My Carbon Hardtail MTB from AliExpress

Three years ago I stumbled upon the vast YouTube world of AliExpress bike parts and builds. I was struck by the bravery of people just taking a risk and getting some - back in the day - no-name chinese bike parts in order to build a bike with that. It were the relatively early days of bike parts on AliExpress getting more main stream and my first thought was: Oh hell no, that bike is going to disintegrate on the first ride... . Still, I wanted to build a bike, a hardtail MTB to be precise, and when I was looking at the prices and what I wanted to build I quite quickly came to terms of the build either being really expensive or a bike below my expectations.

So I kept watching videos and reading forum articles on people's experiences with being chinese bike parts off of AliExpress and build their bikes with that. It became quite clear that it is in fact not all junk that comes from those chinese online retailers and I still wanted to build a cool bike. What did I consider cool? I wanted to build a carbon hardtail MTB with 100mm of travel that weighs less than 10 KG. If I just bought such a bike off the rack from companies such as Canyon or Rose I would have spent at least 4'000 Euros. Not something I was willing to spend getting "just one more bike".

So I did the research, created an excel sheet and started to do the calculations of what I exactly want to build. The brand SPcycle stood out to me for the frame and some components, such as the seat post and handle bars, as that particular brand was on AliExpress for more than 10 years already. Furthermore, those parts had solid reviews and not just those from bots or undercover employees themselves. It seemed very solid.
When it comes to the drive train - LTWOO stood out too as a solid brand with a vast offering. A bike - of course - consists of plenty more components, which I will list in detail down below, but that would be out of scope in going into too much detail here in writing. You can see the full video too if you'd like: Is it worth it to build an AliExpress MTB?
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Regardless, that bike build is now a bit over three years old, so what happened? Did it break down on the first ride? Did the carbon parts crack? How was the performance? Well....this is quite unbelievable part to me. Just yesterday when it hit about 20 degrees for the first time here in Switzerland, I took the bike on a little adventure ride with a buddy of mine. I havent ridden it since last autumn and I did not have time to adjust anything as it was a spontaneous endeavour. The crazy part was that everything was so smooth.

From the shifting performing like butter to the whole being not making a single weird sound - the whole experience was so...unremarkable. And that was the case for all those years. Every single component except for the tires and the sealant within as well as the chain, are exactly the parts I have build the bike up with. And it still rides perfectly.
There was no crack, no dent, no damage anywhere and I do not baby my bikes. I live in a small apartment and I constantly bang my bikes against each other. Also on the trails the frame experienced plenty of bumps into rocks, roots and alike. So for that, the question of whether it is worth it to build an AliExpress MTB can be answered with a definite "yes".

The only complaints I have had over the lifetime of this bike where the chain that was included with the LTWOO drive train - which was utter garbage and lasted me - no kidding - 450km until I had to replace it, as well as the grips being quite gnarly on the hands on long rides. Those were cheap and are very rigid with not a lot of shock absorbtion. You can ride with them - they are just not great.

If I were to do anything again, though, I would go even further. I would use AliExpress breaks such as the ones from ZRACE or a fork such as the Bolany Air Fork. Overall however, this is still a very rad bike and I love riding it every time I take it out! So go get on AliExpress, do some research and build yourself a really cool like.

Oh and the final specs of my bike? 9.4 KG for under 2'400 Euros, not bad for such a bike. So if you are interested in the full parts list, here it it: