if you look at all the different shocks and all the different types of mounts and geometries out there of mounting those shocks they arent all going to fit with each other as a lot of this stuff isnt "standardised", you'd likely come across the same issue's building a 2nd hand bike from ebay or marketplace with a brand name frame if you werent buying the OEM equipment that the bike came with, they'll buy a different shock and it'll then fit fine, then Blake will put it through its paces.
I wouldn't use the AliExpress stuff in critical places. But all this does underline the fact that it's ridicoulous that a piece of cnc'd aluminium like a stem can cost north of 100 quid these days..
It’s quite tricky out there, as some reputable brands do actually sell on AliExpress, but the issue arises that there are some counterfeits on the platform too. User feedback is critical too!
I've had high end bikes for 30+ years, I've also bought off AliExpress for some lower end builds, obscure parts that big brands won't produce & older specification new bits. If you shop with a bit of common sense and a brain generally there's no issues. In fact some of the mainstream brands could learn a thing or two. However.... It doesn't always go well and some items are absolute 💩 Most recently I bought a full set of bike packing bags for less than £30 which have been A+
I've had a 180mmf/160r Chinese enduro frame (with mostly high end parts) for the last 3 years, flawless. I've a Chinese xc hard tail frame with a mix of Ali/major brand parts, and it's fantastic. I'm also now onto my second Chinese road bike, first one has 5000km on it.
At the end most brand carbon frames are manufactured in China, in factories having contracts with the brands which are often not even real manufacturers like Giant or Merida but just brands.
I picked up an amazing Rocky Mountain Alpine 2021 demo for $900!! ($4k plus new) It’s in insane shape! Went up the street to the mountains bike shop and they had the same bike beat to hell for $2000! Do your shopping people!!
Aussie rider here. See kangaroos on every ride including my commute around a lake with bush next to it in suburbia. Some are massive. Once on a night ride I had one jump in front of me - rode over its tail. Thankfully was only a little guy. Much scarier was the time I came round a corner and was face to face with an emu...
@@gmbn I also once went over a log jump only to realise two goannas (big lizards) were mating in the middle of the trail where I was about to land. Stacked it trying to avoid them and one ran off. The other one did not look happy...
I've built my hardtail from Aliexpress and ebay. On my full suspension I've bought a XT cassette, SLX deraileur and shifter also lock-on grips no issues there. Handle grips should not be costing $25+ they are consumables.
I think this bike demonstrates two things: 1. Bike components are overpriced and can be made much cheaper with the same quality. 2. AliExpress products don't have warranty and proper testing and ethical transparency is nonexistent. One may argue that the cost cuts come from all these things, but I think brands tend to overprice every and have huge earnings just by their name.😊
Branded mass produced alloy frames costing thousands or carbon bare rim hoops over thousand. Ridiculous prices on some of those that aren't better than others half the price or less.
If you don't want you stuff copied or ripped off... perhaps you shouldn't rip off the rest of us. 500 plus USD for a set of aluminum cranks feels like robbery..
Remember how mountain biking started 🤔 cobbled together bike parts (non brand non tested) and lots of folk had fun building bikes with any parts to do the job 👍
Most "high end" parts are made in the same factory as the cheaper versions. The factories then sell that same product without the brand name at 10% of the price. Some brands make their own products but 90% just have it made in Asia. The Greedy bike industry has screwed itself with huge prices.
Bit of brand snobbery? Bit? 😂😂😂 Bicycle world and shops are full of snobbery, mechanics being the worst. The reason the bike industry is in such a terrible place is because it has been concentrating its energy on making expensive high technology bikes that are meaningless to 90% of cyclists. Carbon frames that are over a thousand pounds and one crash away from being waste product mean nothing to most people. And the greed over covid was the straw that broke its back. Hopefully we might see some common sense in the future.
The problem is that brands have become arrogant from their greed and want to make extra profits on literally everything they touch. Yes, I'm willing to pay more for really high-tech components or for those whose reliability is critical. But damn it! I don't need to try to sell EVERYTHING at a high price tag!!!
bike prices can be crazy, Owen talks about development by brands, this doesn't justify the cost, I did a quick google of motorbike and full sus MTB bikes, how can a Trek Fuel EX99 AXS cost £11,800, but you can buy a Ducati Monster 937cc cost £11,595, the sum of the part for both, MTB doesn't come anywhere near.
i have that bike frame and crank but i have, shimano 12 speed cassette, fox float rear, shock and fox 34 front forks rides like a dream just like my polygon T8
Having been out of the MTB scene for a decade or so (2008 iron horse MK3 crying in the shed) - looking at getting back into it today I'm astonished at how expensive bikes have become, despite not really getting anything more (maybe a dropper post). Definitely considering the Ali route myself while I find my legs again.
Sam Pilgrim made a video recently on an Ali Express random frame. It didn't live up to Sam's requirements, but I've seen a bloke riding [what appears to be] the exact same frame for a couple of years and he hasn't broken it yet. He isn't backflipping it like Sam was, but he is definitely riding it on trails and he's not bad.
For me, some of the Chinese brands are good, you just need to know where to ride it and of course your riding discipline. Some people will just after with the brand, but if you can afford it why not buying it? but for those people who wants to be in the sport and got no budget, first thing we will check is the price if we can afford it and if it has a good reviews. Not saying though that all chinese brands are off, you can also find good products with a chinese brand. Even Fox or RS will break but no one really cares or post since it's a known brand but if a chinese brand will have an issue, people in the mountain biking industry will laugh and troll with the brand especially if it's a chinese brand. Last month when I was on my local trail, there's a biker who has a budget enduro bike and the brand of his stem is HASSNS a chinese brand stem CNC and the other guy has a Nukeproof stem (forgot the model) but still a CNC made and the guy just keep laughing about the brand since he said he can't even read it, but the budget bike kid just said that he's been using the stem since 2020 and got no issues with it. He even mentioned that it's a chinese brand, cheap but it has the same quality as the other guy's Nukeproof CNC stem. But then again the bottom line here is, not every chinese brands are bad. Here in the Philippines, we have lots of chinese bike brands but they're working all good. IXF cranks are good as well.
In the end most of the brand components are made in China. That's also the case for carbon frames. Most brands do not have manufacturing facilities, they just do the final assembly or even order fully assembled bikes from real manufacturers like Giant or Merida.
On the morality point: how many big brands don't make their stuff in China? Do you think the workers get paid more than what ZTTO or other official Chinese stores pay? The only criteria that I use when buying from aliexpres is if it can impact how my bike rides ( so no tires, suspension or brake parts) other than that cassette, handlebar, wheels, etc I do my research and get them from official stores like ryet, ztto, lexon ..
Ryet, ztto and lexon are banded, just not wellknow brand. But they are still branded, that means you are still playing the branding. You could go even cheaper on wheel sets of handlebars.
Dude. Worker's pay is just ONE of the many ethics points. It is also working protection (handling of dangerous materials for example: epoxy resin used for carbon causes super bad contact allergies), working conditions in general, Intellectual Property protection (see Lewis as a complete rip off of trickstuff), subsidation by the state (which in itself is not necessarily bad, but if you use this to create a lower price because you don't have to spend money on R&D it further adds to the problem. Even a european company could be way cheaper if they just ripped of a competitor and didn't protect their workers. The cheap parts now will create massive wealth erosion in western economies in the future.
The bike sling rang a bell for me. I grew up working on bikes with my dad using hooks on ropes to the garage ceiling. He built his own bike repair stand in 2020 after 40 years of that set up. Thanks for the walk down memory lane. Cheers
4:20 ish - This (Support and customer service) is the big issue. I can call up Trek (or even visit their brick and mortar stores!) at a time of day that I'm already awake anyways, speak to someone who I actually understand and who understands me, and get my problem resolved for minimal time and money. A Chinese manufacturer - If you can even find a phone number or email in the first place - Won't support their products if an issue comes up. You have to buy the same product again if you want to replace it, which often is then more expensive than buying the good brand name option originally.
I bought a Trek Fuel EX 5 eight years ago. Aluminum frame, $2400 new. I've replaced the bottom bracket and main pivot bearing and of course chain, cassette and other parts expected to wear and tear. It's heavy, it's old and I love it to death. I don't need a $4800 new bike, which is the last one I took a look at.
those bolany forks only lasts 3 full trocks or a single bottom out. I love seeing all the 1diots stating they wuold love to build a bike with those forks...
Trek or Gary Fisher had a belt drive bike back in the early 2000s it was a hybrid but it was awesome, although from memory it was single speed but maintenance was a breeze.
I’ve got my next purchase in mind, or frame only as I have been upgrading my £1000 Boardman bike slowly, it’s now a high spec bike but the last thing to do is frame and wheels ! Just go steady and take your time with wise purchases.
there is a lot of snobbery in bike world. i bought full sus decathlon bike and all my friends laught because is some no name brand bike. in the and bike is a bike, end in end what realy metters is your enyojment.
@@JuanMendoza-yk8nv agree. Dont get me wrong, for 1400€ bike was not the cheap what they offer. Just because is not canyon of scott bike is automatic bad bike.
Yeah, I'm a bit of a snob, but mainly against the people with expensive bikes that can't ride. I love it when I see someone overtaking a santa cruz on their "unknown" bike. Keep it up!
2:25 If you draw a line through the wheel axles and another line along the fork stantions, the head angle will not be 67 degrees, but closer to 64 degrees. However, the first line clearly shows that the bottom bracket drop is almost non-existent, which is a real problem if you want one. The seatpost angle is also too slack for modern geometry
i have been looking at the exact same frame on ali for about a year now (my current one is fine for now but it may not be enough soon) and i can confirm that from my research the head angle is about 65 degrees with a 160 fork and 64-64.2 ish with a 170 fork. on the page it does say 76 degrees for the seat angle, and i cant find anything to confirm that, so gmbn could be right or maybe not. according to the ali page, and some other research, i think the bb drop is about 16-18 mm, it isnt very clear on ali and i have seen both listed in different places.
Last year I bought a derelict 2014 Stumpy EVO for $150. Absolutely pointless wasting money on big brand replacement parts when perfectly good enough AliExpress parts are available so easily. That included a short stem, replacement BB (converted PF30 to DUB) and shorter Evosid cranks, chainring, pedals, ZTTO headset bearings, 3rd party axles (rear was missing and $70 from Specialized), IIIPro IV4R front and rear brakes, $10 Centreline brake rotors. Misc small parts like a cheap shifter bracket, cables and housings, GPS mount, seatpost clamp, rim tape, headtube spacers, and so on. Absolutely not doable without ready access to cheap but decent parts.
This happened with woodworking tools in the 1980’s. Tons of reverse engineered tools to copy industry standard eqipment and undersell the original brands. The original brands responded by making their tools cheaper and moving manufacturing offshore in the same factories that their knock offs were built. Keep buying counterfeit components and that will become the standard as quality manufacturing will become a money losing proposition
I’m not sure about sourcing an entire bike on AliExpress. However, I do know some people that may. I think the bike will be fine after the ride. I’m more interested in a long term review to see how it holds up over time.
I used an aliexpress frame on my last build which was about 2 years ago. It was a mix of aliexpress stuff and name brand stuff for the suspension bits. No complaints or issues.
It’s just getting easier for other manufacturers with cnc and plastic moulding. Paying for a brand name is just an option now. People have different priorities and different sized savings accounts influencing their purchases. And they post direct from factory, it cuts out a lot of middle men in sales and marketing.
It all totally depends on who you are and what you want. If you’re happy to sacrifice the brand reputation and warranty etc… are prepared to trawl through the site, read reviews, watch online videos, willing to make mistakes and, most importantly- are confident/happy in building it up yourself and have tools to do so - then this is a viable option. Most people don’t want to do that for many of the above reasons. I like to buy tools and accessories (lights/bottle cages and even some carbon aero bars on the gravel bike from AliExpress) but mostly hunt for good deals on genuine branded parts (Shimano, for example) to build up bikes - so a bit of a mix.
I can't believe the price of a mid range enduro bike these days, if I didn't already have a bike I wouldn't be able to afford to get started. That AliExpress bike build looked perfectly fine and I'd have no issues owning it or any parts off it. In fact when anything needs changing on my Commencal I know where I'm shopping. I already buy a lot of fishing items off AliExpress so I know there's some decent stuff on there at great prices.
Owens quick whitted humour goes right over Martin's head at times which makes me laugh. Firstly at Owens humour, secondly cos Martyn is completely oblivious. 😂😂😂 Love you guys. The chemistry is great. What were you guys talking about? 😂😂.
Nope I bought the bike of my younger dreams and bought a second hand frame and build up with good parts. Doing this has meant I now have a GT lts and a Orange Patriot. The Patriot is a good match on downhill days with my skill level
As someone who rides the backcountry often and doesn't have access to bike parks or any purpose-built trail. Non brand-name bike parts are more than enough. I don't even like jumps. So long as you don't go too cheap and know maintenance, a self-built bike that's a fraction of the cost of a similarly specced brand-name bike will last you a long time.
Not everyone can afford a top of the line, or a middle of the line bike. The used market is about to be absolutely THRIVING as bikes are currently up to 50% off. I'm about to order a new 2023 model for $2200 off. There are many entry level versions of common trail bikes out there for a hundred or two more than the target price range. Unless I have a big name behind it with a good QC department, I'm not willing to risk my life on an unproven machine. I need to go to work on Monday.
They do, here in the UK they're called Carerra, Voodoo and Calibre. Loads of great quality bikes out there for this kind of money. Just because weekend wannabe warriors convince themselves they need to spend 5 grand doesn't mean you can't get a decent bike for a 5th of that.
@ I’ve heard Voodoo makes great value bikes. Haven’t heard of the other brands. In the US there is a huge drop off between cheap bikes sold at big box stores and bike shops.
@@garabatrox2345 rude. I have a good paying job and multiple bikes that are $5k each. It’s hard to convince my friends to join me if they need to drop $2k+ to do so. Don’t be rude to people you don’t know.
I just bought a DNM rear shock with a 550lb spring on my bike and basically became a hard tail I'm getting my money back same shock as the aliexpress bike no adjustment at all ive put my rt3 plus back on needs a service but works a lot better nothing extreme just cycling to the shops and back of flat pavement
I'm a proud owner of an am100s 2021 from decathlon. Dit a little cheap upgrades to it to make it a bit more comfortable for me. Perfectly happy with my bike!
There are some things I will never cheap out on. Mtbs and mtb parts are one of them. Because, in the end, I am buying peace of mind while riding. That said, I also dont need to have the highest end stuff the pros use. Maybe if we all lost the materialist consumerism mindset that we need to have a new bike every other year we could spend more money on what we do buy.
To be honest, I bought quite a few parts for my bike from aliexpress and I'm very happy of it. For example, anodised titanium bolts, stem (burgtec like product from buklos) Some parts are not affecting your riding that much, but they are making huge effect on your wallet. Fair enough i wouldn't buy products like, fork, shock, derailleur etc, as they have some moving parts and require high end engineering. But parts which are made of one solid peace of metal, i can't see any problem with that.
The catch-22 of this bike is that the skills, tools, etc. necessary to make this bike work, are not what “Keith” is going to have. Part of having fun, is knowing your bike is going to work as expected; this bike doesn’t seem like it will meet that expectation.
great comment Sam, hopefully 'Keith' does some reaserch, speaks with local riding community/ bike shops to gain a better understanding of where his expectations should be
One big plus about buying parts from Ali express, ebay etc is that you can spread the cost. Paying £1k in one lump isn't achievable for a lot of people, such as people who work part time, students etc. But finding £30 for bars and a stem when you have it, £100 on forks when you have it makes it affordable. I won't lie, I've done it myself buying bikes second hand and then swapping out the 3x7 for a 1x12, dropper post etc etc to upgrade the bike over a few months. I've said before in the comments here, people like Wolftick videos & Kev Central on TH-cam have been buying Walmart bikes and doing this for a while.
@gmbn from my own experience I've bought a used bike and in 6 months or so it's been upgraded, so ideal to start a winter project ready for the next bike season.... but then with many of these projects, it's never finished as you can always find something to change so in many ways as parts wear you can upgrade further.
for people who know all the mechanic skills and can put a whole bike together from parts and manage all the service going forwards and manage any future part replacements, then this Ali Express method will work fine. But there are a LOT of people who not only are not going to be building their own bike but are not going to be doing all their own service. They are buying a bike from a bike shop because they want advice from the shop during the sizing and buying process and they want to continue taking the bike to the shop for service
Couldnt get a gold KMC chain from the standard retailers. Rolled the dice on an aliexpress one, hoping that it maybe genuine. Yep lasted two rides. The roller rings that contact the chainring began cracking. While I can put the watts out Ive never had a chain do that in 35 years of riding. No refund of course :)
Martin is spot on as devils advocate. There are tens of thousands of Keith's and it's horses for courses. A question of priorities. Personally, I'm barely a rider, but would still NEVER go down the cheap/poorly engineered/knock-off route... Owen, working within the industry, is trying to protect it and is keen (quite rightly) to do the right thing ethically. But you'll never stop Keith.
Frame, wheels and group set I'd get from AliExpress from one of the Chinese brands. I'm not interested in knock off parts (like the intend stem in the video). Suspension I'd probably look for used take-off locally, there's always someone upgrading.
Just buy pre-owned stuff. I live in SoCal and there is no shortage of quality pre owned bikes and components for sale. There’s always someone moving on to the newest cutting edge bike/component. MTB is literally the “golf” of outdoor/adventure sports, riders are switching out equipment all the time.
Thats incredibly close to my china bike i sent in last episode. Mine was built way better and i upgraded lots of bits for safety and performance. you can just say my name instead of "Keith" 😂 Neither of our bikes will "break" , but im sure his suspension will be hurting if nothing has been upgraded.
I would not buy cheap parts from whatever website that is. I broke a K2 full suspension bike years ago, it was just over a year old and the weld broke. I'd buy a low end bike from a reputable brand before building something cheaply.
I use some Aliexpress parts on my trek session ando they have been working perfectly for mores than 1 year with no the lightest riding I have a shifter, pedals, breaks, grips
Brands do have high-tech components and parts that require precise and expensive equipment to be manufactured. That's a fact. But selling exactly the same piece of milled aluminum from the same alloy, sometimes made at the same factory in China, but under its own brand at a price 5-10 times more expensive, is greed and arrogance. Charge me 3-5 times more money just because this part is sold at an authorized dealer in a beautiful package?! Seriously?!
Yes. By the time a brand name bike gets cheap enough to compete at twice the price, spare parts are no longer avaialble. I have a great 2013 bike. but since 2018 I can't get any factory parts for it. All the aftermarket parts from brand names that fit are made in China. I ended up with ali express parts having bought and sent back 3 times brand name aftermarket parts as they were uutter shi(e
sorry, im pro kieth, i just bought a 2002 Norco Atomik for £230, i just want to enjoy riding, i am not going to pay £ for the latest gear, its gotten ridiculous
How many rides can you get out of that build? And how hard can you ride it? The bike might be okay to ride for 5-6 rides, but I doubt it will last. Example: I bought a rear pasak rim and hub (because I was short on funds at the time ) and got three rides out of it. It broke in the middle of the ride and I had a 5 mile "Stryder bike" ride back to the truck!
That bike build was a right pain in the arse! Would Keith have had help and would he have had the tools that Owen needed to make the parts fit? The fact that none of us know if it'll survive bike park wales speaks volumes. It might, or it might not. A bit of a coin-toss. Anyone fancy using an AliExpress helmet?
There's a fair few comments in that video pointing out that Owen tried fitting parts not designed for that type of frame - ohlins coil shock on a trail frame. But yes it certainly helps being an ex mechanic putting this type of bike together!
I never ordered stuff from Aliexpress. However in fact you can barely avoid China when it comes to bicycles. Most brands are just brands without own manufacturing facilities. They have contracts with factories producing the components for them, and most of the big brand components are manufactured in Asia. Some brands even hire real manufacturers like Giant or Merida to assemble some of their bikes. Carbon frames are almost exclusively produced in Chinese factories, since laying prepreg or doing wet laminating is hand labor outside highly sophisticated products like airliner wings where expensive robots are used to guarantee flawless products.
I would not buy most parts on Aliexpress because of the type riding I do. I ride DH and freeride on the east Coast, very rocky trails with huge jumps. No thank you, I don not even go medium build on parts. My health and safety are too important.
And all the bikes I see new or used are well over the $1000 mark. Nobody is selling their used bike for a good price plain and simple! Everyone thinks their bikes are worth their weight in gold… I searched for months for a used bike last year and ended up buying a brand new bike for $200 more brand new off YTs website! All the used bikes were $2700-$3000 not including website FEES. I paid $3028 brand new!
Only people who have competent bike mechanical skills should be building up an AliExpress bike. Many bike failures are a result of people with inadequate knowledge of mechanics: over tightening bolts, not knowing when to use grease, assembly compound, carbon fibre paste, or lock tight. These mistakes can ruin any bike.
@@gmbn biking through dog poo/ piss, jumping up at me, barking, destroying natural habitats, can’t sit on the edge of a trail and eat snacks in peace without wet noses… people think everyone love dogs… I could go on.
I am the Keith ,the one thing I've tried are chainrings from China, cheaper than Renthal and I see them as consumable parts anyway same with chains ...
REALLY depends on what you do with the parts. Throw yourself down the mountains for years : Nope, where offbrands/aliexpress save on cost is RnD AND welding/tolerances. For everyday riding that's fine, not for going downhill fast. ESPECIALLY Aluminium frames, they get progressively weaker during the cycling of force. Hence frame lifetime limits on AL frames Simple day to day cycling and cross country: Sure why not give it a try
depends on the user.. if simple ride on the trail it may last long but if the user/riders are like you hard core guys... maybe no.. all the best i like this video
Would you spend money on cheap parts from AliExpress? - When filming today do you think they broke the bike or not? 🤔 Let us know in the chat below👇
Temu is selling fake GMBN jerseys
I would, and do! And have even competed local Enduro events on them, they've been flawless!
Also, hobbies are way more fun when they're cheap!
no as it rips of the companies that put in the hard word developing the parts and then we wonder why they go burst
My local bike shop mechanic does most all bike repairs EXCEPT the most basic work on all my bikes. That way he stays in business and I get professional bike mechanic work with professional bike parts.
Absolutely not! Im buying boutique parts… spent more on parts than my bikes worth 😂 Bike Snob if you will..
Unless you think you're going pro, there's nothing wrong with a moderately priced, solid frame and some cheaper parts....as long as they're reliable enough to not break and cause injuries
@user-bp2ep9py4v exactly the industry needs to stop pushing the highest pro shit so they can make the highest margin. That goes for parts as well.
The shock hitting the frame is total crap man... Dangerous probably... Cheaper builds make sense but I wouldn't lower the standard to much..
@darrenwall5439 I'm with you on that. I'm not advocating for rip-off cheap parts, but I'm always shocked at how many people are riding top end bikes with kashima coated suspension for their once a week trip to the park
@@darrenwall5439 Its a fitment issue, if you look at all the different shocks and all the different types of mounts and geometries out there of mounting those shocks they arent all going to fit with each other as a lot of this stuff isnt "standardised", you'd likely come across the same issue's building a 2nd hand bike from ebay or marketplace with a brand name frame if you werent buying the OEM equipment that the bike came with, they'll buy a different shock and it'll then fit fine, then Blake will put it through its paces.
Thanks for the vid gents helps get through the freezing 🥶day here in my neck of the woods
I wouldn't use the AliExpress stuff in critical places. But all this does underline the fact that it's ridicoulous that a piece of cnc'd aluminium like a stem can cost north of 100 quid these days..
I agree with that I do love AliExpress for little bits
@@MichielUrban AliExpress or second hand is the way for me to save bucks 😎
I've been running a ztto stem for four years. It was maybe 15 usd.
I wouldn’t run knock off company parts anywhere. Don’t support people who steal ideas and make money off it
It’s quite tricky out there, as some reputable brands do actually sell on AliExpress, but the issue arises that there are some counterfeits on the platform too. User feedback is critical too!
I've had high end bikes for 30+ years, I've also bought off AliExpress for some lower end builds, obscure parts that big brands won't produce & older specification new bits. If you shop with a bit of common sense and a brain generally there's no issues. In fact some of the mainstream brands could learn a thing or two. However.... It doesn't always go well and some items are absolute 💩
Most recently I bought a full set of bike packing bags for less than £30 which have been A+
Thanks for sharing! There's certainly some good mixed in there with the bad, you've just got to find it 👀
I've had a 180mmf/160r Chinese enduro frame (with mostly high end parts) for the last 3 years, flawless.
I've a Chinese xc hard tail frame with a mix of Ali/major brand parts, and it's fantastic.
I'm also now onto my second Chinese road bike, first one has 5000km on it.
At the end most brand carbon frames are manufactured in China, in factories having contracts with the brands which are often not even real manufacturers like Giant or Merida but just brands.
I picked up an amazing Rocky Mountain Alpine 2021 demo for $900!! ($4k plus new) It’s in insane shape! Went up the street to the mountains bike shop and they had the same bike beat to hell for $2000! Do your shopping people!!
There are certainly great bargains if you shop around! You got a great deal
Aussie rider here. See kangaroos on every ride including my commute around a lake with bush next to it in suburbia. Some are massive. Once on a night ride I had one jump in front of me - rode over its tail. Thankfully was only a little guy.
Much scarier was the time I came round a corner and was face to face with an emu...
Wow! And we get worried when we see a squirrel 🐿️
@@gmbn I also once went over a log jump only to realise two goannas (big lizards) were mating in the middle of the trail where I was about to land. Stacked it trying to avoid them and one ran off. The other one did not look happy...
I've built my hardtail from Aliexpress and ebay. On my full suspension I've bought a XT cassette, SLX deraileur and shifter also lock-on grips no issues there. Handle grips should not be costing $25+ they are consumables.
I think this bike demonstrates two things:
1. Bike components are overpriced and can be made much cheaper with the same quality.
2. AliExpress products don't have warranty and proper testing and ethical transparency is nonexistent. One may argue that the cost cuts come from all these things, but I think brands tend to overprice every and have huge earnings just by their name.😊
You've summed up late stagee capitalism. It's all about profits, and making more of it year over year, quarter over quarter even.
@aeskellion completely agreed
On point 2, I've had no problems getting warranties on most things from AliExpress, definitely "big" items have been no problem at all.
@@StopTryingSoHard I guess it depends what and where you buy them
Branded mass produced alloy frames costing thousands or carbon bare rim hoops over thousand. Ridiculous prices on some of those that aren't better than others half the price or less.
If you don't want you stuff copied or ripped off... perhaps you shouldn't rip off the rest of us. 500 plus USD for a set of aluminum cranks feels like robbery..
Remember how mountain biking started 🤔 cobbled together bike parts (non brand non tested) and lots of folk had fun building bikes with any parts to do the job 👍
Fully agree any bike is a good bike.
Much better than having no bike at all! 😁
Most "high end" parts are made in the same factory as the cheaper versions. The factories then sell that same product without the brand name at 10% of the price.
Some brands make their own products but 90% just have it made in Asia.
The Greedy bike industry has screwed itself with huge prices.
Bit of brand snobbery? Bit? 😂😂😂
Bicycle world and shops are full of snobbery, mechanics being the worst. The reason the bike industry is in such a terrible place is because it has been concentrating its energy on making expensive high technology bikes that are meaningless to 90% of cyclists. Carbon frames that are over a thousand pounds and one crash away from being waste product mean nothing to most people. And the greed over covid was the straw that broke its back. Hopefully we might see some common sense in the future.
The problem is that brands have become arrogant from their greed and want to make extra profits on literally everything they touch. Yes, I'm willing to pay more for really high-tech components or for those whose reliability is critical. But damn it! I don't need to try to sell EVERYTHING at a high price tag!!!
bike prices can be crazy, Owen talks about development by brands, this doesn't justify the cost, I did a quick google of motorbike and full sus MTB bikes, how can a Trek Fuel EX99 AXS cost £11,800, but you can buy a Ducati Monster 937cc cost £11,595, the sum of the part for both, MTB doesn't come anywhere near.
i have that bike frame and crank but i have, shimano 12 speed cassette, fox float rear, shock and fox 34 front forks rides like a dream just like my polygon T8
I've bought a few parts like chain rings and derailleur parts from alley express, they all work so far so...
That’s great to hear! There is certainly some good bits on there
Having been out of the MTB scene for a decade or so (2008 iron horse MK3 crying in the shed) - looking at getting back into it today I'm astonished at how expensive bikes have become, despite not really getting anything more (maybe a dropper post).
Definitely considering the Ali route myself while I find my legs again.
Fully agree. Apart from a dropper post and not going for any wireless gears.... nothing has changed at all, apart from the price.
Sam Pilgrim made a video recently on an Ali Express random frame. It didn't live up to Sam's requirements, but I've seen a bloke riding [what appears to be] the exact same frame for a couple of years and he hasn't broken it yet. He isn't backflipping it like Sam was, but he is definitely riding it on trails and he's not bad.
For me, some of the Chinese brands are good, you just need to know where to ride it and of course your riding discipline. Some people will just after with the brand, but if you can afford it why not buying it? but for those people who wants to be in the sport and got no budget, first thing we will check is the price if we can afford it and if it has a good reviews. Not saying though that all chinese brands are off, you can also find good products with a chinese brand. Even Fox or RS will break but no one really cares or post since it's a known brand but if a chinese brand will have an issue, people in the mountain biking industry will laugh and troll with the brand especially if it's a chinese brand.
Last month when I was on my local trail, there's a biker who has a budget enduro bike and the brand of his stem is HASSNS a chinese brand stem CNC and the other guy has a Nukeproof stem (forgot the model) but still a CNC made and the guy just keep laughing about the brand since he said he can't even read it, but the budget bike kid just said that he's been using the stem since 2020 and got no issues with it. He even mentioned that it's a chinese brand, cheap but it has the same quality as the other guy's Nukeproof CNC stem. But then again the bottom line here is, not every chinese brands are bad. Here in the Philippines, we have lots of chinese bike brands but they're working all good. IXF cranks are good as well.
In the end most of the brand components are made in China. That's also the case for carbon frames.
Most brands do not have manufacturing facilities, they just do the final assembly or even order fully assembled bikes from real manufacturers like Giant or Merida.
On the morality point: how many big brands don't make their stuff in China? Do you think the workers get paid more than what ZTTO or other official Chinese stores pay? The only criteria that I use when buying from aliexpres is if it can impact how my bike rides ( so no tires, suspension or brake parts) other than that cassette, handlebar, wheels, etc I do my research and get them from official stores like ryet, ztto, lexon ..
Taiwan and mainland China are very different for workers. I prefer made in Taiwan, as it always has good quality control.
Ryet, ztto and lexon are banded, just not wellknow brand. But they are still branded, that means you are still playing the branding. You could go even cheaper on wheel sets of handlebars.
Dude. Worker's pay is just ONE of the many ethics points. It is also working protection (handling of dangerous materials for example: epoxy resin used for carbon causes super bad contact allergies), working conditions in general, Intellectual Property protection (see Lewis as a complete rip off of trickstuff), subsidation by the state (which in itself is not necessarily bad, but if you use this to create a lower price because you don't have to spend money on R&D it further adds to the problem. Even a european company could be way cheaper if they just ripped of a competitor and didn't protect their workers.
The cheap parts now will create massive wealth erosion in western economies in the future.
The bike sling rang a bell for me. I grew up working on bikes with my dad using hooks on ropes to the garage ceiling. He built his own bike repair stand in 2020 after 40 years of that set up. Thanks for the walk down memory lane. Cheers
Thanks for sharing! Sounds like a good system to make things work
If Blake’s home made frame didn’t break then that bike won’t! 😇😂
Hopefully we'll get a little more life out of it!
its the perfect place to buy a dropper post lever
4:20 ish - This (Support and customer service) is the big issue. I can call up Trek (or even visit their brick and mortar stores!) at a time of day that I'm already awake anyways, speak to someone who I actually understand and who understands me, and get my problem resolved for minimal time and money.
A Chinese manufacturer - If you can even find a phone number or email in the first place - Won't support their products if an issue comes up. You have to buy the same product again if you want to replace it, which often is then more expensive than buying the good brand name option originally.
I bought a Trek Fuel EX 5 eight years ago. Aluminum frame, $2400 new. I've replaced the bottom bracket and main pivot bearing and of course chain, cassette and other parts expected to wear and tear. It's heavy, it's old and I love it to death. I don't need a $4800 new bike, which is the last one I took a look at.
I have a fuel ex5 aswell its my analog bike because I have a 6k ebike that I love also 😅
I do have China parts on my bikes handle bars , ixf cranks / peddles and arc hubs . I would never use a China fork or shock .
those bolany forks only lasts 3 full trocks or a single bottom out. I love seeing all the 1diots stating they wuold love to build a bike with those forks...
That argument about the bike is one that will go on! Very interesting!
Keep an eye on the channel for riding video this sunday to see how it handles/ survives (26th Jan)
Trek or Gary Fisher had a belt drive bike back in the early 2000s it was a hybrid but it was awesome, although from memory it was single speed but maintenance was a breeze.
I’ve got my next purchase in mind, or frame only as I have been upgrading my £1000 Boardman bike slowly, it’s now a high spec bike but the last thing to do is frame and wheels ! Just go steady and take your time with wise purchases.
Keith I'm with you my man!
there is a lot of snobbery in bike world. i bought full sus decathlon bike and all my friends laught because is some no name brand bike. in the and bike is a bike, end in end what realy metters is your enyojment.
You should replace your friends.
Smart buying is nothing to be laughing about 💪😎
Good for you!
Any bike that makes you happy is all you need!
@@JuanMendoza-yk8nv agree. Dont get me wrong, for 1400€ bike was not the cheap what they offer. Just because is not canyon of scott bike is automatic bad bike.
@@ejb82 replace friends that a good one 🤘🤣
Yeah, I'm a bit of a snob, but mainly against the people with expensive bikes that can't ride. I love it when I see someone overtaking a santa cruz on their "unknown" bike. Keep it up!
2:25 If you draw a line through the wheel axles and another line along the fork stantions, the head angle will not be 67 degrees, but closer to 64 degrees. However, the first line clearly shows that the bottom bracket drop is almost non-existent, which is a real problem if you want one. The seatpost angle is also too slack for modern geometry
i have been looking at the exact same frame on ali for about a year now (my current one is fine for now but it may not be enough soon) and i can confirm that from my research the head angle is about 65 degrees with a 160 fork and 64-64.2 ish with a 170 fork. on the page it does say 76 degrees for the seat angle, and i cant find anything to confirm that, so gmbn could be right or maybe not. according to the ali page, and some other research, i think the bb drop is about 16-18 mm, it isnt very clear on ali and i have seen both listed in different places.
Last year I bought a derelict 2014 Stumpy EVO for $150. Absolutely pointless wasting money on big brand replacement parts when perfectly good enough AliExpress parts are available so easily. That included a short stem, replacement BB (converted PF30 to DUB) and shorter Evosid cranks, chainring, pedals, ZTTO headset bearings, 3rd party axles (rear was missing and $70 from Specialized), IIIPro IV4R front and rear brakes, $10 Centreline brake rotors. Misc small parts like a cheap shifter bracket, cables and housings, GPS mount, seatpost clamp, rim tape, headtube spacers, and so on. Absolutely not doable without ready access to cheap but decent parts.
All i can think about is all the Canyon failures and recalls lol
This happened with woodworking tools in the 1980’s. Tons of reverse engineered tools to copy industry standard eqipment and undersell the original brands. The original brands responded by making their tools cheaper and moving manufacturing offshore in the same factories that their knock offs were built. Keep buying counterfeit components and that will become the standard as quality manufacturing will become a money losing proposition
The final move from Taiwan to mainland China is always the scariest for the consumer. I won't buy forks or handlebars from mainland
I’m not sure about sourcing an entire bike on AliExpress. However, I do know some people that may.
I think the bike will be fine after the ride. I’m more interested in a long term review to see how it holds up over time.
Yeah, watch this space! Were interested to see how it holds up long term
I used an aliexpress frame on my last build which was about 2 years ago. It was a mix of aliexpress stuff and name brand stuff for the suspension bits. No complaints or issues.
That’s great to hear! Make sure you submit it to the bike vault!
It’s just getting easier for other manufacturers with cnc and plastic moulding.
Paying for a brand name is just an option now.
People have different priorities and different sized savings accounts influencing their purchases.
And they post direct from factory, it cuts out a lot of middle men in sales and marketing.
It all totally depends on who you are and what you want.
If you’re happy to sacrifice the brand reputation and warranty etc… are prepared to trawl through the site, read reviews, watch online videos, willing to make mistakes and, most importantly- are confident/happy in building it up yourself and have tools to do so - then this is a viable option.
Most people don’t want to do that for many of the above reasons.
I like to buy tools and accessories (lights/bottle cages and even some carbon aero bars on the gravel bike from AliExpress) but mostly hunt for good deals on genuine branded parts (Shimano, for example) to build up bikes - so a bit of a mix.
I can't believe the price of a mid range enduro bike these days, if I didn't already have a bike I wouldn't be able to afford to get started. That AliExpress bike build looked perfectly fine and I'd have no issues owning it or any parts off it. In fact when anything needs changing on my Commencal I know where I'm shopping. I already buy a lot of fishing items off AliExpress so I know there's some decent stuff on there at great prices.
#CAPTIONCONTEST "Why ride a bike when you can chase it?"
Once the big companies that are doing the R&D go out of busy who will they copy from, or will bikes no longer evolve? What a horrible thought
Owens quick whitted humour goes right over Martin's head at times which makes me laugh. Firstly at Owens humour, secondly cos Martyn is completely oblivious. 😂😂😂 Love you guys. The chemistry is great. What were you guys talking about? 😂😂.
You can buy now days a Giant emtb for under €2000
Nope I bought the bike of my younger dreams and bought a second hand frame and build up with good parts. Doing this has meant I now have a GT lts and a Orange Patriot. The Patriot is a good match on downhill days with my skill level
The LTS! What a bike, there were so many of those bikes being used back in the day. Beautiful bikes!
the only parts i would buy that are expensive are frames and brakes. the rest of the parts are fine to get from aliexpress
As someone who rides the backcountry often and doesn't have access to bike parks or any purpose-built trail. Non brand-name bike parts are more than enough. I don't even like jumps. So long as you don't go too cheap and know maintenance, a self-built bike that's a fraction of the cost of a similarly specced brand-name bike will last you a long time.
Hey, thanks for the comment. Have you bought many non-brand parts? We’re always interested to know what our fans are riding!
What margin are 'known' brands making? The value of them is warranty, and a guarantee that the specs that arrive are the same as advertised.
Not everyone can afford a top of the line, or a middle of the line bike. The used market is about to be absolutely THRIVING as bikes are currently up to 50% off. I'm about to order a new 2023 model for $2200 off. There are many entry level versions of common trail bikes out there for a hundred or two more than the target price range. Unless I have a big name behind it with a good QC department, I'm not willing to risk my life on an unproven machine. I need to go to work on Monday.
Proper brands need to make bikes for Keith. Cheap parts that work for blues and greens. It’s slowly becoming a sport for elites and snobs.
you just need a job, dude, you can't live and have an sworks on basic income.
They do, here in the UK they're called Carerra, Voodoo and Calibre. Loads of great quality bikes out there for this kind of money. Just because weekend wannabe warriors convince themselves they need to spend 5 grand doesn't mean you can't get a decent bike for a 5th of that.
@@garabatrox2345hello, slave.
@ I’ve heard Voodoo makes great value bikes. Haven’t heard of the other brands. In the US there is a huge drop off between cheap bikes sold at big box stores and bike shops.
@@garabatrox2345 rude. I have a good paying job and multiple bikes that are $5k each. It’s hard to convince my friends to join me if they need to drop $2k+ to do so. Don’t be rude to people you don’t know.
I just bought a DNM rear shock with a 550lb spring on my bike and basically became a hard tail I'm getting my money back same shock as the aliexpress bike no adjustment at all ive put my rt3 plus back on needs a service but works a lot better nothing extreme just cycling to the shops and back of flat pavement
I wouldn’t touch the stuff on AliExpress, with a barge pole. There’s a reason why it’s cheap.
No fakes here mountain biking Keith is real. Thanks for the feature.
I'm a proud owner of an am100s 2021 from decathlon. Dit a little cheap upgrades to it to make it a bit more comfortable for me. Perfectly happy with my bike!
There are some things I will never cheap out on. Mtbs and mtb parts are one of them. Because, in the end, I am buying peace of mind while riding. That said, I also dont need to have the highest end stuff the pros use. Maybe if we all lost the materialist consumerism mindset that we need to have a new bike every other year we could spend more money on what we do buy.
Interesting discussion "Keith"! Let's see the video of how it performs???🤔😁
Picked up a Scott Ransom used but new condition, for $1,300. If you shop for it you can find it!
To be honest, I bought quite a few parts for my bike from aliexpress and I'm very happy of it.
For example, anodised titanium bolts, stem (burgtec like product from buklos)
Some parts are not affecting your riding that much, but they are making huge effect on your wallet.
Fair enough i wouldn't buy products like, fork, shock, derailleur etc, as they have some moving parts and require high end engineering. But parts which are made of one solid peace of metal, i can't see any problem with that.
The catch-22 of this bike is that the skills, tools, etc. necessary to make this bike work, are not what “Keith” is going to have. Part of having fun, is knowing your bike is going to work as expected; this bike doesn’t seem like it will meet that expectation.
great comment Sam, hopefully 'Keith' does some reaserch, speaks with local riding community/ bike shops to gain a better understanding of where his expectations should be
Long term test of the imposter bike. One ride is useless.
Talking of kangaroos, i usually see wallabies on my rides in the Isle of Man. They escaped from the wildlife park years ago and bred in the forests.
Wow! Every day's a school day
One big plus about buying parts from Ali express, ebay etc is that you can spread the cost. Paying £1k in one lump isn't achievable for a lot of people, such as people who work part time, students etc. But finding £30 for bars and a stem when you have it, £100 on forks when you have it makes it affordable.
I won't lie, I've done it myself buying bikes second hand and then swapping out the 3x7 for a 1x12, dropper post etc etc to upgrade the bike over a few months. I've said before in the comments here, people like Wolftick videos & Kev Central on TH-cam have been buying Walmart bikes and doing this for a while.
That's an interesting topic Ian, what is the longest you would be prepared to wait to build up a bike looking for second hand bargains?
@gmbn from my own experience I've bought a used bike and in 6 months or so it's been upgraded, so ideal to start a winter project ready for the next bike season.... but then with many of these projects, it's never finished as you can always find something to change so in many ways as parts wear you can upgrade further.
I'm 100% ordering those EVOSID Cranks!
#CAPTIONCONTEST "When you trust your bike more than gravity"
Chains are the only thing I've had problems with. Counterfeits from ebay and Aliexpress. Sticking to LBS from now on for chains.
for people who know all the mechanic skills and can put a whole bike together from parts and manage all the service going forwards and manage any future part replacements, then this Ali Express method will work fine. But there are a LOT of people who not only are not going to be building their own bike but are not going to be doing all their own service. They are buying a bike from a bike shop because they want advice from the shop during the sizing and buying process and they want to continue taking the bike to the shop for service
Couldnt get a gold KMC chain from the standard retailers. Rolled the dice on an aliexpress one, hoping that it maybe genuine. Yep lasted two rides.
The roller rings that contact the chainring began cracking. While I can put the watts out Ive never had a chain do that in 35 years of riding.
No refund of course :)
Martin is spot on as devils advocate. There are tens of thousands of Keith's and it's horses for courses. A question of priorities. Personally, I'm barely a rider, but would still NEVER go down the cheap/poorly engineered/knock-off route... Owen, working within the industry, is trying to protect it and is keen (quite rightly) to do the right thing ethically. But you'll never stop Keith.
THAT'S MY KANGAROO VIDEO!!!! How bloody awesome!!!!
Frame, wheels and group set I'd get from AliExpress from one of the Chinese brands. I'm not interested in knock off parts (like the intend stem in the video). Suspension I'd probably look for used take-off locally, there's always someone upgrading.
I wouldn't run ali express parts because I've bent/cracked/broken enough name brand parts to know that lower quality could have ended a lot worse
Just buy pre-owned stuff. I live in SoCal and there is no shortage of quality pre owned bikes and components for sale. There’s always someone moving on to the newest cutting edge bike/component. MTB is literally the “golf” of outdoor/adventure sports, riders are switching out equipment all the time.
Thats incredibly close to my china bike i sent in last episode. Mine was built way better and i upgraded lots of bits for safety and performance.
you can just say my name instead of "Keith" 😂
Neither of our bikes will "break" , but im sure his suspension will be hurting if nothing has been upgraded.
I would not buy cheap parts from whatever website that is.
I broke a K2 full suspension bike years ago, it was just over a year old and the weld broke.
I'd buy a low end bike from a reputable brand before building something cheaply.
I will go on the Random Tandem with you on the wall of death any day Martyn
I use some Aliexpress parts on my trek session ando they have been working perfectly for mores than 1 year with no the lightest riding
I have a shifter, pedals, breaks, grips
You guys should totally do a £1000 2nd hand build to compare plz 💯
Brands do have high-tech components and parts that require precise and expensive equipment to be manufactured. That's a fact. But selling exactly the same piece of milled aluminum from the same alloy, sometimes made at the same factory in China, but under its own brand at a price 5-10 times more expensive, is greed and arrogance. Charge me 3-5 times more money just because this part is sold at an authorized dealer in a beautiful package?! Seriously?!
Yes. By the time a brand name bike gets cheap enough to compete at twice the price, spare parts are no longer avaialble. I have a great 2013 bike. but since 2018 I can't get any factory parts for it. All the aftermarket parts from brand names that fit are made in China. I ended up with ali express parts having bought and sent back 3 times brand name aftermarket parts as they were uutter shi(e
sorry, im pro kieth, i just bought a 2002 Norco Atomik for £230, i just want to enjoy riding, i am not going to pay £ for the latest gear, its gotten ridiculous
How many rides can you get out of that build? And how hard can you ride it? The bike might be okay to ride for 5-6 rides, but I doubt it will last. Example: I bought a rear pasak rim and hub (because I was short on funds at the time ) and got three rides out of it. It broke in the middle of the ride and I had a 5 mile "Stryder bike" ride back to the truck!
#CAPTIONCONTEST "Rich practicing his bike levitation powers… it’s not going well."
That bike build was a right pain in the arse! Would Keith have had help and would he have had the tools that Owen needed to make the parts fit?
The fact that none of us know if it'll survive bike park wales speaks volumes. It might, or it might not. A bit of a coin-toss.
Anyone fancy using an AliExpress helmet?
There's a fair few comments in that video pointing out that Owen tried fitting parts not designed for that type of frame - ohlins coil shock on a trail frame.
But yes it certainly helps being an ex mechanic putting this type of bike together!
#captioncontest
"And if you sneak up quietly enough, you can capture your own wild bike, and train it just like the big brands do"
#CAPTIONCONTEST
"If your bike's performance is disappointing... you can always try to exorcise your bike."
I wouldn’t use brakes or shocks from non established brands. Worried about build and qc lol
I never ordered stuff from Aliexpress. However in fact you can barely avoid China when it comes to bicycles.
Most brands are just brands without own manufacturing facilities. They have contracts with factories producing the components for them, and most of the big brand components are manufactured in Asia. Some brands even hire real manufacturers like Giant or Merida to assemble some of their bikes.
Carbon frames are almost exclusively produced in Chinese factories, since laying prepreg or doing wet laminating is hand labor outside highly sophisticated products like airliner wings where expensive robots are used to guarantee flawless products.
I would not buy most parts on Aliexpress because of the type riding I do. I ride DH and freeride on the east Coast, very rocky trails with huge jumps. No thank you, I don not even go medium build on parts. My health and safety are too important.
I love my specialized enduro but im excited to see if the ali express bike holds up. The replica ohlins had me lolz 😆
And all the bikes I see new or used are well over the $1000 mark. Nobody is selling their used bike for a good price plain and simple! Everyone thinks their bikes are worth their weight in gold… I searched for months for a used bike last year and ended up buying a brand new bike for $200 more brand new off YTs website! All the used bikes were $2700-$3000 not including website FEES. I paid $3028 brand new!
Only people who have competent bike mechanical skills should be building up an AliExpress bike. Many bike failures are a result of people with inadequate knowledge of mechanics: over tightening bolts, not knowing when to use grease, assembly compound, carbon fibre paste, or lock tight. These mistakes can ruin any bike.
I’m with Keith 💯
Not keen on trail dog videos, you might lose me there.
Except the Gowaan girls have a trail dog, they are the exception. 😍
What is is you don't like about the trail dogs Vicky?
@@gmbn biking through dog poo/ piss, jumping up at me, barking, destroying natural habitats, can’t sit on the edge of a trail and eat snacks in peace without wet noses… people think everyone love dogs… I could go on.
I am the Keith ,the one thing I've tried are chainrings from China, cheaper than Renthal and I see them as consumable parts anyway same with chains ...
I may be tempted by some of the parts but as for the frame and wheels 🤔
REALLY depends on what you do with the parts.
Throw yourself down the mountains for years : Nope, where offbrands/aliexpress save on cost is RnD AND welding/tolerances.
For everyday riding that's fine, not for going downhill fast. ESPECIALLY Aluminium frames, they get progressively weaker during the cycling of force. Hence frame lifetime limits on AL frames
Simple day to day cycling and cross country: Sure why not give it a try
Cant wait for that vid!
depends on the user.. if simple ride on the trail it may last long but if the user/riders are like you hard core guys... maybe no.. all the best i like this video
Those roos could be Eastern Gray or wallabies