Originally Posted by
Ogsarg
There is so much junk on Amazon. You'd like to think a company that big would care about what is on their platform but a lot of it isn't any better than what you find on Bangood or Ali express. Sometimes it's worth spending a little more and dealing with a reputable bike shop.
This. With very few exceptions, the only things that I would venture to order from Aliexpress or Amazon are the peripheral trivia, such as fenders that are more esthetic than functional; perhaps the occasional tube or two (I gotta admit, though - I am considering some full carbon wheels off of Aliexpress for both my
Hemingway and
my Mu!) But for the critical parts, the ones that make the bike work (and keep me alive,) I always fork out from actual, reputable shops, preferably brick-and-mortar ones that also have online sales channels.