Is AliExpress a Scam? An Expert’s Guide to Cheap Bike Parts
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- čas přidán 25. 06. 2024
- AliExpress has a reputation for poor quality bike parts, and even worse customer service. So how true is this?
SIROKO CLOTHING - 10% off (automatically applied via link below):
srko.co/tracevelo
AliExpress is a great place to grab some fantastic deals on cheap bike parts and cycle equipment. However, many people still don't trust the website and its sellers, and question the quality of the products and the overall shopping experience. I’ve spent nearly £6000 on the platform over the years, so in this video i'll share my experiences, and give you some valuable tips for navigating AliExpress and addressing the doubts and concerns that surround it.
I’ll cover all the bike parts I’ve personally purchased, and show you which ones never got delivered, which got cancelled, which got damaged in the post, and whether the sellers I’ve bought from have ever tried to scam me.
After this, I’ll give you a rundown of the shopping experience, and provide the various strategies I use to ensure I shop for bike parts safely and effectively:
- Checking the seller
- Reading product reviews
- Cancelling orders
- Understanding the returns process
- My experience with delivery times and import fees
- Spotting fake or counterfeit bike parts
By the end of the video, you'll hopefully have the knowledge and confidence to navigate AliExpress, make informed purchases, and ultimately enjoy the process of finding some amazing deals on bike parts.
Check out Panda Podium here:
www.pandapodium.cc/
The 21 bad products:
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Timestamps:
00:00 - Start
00:27 - Intro
01:19 - My AliExpress Orders
01:47 - Did I receive my orders?
02:27 - Did I get what I ordered?
03:12 - How many were damaged?
03:38 - How many were crap?
06:49 - Can the seller run off with my money?
07:38 - Can I cancel my order?
08:03 - Import fees
08:56 - Delivery times
09:40 - Warranty and returns
11:16 - How to protect yourself?
12:37 - Spotting counterfeit parts?
19:10 - Conclusion
Intro roll:
Created by Dev Joshi - www.go2dev.co.uk
Instagram: / tracevelo
Email: tracevelouk@gmail.com
Please note:
With the exception of Siroko, all products demonstrated in this video have been purchased by me, and I have no affiliation to any of the sellers or vendors shown.
In addition, I am not a professionally trained bike mechanic. There can be risks associated with using products that are unbranded, untested, or come from sources where the provenance is unknown. Please talk to a qualified bike mechanic if you are in any doubt.
In essence, be careful, do your research, and cycle safe!!! - Sport
A free pair of socks for everyone who places an order on panda podium and says trace velo sent them 🥖🥖🥖
Socks, you say?
Can I swap out the socks for a panda? 🐼
Joe, make PandaPodium socks!
@@TraceVelo I second the panda option. All in favor raise your hands!!!!!
@@ebikescrapper3925 Of course!
Aliexpress is fantastic for all sorts of things that you simply can't get anywhere else. All those weird little adapters, brackets, and all sorts. The creativity on display is great.
you think i can get a floating disc?
@@mrnorthz9373 most definitely wouldn't recommend it
Another piece of advice.
*Avoid sellers that lowers the price of the item but boost the shipping price.*
If they are hoping to trap _inattentive_ buyers ...
Also. In a dispute if they don't intend to refund the shipping, most of your money is gone.
I got my free necklace with a total of 10€ shipping costs.....
actually if you buy cheap and small gadgets shipped from China, it could be common case that shipping is much expensive than gadgets itself.
Excellent video thanks Luke. You have a great presence in front of the camera and you clearly do your homework. Keep them coming!
Just to add to the bad experiences, I had 2 sellers providing tracking numbers from items delivered to a different part of the country, so that the item I bought would appear delivered even if they were never sent. I was fully refunded by Aliexpress after complaining and providing evidence the tracking was for an item delivered to a different address, but it can be quite annoying as you can have to wait some time and have to reorder the item somewhere else. But all my other purchases were fine.
Thank you so much for making this video and keeping an open mind. The amount of times I have to justify my AliExpress purchases to acquaintances is ridiculous
Shout out to Siroko: I first ordered quite a bit to my home address. A few weeks later ordered to a friend in a different country so it would be ready there before my race in that country. Quickly after the order they contacted me to make sure it was actually me that ordered it, and not just someone who stole my account. Very pleased with their eye for detail and that they just didn't blindly accept a funny looking order!
Wow. Thats actually pretty great customer service. Might have to give them a try!
Nice story. I sell online and have noticed a couple of customers changing address. None have been fraudulent but all appreciate that it was noticed.
Hey Luke, thanks for another great video! I know you put the spreadsheet of the bad products in the description but is there any chance you could put the good products too? It would be great to see the list of products you were happy with! Cheers
Brilliantly put together and well presented content, as always. Great stuff Luke.
You honestly mention many chapters that are relevant in this topic! Thanks a lot 🔥🔥👊🏼
Best video on youtube about ali-express bike parts ever! It confirms my experience on this subject, although I only order small and inexpensive items. Never bought frames or wheelsets.
When people say there is only crap on ali-express, I tell them that the same stuff that hangs in stores around the corner. But when it is sold there, someone has made sure the quality is ok or at least it is safe to use. When ordering stuff from ali-express yourself, YOU ARE THE QUALITY AND SAFETY MANAGER YOURSELF! All tips in this video will help you to make wise choices.
Loving this new chapter in Luke's CZcams career 🥖
Saving up for some of that sweet sirocco cycle gear 👌
Great video Luke. One thing that comes across strongly is the checking of previous reviews and photographs. I think we should all review the products critically and provide photo's. We need to help each other out here, and you have done the lion share of that. I have made purchasing decisions based on your videos, and only have only been caught out when I broke the 'rules' of due diligence. you are a legend. Thanks for your hard work.
Thanks Steve, what an awesome comment!!!
What a complete con from China , free post to you as CCP pay millions in backhanders to global post but you pay £150 to post it back ? I would be ashamed to have a Chinese made bike or parts on it ! Total cheep trash products from China
Me too, I bought some shoe covers and some toe covers after the last video!
Yeah, the photos and reviews are a great advice I recommend on every marketplace. Especially the critical ones. Not the ones that praise the product. More than often it comes down in the middle.
The problem with relying on reviews is that the system is set-up so your reviews DON'T make it onto the site. You get such a SHORT turnaround time from receiving your item to leave a review and ONLY then can you leave a follow-up review and even that is time limited.
Amazing work trace, love the data analysis!
Despite being a full on mountain biker, this is first roadie bike chanel that has really caught my eye, great job. I really enjoy your videos and I hope you continue to do what do you’re doing.
Dzięki, Łukasz! To jeden z najlepszych filmów odnośnie kupowania rowerowych rzeczy na Ali. Great job!
I remember a few years ago there were loads of fake Shimano derailleurs around. Mainly the lower level groupsets, but they were very convincing with the jockey wheel screws being the main giveaway (silver instead of black).
The shifter levers were also copied, had Alivio shifter lever snap on me and only noticed it was a fake when I grabbed a genuine replacement from my LBS.
I'm just a mtb guy but I learned alot and excellent, easy to watch and listen to guide on something we all wonder and experience at one time or another. Thanks!
The 40mm Mavic Cosmic fakes are actually pretty decent wheels. The rear wheel tension was a bit loose on the non-drive side, but otherwise a simple fix if you can tru a wheel.
Depends on what you get, they come in many varients. Had one that comes in heavy at over 2.1kg and hub has significant more drag than a stock China wheel.
@@hkchew03 I had this problem, kind of a hassle returning the wheels
Very helpful tips Luke! Thanks for your effort and experience. I hope the £6k come back to you soon
Great video Luke. Lots of valuable information here. Nice work.
Hey Luke -- I'm very glad you mentioned Joe's new venture. Wishing him great success over at Panda Podium.
good video - i have similar experience to you - no issues with orders or mailing to the US - i'd say 80/20 good vs junk products - they are cheap so there is a risk. your reviews have helped me and purchases that have been excellent value include bottom brackets, handle bars, "tubilo" tubes and toe covers - typically non-mechanical
Thank you Luke!
I'm always looking for bike parts and the branded stuff is often expensive for what it is. I don't mind so much when you know it'll last, but a bottle cage doesn't need to be silly money!
Amazing, Luke. Thanks for all the effort and caring on sharing this info :)
Fantastic video thank you Luke 😁😁😁 I have never bought from aliexpress but watching your content I’m edging closer and closer ❤
I used to work with a motorcycle clothing and gear company. Like almost all the others, their gear is made in the far east. Their roots and headquarters are in Switzerland, but their market is largely the whole of Europe. So they have basically two warehouses on either side of the border between Switzerland and Germany, because of import costs. I got to visit both of them once! :) Your example of the Poland warehouse reminded me of this.
I had a wheelset delivered to Canada recently, without import fees. Faultless wheels, and fantastic value for money. These are "Mavic Cosmic", and they're my second set - I have 50 mm and 30 mm deep rims.
I'm using those exact same 'cosmic' wheels, they are bomb proof! Bought them mainly because I prefer alloy wheels especially for braking. Thanks Trace for the sage advice! 🥖🥖🥖
Love your ali express reviews for bike parts. I started shopping on it because of you and saved so much compared to shops. Keep up the great work!
God Bless!
Really interesting video. I’ve had a similar success rate as yourself. The only discrepancy is the aforementioned bottle cage collection you’ve had. I’m only in for around £1k though so smaller sample size.
Didn’t know about the pocket in my Siroko bib shorts (bought with your link obvs)! Thanks 😂
Thanks for the excellent review of your experience, and the Panda Podium tip. Alas Panda Podium seems to be almost exclusively road bike oriented, I could find little MTB or commuter bike merchandise. Maybe some day.
This would be a cool one to revisit with Peak Torque to talk about why some products just don't need to be expensive because of the engineering and manufacturing behind some products
Hambini has really pulled the lid back on the absolute rip off that a lot of "Brand" name gear really is.
@@chrisparky the thing about brand products is, it's standarized. Some criterias have to be the same all over the world. In some cases the materials needed, or how the parts have to be screwed or even the material itself. You will not buy a Levis Jeans that got a different consistence of fabricates used in china or in europe or in the us. That's a standard, they want to have. Or, to get into bikes, a shimano XLS without alloy but some scrap metal from the neighbourhood is not going to happen.
I work with knives for a living and the brand wusthof for example got a contract with one metal factory that exclusively sells their knife-metal to wusthof and is the same all over the world. Doesn't matter if bought in Australia, Germany or Madagascar. No one else can buy that type of metal. Other brands got similar criterias.
Brands do care about that shit. Because that's why they got a good name. And most of the times it's their patent.
That sounds interesting, What do I search for to find that?
Great vid and very helpful for people :) excellent channel always look forward to your new uploads.. well done dude
Really really excellent video Luke. Exactly what I was looking and full of the information I after regarding AliExpress. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Very informative! Thanks brother!
Great info, massive effort on the various bits of product vs cost vs quality detail.
and an amusing virgin outro.
winner
What a great video Luke. Well done...
Great video. Thanks Luke.
My AliExpress experience less positive, LTWOO GR7 groupset utter junk as delivered. Needed re-engineering and low quality materials mean it’s worn out after 9 months. I closed my account after I was scammed on a Bluetooth Amplifier’ that was ‘not as described and AliExpress and seller wouldn’t accept liability. Wouldn’t trust them on higher value items. This is where Amazon and eBay win out.
Great advice. You're much more adventurous than me in your expensive purchases. I've bought hundreds of items -bike clothes, parts and tools, gardening equipment, motorcycle gear - gloves boots jackets. Nearly all good to great. But mostly well under £100. I won't buy helmets. Too many risks there.
What you didn't mention is that many items are genuine but last season's or a chinese Del-boy has 'acquired' them. Some might also be not QT passed due to stitching, but still really good. One m/c glove pair are genuine r'evit but had a "Sample" so were for a sales rep or similar. Still using them 5 years later.
I suspect complex things are mostly not counterfeit because there's no money in it. Cut steel for rotors is cheap and the retail margins high so easy to fake. Much harder to do with 30 pieces of engineered plastic and alloy which only 50 people might buy.
Your mail system is clearly much better than ours 🇳🇿 - you didn't mention that you can pay a bit more for faster postage. Maybe not an issue with EURO warehouses. The Yanwen post option often takes 3 months and I've got three items refunded because they've never turned up. One did after 6 months postmarked Kazakhstan...
PS - I'm going to have to get a new pair of nice orange Sktoo cycle gloves because while watching this the dog has chewed one up!
Good info man!! 👌🏼
Based on your recommendation, I picked up the l-twoo over size pulley. I love it! I also replaced the bearings, really smooth
I bought the c *****ic speed copy...clearly not real as it doesn't have ceramic bearings, they just use no oil/grease in them so they spin like ceramic, however the jockeys look to be well made and the cage is in fact ud carbon....so I swapped out the bearings and it is spot on.... Just got to be aware when buying that it is highly unlikely that the item is real at that price point.
15:00 In this listing you could choose whether to buy RT66, 76 or 86 rotors. The different versions are listed as "colors" you can pick from.
good video... I mean, I bought around 200 bike items from Aliexpress, and I still got things to learn from this video.
I have been using bicycle related products from Aliexpress for the past 10 years without any complains. I have saved myself a fortune from avoiding top end known brands.
😂😂🥖🥖🥖 funnies are on point! Couldn't have enjoyed it more and very informative! I will really start buying there, thank you Luke!
I thank you for all the sacrificial
purchases you make testing budget gear😅😅😅...it has saved me money seeing you have tried and tested products i was also interested in...long live Trace Velo😊😊😊
I did my first order on Ali after watching these videos. Hubs, hoops, Crankset, tubeless valves, and handle bars. Only got the cranks, was charged for everything, everything else never made it, and had to get my money back which was easy enough. But I bought them from sellers who had a high amount of orders. So I thought I was safe!
Try again, sometimes they lose the contents of the bin before they consolidate and tend to just send everything back to the source parts source bin.
it's all about the sellers. I have a similar app here in Taiwan. I like your videos. you are smart and straight to the point.
you say it is about finding a reputable manufacturer? for example there are many of the same items sold at different prices but i guess it is the quality that is different. branded frames give more attention to the quality. my main concern is the fork stiffness at its weak spots and the dropouts'.
Great video, but man, that "Trace sent you" bit cracked me up! 😂🥖
Hah shaving cut and still rolling, love it man :D
5:30 Siroko jerseys are really nice. I've ordered quite a few. They have nice design and good materials, nothing too thin or flimsy, very high end looking. I'm in between sizes and normally have to order a larger size than I normally wear in other brands, but they look great. I've ordered bibs through them and the chamois is nice, side panels are a bit thin, but the rest of the short is nice like their jerseys. I got a pair of glasses from them too and they look great and seem well constructed. Lastly, I've ordered a gilet and it fits nice and snug but the only thing I don't like is there are no pockets but instead cutouts to access your jersey pockets. The very best thing about all these items are their prices are great. Good quality at a nice price and the looks of brands that are 3x more.
Great advice thank you a really informative video top class.
Thank you, nice video and good information.
Doing the lord's work. I have always been afraid of aliepxress being a complete scam but I've made a few purchases on there after seeing your videos and no problems for me.
I bought the 50mm "Mavic Cosmic" wheels. The first thing was to rip away the stickers and after that the wheels have been pretty good! Not the lightest but they are aero and look good. Also, still in one piece and true.
I bought a Shimano group from Ali Express several years ago. They were in original boxing. It was Ultegra front and rear derailleurs and Tiagra Shifters 10speed. They worked great and half the price.
Such a strange combination
Some great advice in there, Luke! Any suggestions on which AliExpress sellers/outlets I should be looking at for cheap gravel framesets? Looking to downsize the frame on my 1x 🥖🥖 🥖🥖🥖
I have recently purchased some titanium parts - handlebars, seatposts, and a stem. They are all excellent.
I have bought a few minor parts that I found less than impressive, but I knew I was taking a chance.
super thank you for the video... just started using Ali Express... this video couldn't have come in a better moment... :)
As a cyclist living in SEA, Sensah and LTWOO are the two aliexpress brands that are ok for groupsets. Ferrino is there too but a bit rare. Rockbros is an ok to great brand for accessories.
Ferrino is just a Sensah rebrand, so it's pretty much just Sensah and LTWOO.
Rockbros is sold at Decathlon
@@thedownunderverse Rockrider right? Or Decathlon in your country sells Rockbros? That would be so convenient.
My experience has been positive. I would like to make special mention of a few exceptional products: Ridenow tpu tubes, brilliant Igpsport BC 100 gps, Sensah shifters, EC90 saddle, Gios toe covers.
Ok, cutting to the Chase, what’s the Panda’s mark-up on the Cycling products and does the warranty stay the same?
Thanx, like that you’ve been doing the homework for us here on CZcams.
Great video. Do you think you could share the list of products that ended up being good?
Luke. We need some cable housing and hydronic brake line reviews. Thanks, Jim
With the import duty, the reason you're not seeing it any more is because AliExpress has to charge the tax at source for the UK now, you'll see it in the summary. The benefit of this is orders are now quite a lot quicker than they used to be. The downside of this is that previously, sellers would declare everything either below 25 quid or not the full value, meaning no tax. This caused delays though as it has to go through more detailed checks at the border, but it did save money as the border either wouldnt pick it up or get the value wrong so the tax was lower still
🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖very useful advice and great fun as usual! Thanks 🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖 What happened about your broken carbon lever?
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your precious guide.
🥖🥖 🥖 Great advice. My only really bad experience with AE was when a groupset arrived and the packaging was haphazard - corners of the box weren't taped (and the box wasn't bagged, as they often are) and the chain fell out. its bag was still there, as was the quicklink. I raised a dispute, and the seller insisted I close the dispute and confirm receipt before they'd negotiate. I closed and confirmed, and never heard from them again. Lesson learned.
🥖 I always just cross-reference between ebay and amazon usually the seller uses the same name and if they can maintain a prime status it's a good sign also sort by orders is pretty useful.
Here in the USA, the really low end Shimano disc rotors are indeed made in China and sells for around $20 at the local bike shops that have been in business for decades. Caveat is that you can ONLY use organic resin pads since the steel is low end quality
shimano got a factory in china.
Bottom line you buy quality and it LASTS. I bought my Tern Verge X18 folding road bike. In 2015 for £1800. People said I was crazy spending that much on an acoustic bike. Fast forward 8 years. I've spent about £400 pounds on replacement parts. Mainly tires, break pads and a few chainrings rear cassettes, chains etc.
The thing is THIS. In those 8 years I have saved over £20,0000 on travel expenses. Because I basically ride everywhere in London on the X18. Fold it up and take it in with me. It's my only transport unless I'm travelling abroad. So I have made the innitial cost of the bike back 10 times over.
Most people who own bikes STILL use cars and public transport. A bike is just a small part of their transportation. Or for recreational use on holidays, weekends. After work etc..
But there is nothing better than cycling. You get exercise. Transportation. And in cases like mine. When it's your sole source of transport. Save a fortune over time..
Ride your bike!.
I can't fault them! every order I have made has arrived before their stated delivery times and at a great price. I have to say I only ever buy known makes, I don't buy unknown makes. I have had the occasional scruffy parcelling, but none affected the product inside. I give them a thumbs up👍👍👍👍👍👍
Maravilloso video Mr. Luke. 🙌👏👏🥖🥖🥖
This is a fantastic video, great to see you producing content like this. 🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖
Great video! How is everything working with the carbon crankset from Racework? I am considering getting one myself. Do you have a strava profile to follow?🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖
That hidden pocket in Siroko's shorts, is for a team radio!
@Luke I think you might be mis-understanding UK import duties. Since Brexit, Aliexpress charges VAT and duty and pays them to the UK govt on your behalf for orders under (I think) £135. It's only on parcels over £135 that you could expect duties or VAT. Aliexpress shows this in the change to the price from that shown in the cart and that shown at checkout and paid. eBay and other sites work similarly when ordering direct from overseas.
Recently received about $300 of gear from aliexpress. Took about 3 weeks to receive in the USA. Very happy with everything.
Great information. 🙏🏻
Hi Luke, about the SRAM rotors, I've got a pair of centerlines 180 mm. 18€ in total. My rotors are original, the only explanation is that the manufacturing date is almost 10 years ago! But obviously this is not an issue with a piece of steele. On the other hand, I've purchased some "Shimano chains" that are fake.
Luke puts his money on the line for us so we don't have to. Legend!
I give him a five star (bagel) review 🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖
Excellent, thanks.
This mirrors my experiences, from North America. Delivery wait times can be long sometimes, but from buying wheels, the seller was a very good communicator (once you use the translator!). I do have a problem with local bike shops though, who, if you need specialised work done, take it upon themselves to rip you because you bought something online, and done a bit of DIY, instead of through them, and paying them for ALL work. They don't want you to learn, just hire them...
I'm learning this the hard way right now, i bent a rim on my ebike and im trying to find a bike repair shop that can fix it. Most just refuse, saying these ebikes are designed to be disposable (I paid $2000 for mine!) while all of them sell ebikes for $5000+ for half the battery capacity and power... snobs.
Thanks for sharing your 'common sense' on buying on Ali express.
I'll just add one of my first experiences, buying a carbon seat post. Obviously it's an item one does not want to fail catastrophically. Being quite new to the platform I decided to focus on the number of products previously sold and wound up buying one as buyer number five thousand four hundred and then some. I figured that if it were to crack like a 🥖 there would be complaints and the number of sold items would have never gotten to be over 5000. I had no ragretz. 😁
Hi Luke, has that carbon fiber crankset still been treating you well? I want to upgrade to 11 speed, and going from my 980g Sora 9 speed crank to that 543 CF AliExpress crank would provide some huge weight loss. It's about the same price as a new 105 R7000, so sort of a tough decision.
Good video. The baguette goes on the list of bad ali products ;-)
Very useful advice.
Luke, about the shimano groupset you showed, as a bike mechanic I've found quite a lot of fake shimano derraileurs, mainly 105s and mtb Alivio and Deore, a lot of shimano components have already been copied (brake calipers, pedals, chains and derraileurs), but you got a really good point on shifters, those can be copied on mtb shifters but not on STI levers. Also cranksets seem to be immune to being copied haha.
Would be very hard to accurately fake 105 derailleurs I would think
Against my better judgement I bought a Ltwoo group from a non official store. It had good reviews and had been open for a few years. (Things I look for)
The right hand shifter was faulty. I sent them videos of it malfunctioning and they sent me a new one. I just paid shipping.
I had also reached out to Ltwoo official store in case I got left hanging. They were willing to replace it if the other store couldn’t as long as I could prove purchase.
Caused some delay on my build, but overall good experience.
I'll be honest: CZcams has put your channel under my nose several times but ... AliExpress - nah, don't trust it, wouldn't have anything to do with it. Then Hambini recommended your channel today (26/12/23) and lots of the comments below that vid agreed - you are worth watching. Sceptically, I deigned to watch this: I'm impressed!
The "hidden pocket" is for a race radio. 😊
Luke I bought Ritchey carbon seatpost - what’s you’re thoughts on the quality ?
just got some of those centerlines from ali and they have the sram and the date of manufacture ect laser etched on them however they dont have the rounded edge like the aftermarket ones
Found this hidden pocket for stuff 😂 just made me laugh .Great stuff keep up the good work
I'm from the US and lived in England for 2 years when I was in the military. I've never met anyone as smart as the British folks regarding engineering, the greatest God given mechanical understanding. And if you spent that much money on AliExpress which I'm about to in about 3 days, that's 2 reasons why I have to listen to you with 100% respect. 🏁 🇬🇧
The outro was wild
I have a micronew groupset, zitto bb and many other parts. No problem since the installation.
The siroko jersey I recently bought Is my best jersey now, the fabric feels amazing.Their photos on the website represent the actual colors extremely well, for anyone who wants to color match. 🥖
I know you prob prefer rd/gravel riding more but it would be cool to see you build a mountainbike.Maybe an xc bike? I would be curious on their suspension systems, I noticed some even have kashima coating which I thought was a fox only thing!