Road Cycling

Not overly confident with the packaging on some Aliexpress carbon handlebars!

jOIwkCR.png


What's the best way to check for any damage from flex or should it be visible (beyond the obvious risks of poor quality control during manufacture hidden away)
 
Martynt74 said:
Not overly confident with the packaging on some Aliexpress carbon handlebars!

jOIwkCR.png


What's the best way to check for any damage from flex or should it be visible (beyond the obvious risks of poor quality control during manufacture hidden away)
Click to expand...
not sure id be entirely confident in using aliexpress bars in the first place tbh.
 
baritonejohann said:
not sure id be entirely confident in using aliexpress bars in the first place tbh.
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I know some people have that opinion but i've never had issues and been using them for years. Just depends on the supplier really and have to make sure you find a decent one. Same with everything on there.
 
Martynt74 said:
I know some people have that opinion but i've never had issues and been using them for years. Just depends on the supplier really and have to make sure you find a decent one. Same with everything on there.
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Fair enough, just not something id be personally comfortable risking or recommending. catastrophic failure of handlebars is not something i ever want to experience.
 
Yeah it makes sense for most things. My current bike is from a chinese brand which has been great. To be honest with these bars the main reason is that i've not found anything which fits the bill from a mainstream manufacturer.

It's a copy of the Surly Corner bar but with extended "hoods" so they're actually usable. The Surly version is also around 900g and really heavy. Plus they're MTB diameter so i can still use existing MTB levers to avoid having to switch over a whole groupset
 
Martynt74 said:
My toe still isn't right and seems most things suggest 6 weeks to properly heal.
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Swelling gone down and still painful? Bruising? Probably a fracture... I know mine was a fingertip and got strapped up. But took 2-3 weeks for swelling to go down and it ached during that time, another 1-2 after that before it felt more 'normal', but I could do most things with it before then (like gripping and twisting) as it had the strength, just didn't feel like I had (so didn't trust it). But don't know how much of that was it being within the splint thing protected from everything barely being touched 24/7 for weeks.

Martynt74 said:
What's the best way to check for any damage from flex or should it be visible (beyond the obvious risks of poor quality control during manufacture hidden away)
Click to expand...
Hilarious packaging! I'd probably say grab the end of each drop and twist them damn hard. If I heard any creaking/cracking they're damaged or too weak and wouldn't even bother fitting them. At the end of the day they've gotta support your body weight through the ends of the bars with shocks into the middle from your forks. Could probably say to stand on the middle to 'crush' them and see what happens but that seems a bit extreme... But by all rights they should be able to withstand it?!
 
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Martynt74 said:
Not overly confident with the packaging on some Aliexpress carbon handlebars!

jOIwkCR.png


What's the best way to check for any damage from flex or should it be visible (beyond the obvious risks of poor quality control during manufacture hidden away)
Click to expand...
Refuse the awful package and demand a refund!

My carbon Primavera bars from Wiggle came in a protective box.
 
Roady said:
Swelling gone down and still painful? Bruising? Probably a fracture... I know mine was a fingertip and got strapped up. But took 2-3 weeks for swelling to go down and it ached during that time, another 1-2 after that before it felt more 'normal', but I could do most things with it before then (like gripping and twisting) as it had the strength, just didn't feel like I had (so didn't trust it). But don't know how much of that was it being within the splint thing protected from everything barely being touched 24/7 for weeks.
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Yeah. Still some swelling and bruising. Weirdly it's fine walking in the house barefoot, but shoes and walking outside hurts more. Unsure if it's a fracture or maybe ligament/tendon over the top. It'll probably be fine for the event, but 200km over gravel is likely to have some accidents if i'm not careful and i don't want to do any harm to it.
Currently trying to claim through the event insurance (luckily i took it out!) as they won't let me defer but they want a medical note and i'm trying to avoid wasting the GP's time!

Roady said:
Hilarious packaging! I'd probably say grab the end of each drop and twist them damn hard. If I heard any creaking/cracking they're damaged or too weak and wouldn't even bother fitting them. At the end of the day they've gotta support your body weight through the ends of the bars with shocks into the middle from your forks. Could probably say to stand on the middle to 'crush' them and see what happens but that seems a bit extreme... But by all rights they should be able to withstand it?!
Click to expand...

Yeah. Will grab them from the shop and see. The reviews of them on various chinese bike groups are decent from people who've ran the same brands products for years so fingers crossed. It's for my Hardtail mtb monstrosity!
 
I'd say just see if you can bend and twist them.

I'm a firm believer in Ali Express parts though, to an extent. I think as long as you're not going for bottom of the barrel stuff you should be OK. Has TraceVelo got any handle bar videos?
 
Junglist said:
I'd say just see if you can bend and twist them.

I'm a firm believer in Ali Express parts though, to an extent. I think as long as you're not going for bottom of the barrel stuff you should be OK. Has TraceVelo got any handle bar videos?
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Yeah he has, it's just that the one i've bought is very niche in it's shape. Effectively flared dropped bars but able to use mtb shifters to avoid having to buy a new groupset.
 

Boardman SLR 9.6 Carbon

The SLR 9.6 comes equipped with Shimano Ultegra Di2 for seamless electronic shifting, Zipp 303 wheels for enhanced aerodynamics, and improved ride characteristics.
www.boardmanbikes.com www.boardmanbikes.com

soon to be released. Love the colours

doesn't this seem like a crazy value for money? zipp carbon wheels, cf endurance frame, ultegra di2 for £3500 ?
 
That does look great value. Tbf, Boardman always were good value I think.

I was thinking I might replace my Canyon (my winter bike), this would fit the bill quite nicely actually.
 
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AndyCr15 said:
That does look great value. Tbf, Boardman always were good value I think.

I was thinking I might replace my Canyon (my winter bike), this would fit the bill quite nicely actually.
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yeah, so I'm sorta comparing between

canyon endurace with the 105 di2 - £3300ish
boardman slr 9.6 ultegra di2 - £3500ish or go with 105di2 without carbon wheels for £2500ish for the SLR 9.2
giant defy advanced pro with 105 non di2 - 3600ish which seems expensive and they often come with rubbish wheels

and on paper, it's between endurace and slr but, endurace seems to have better geometry and the split/shock seat post etc are all nice things, but di2 105 and heavier carbon wheels but will the frameset be better.. it's hard to decide which is better. I'm sure all are great bikes.
 
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Would I be mad to buy a titanium gravel bike for the following reasons:

1) winter bike (I don't own one for this purpose)
2) occasional commuting to work (12 miles or 26 miles - one way - I'll particularly enjoy claiming 20p a mile for these journeys during the summer!)
3) maybe a few local journeys (already got a single speed bike that I use for this purpose)
4) Some mild off road cycling local to me
5) Maybe some one way journeys and taking the train back (wouldn't trust a carbon bike on the train)
 
Martynt74 said:
Not overly confident with the packaging on some Aliexpress carbon handlebars!

jOIwkCR.png


What's the best way to check for any damage from flex or should it be visible (beyond the obvious risks of poor quality control during manufacture hidden away)
Click to expand...

Seems alright. From posts on facebook it seems this is actually preferable as it stops things being stacked on top of it, bit like that bike brand that sent bikes out in boxes with TV's on the side because people took more care. Absolutely huge amounts of padding inside that tape. Will get it mounted up tonight to replace the Surly Moloko bar i previously had.

85C23PA.png
 
Martynt74 said:
Seems alright. From posts on facebook it seems this is actually preferable as it stops things being stacked on top of it, bit like that bike brand that sent bikes out in boxes with TV's on the side because people took more care. Absolutely huge amounts of padding inside that tape. Will get it mounted up tonight to replace the Surly Moloko bar i previously had.

85C23PA.png
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Those socks need to reach the bin at an insane rate.
 
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