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Alibayexpress parts you love

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
22,230
21,838
Canaderp
Isn't that what the gloves and brake levers are for? I mean if you're punching trees on the regular, maybe theres a different problem to solve? :busted:

I'm always more concerned with those times when a thorny vine somehow gets wrapped around my arm and tries to rip my appendage off.

Or whatever plants have razor blade like thorns that cutup my shins, but you don't really notice until a shower is taken later.
 

Gary

my pronouns are hag/gis
Aug 27, 2002
8,602
6,508
UK
I apart from grip with extremely sweaty/wet hands 'm not actually sure what gloves are for. Personally. back when I wore them they never survived abrasion or hits and didn't really protect the skin underneath. Skin grows back. Ditching the middleman was one of the best riding choices I ever made.
 
I apart from grip with extremely sweaty/wet hands 'm not actually sure what gloves are for. Personally. back when I wore them they never survived abrasion or hits and didn't really protect the skin underneath. Skin grows back. Ditching the middleman was one of the best riding choices I ever made.
Sweaty/wet, minor thorns. Today, most last maybe a month, so cheap work gloves instead.
 

Bikael Molton

goofy for life
Jun 9, 2003
4,088
1,235
El Lay
I live in a chaparral area where getting scraped to shit on rides is a daily occurrence. I also prefer not to wear gloves, but it's kinda not an option here on most trails, most times of the year.

Also, triggering y'all with some handguards is an added benefit.
 

Andeh

Customer Title
Mar 3, 2020
1,217
1,183
I have had multiple spills wearing gloves where the glove was destroyed but my hand was perfectly fine, and I wear as thin of gloves as possible. The Leatt 1.0s are great for that. Our local dirt is pretty sandy, so the alternative is hamburger hands. The hole in my elbow from a spill 4 weeks ago still isn't done healing.
 

Gary

my pronouns are hag/gis
Aug 27, 2002
8,602
6,508
UK
Back when I used them I'd generally go through around 6 pairs of gloves a year. It's always been extremely rare for my hands not to have multiple cuts and abrasions. This hasn't really changed.

Material bunching and lack of feel is what I hated about gloves so yeah. I also only ever wore thin gloves. Sooo much better control and feel without them now that I litterally hate holding grips wearing a pair.

If I had £30 for every ride I've cut my gloveless hands... oh... wait!
 
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slimshady

¡Mira, una ardilla!

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
22,021
7,265
borcester rhymes
Am currently eyeballing some apparel from his royal aliness. Sometimes I wonder if I should tally up all the random shit I've bought of Aliexpress...
 

Leafy

Monkey
Sep 13, 2019
647
412
Am currently eyeballing some apparel from his royal aliness. Sometimes I wonder if I should tally up all the random shit I've bought of Aliexpress...
just look up how many points you have and you’ll know how much you’re spending. I’m a platinum member, mainly from my wheelset build.
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
22,021
7,265
borcester rhymes
just look up how many points you have and you’ll know how much you’re spending. I’m a platinum member, mainly from my wheelset build.
Just gold, but I'm on Ali to save money not spend. It's more of how much crap I've gotten. Honestly most of it has been pretty great! Just one item was a failure and that was refunded quick.
 

Milleratio

Monkey
Oct 24, 2021
125
78
Any experience on aliexpress mtb/mx gloves? Fox dirtpaw quality seems to be a little too questionable.
 

Leafy

Monkey
Sep 13, 2019
647
412
That’s only like $5 cheaper than on eBay shipping from America. The pump is cheap though, if only it was a 500psi pump to be able to do all shocks.
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
22,021
7,265
borcester rhymes
20 bucks is 20 bucks. Just sayin
So yeah, I bought that haul from Ali's $1.99 grab bag. I got a pump, mini tool, road gloves, aero socks, tool kit, TPU tube, a compact bottle, a spare derailleur pulley (free), and some cheap sunglasses from one of the better brands that may fit under my TLD A1.

No doubt some of this stuff will fail the first time (looking at the mini pump in particular) but some of it is surprisingly high quality for the cost. The road gloves and socks are on par with $30 bontrager things. The tube will be an emergency spare for my TT bike.
 

Gary

my pronouns are hag/gis
Aug 27, 2002
8,602
6,508
UK
Honestly never understood the (over)excitement about DT hubs.
Fukin PITA to service. and it's not like the ratchet system doesn't wear out.
and straight pull hubs can fuck off forever as far as i'm concerned.

FWIW Those Ryet hubs look way less of a PITA to service
 

Gary

my pronouns are hag/gis
Aug 27, 2002
8,602
6,508
UK
I'm not actually all that bothered by hub brands. Hope are fine. Just nothing special and fairly mediocre in function and durability for your money.
For ease of servicing, cost, durability and function higher end offerings from the likes of Novatec beat DT and Hope unless you need hideous coloured anodising or a DT logo to make you feel worthy in the fashion parade that is Mountain bikes™
 

Leafy

Monkey
Sep 13, 2019
647
412
I think having to hold the spoke every time just makes it easier to never have spoke windup. And why build custom wheels without bladed spokes anyways?
 

two-one

Monkey
Dec 15, 2013
224
230
Eindhoven, the Netherlands
Hambini has a new positive enough review of some knock off DT 240 hubs made by Ryet. If I was building some budget wheels right now I'd try them.
He makes funny videos and has an occasional sober view of 'the industry' and sometimes has practical insights, but I'm pretty skeptical Hambini can actually value any parts for real-world-offroad-usage. He is primarily concerned with low weight and low drag, while riding his roadbike on sunny days.
There are quite a few copycat parts produced in China that seem just fine, but fail alarmingly fast because of poor material choice or through design-failures.
For hubs I keep coming back to Hope and DT Swiss. Very easy to rebuild, spares are easy to find and no weird surprises.
I really like the dt350 straightpull hubs. Light, sturdy, durable and no sensitive EXP ratchet.
 

Leafy

Monkey
Sep 13, 2019
647
412
How many wheels and how often do you straight pull fans build/true?
I’ve built 1 set with China carbon rims. Built them in the frame, they were pretty true on initial tension just from counting turns, after aliclarkson style de-stress (stand on the spokes in socks), and then re-tension after mounting the first tubeless tire they’re still true and tensioned. Well the front is, the rear had a tire mounting accident that broke the rim. Turns out the gauge on my new inflator only reads right while filling and tubeless they didn’t hold up to 100+ psi when the tire blew off the bead.
 

two-one

Monkey
Dec 15, 2013
224
230
Eindhoven, the Netherlands
like what?
A buddy of mine had a set of straightpull hubs from ali, looked nice, bearings smooth. Nice freehub sound.
But one morning during a winter he walked into his shed, and all the flanges had cracked, spokes were everywhere over the floor... we suspect some kind of sensitivity to salt that was they spray on the road during frost.
Never seen that before.