Best Brompton Saddle?

[u_i]

I have handlebar bag from Aliexpress which is awesome. I have gopro mounts, mud flaps, front light bracket, Ti seatpost, pedal holder, kickstand and few other things. All of good quality, all that I use and enjoy. And yeah, you need to read reviews before you buy.

Oh, my experiences are dramatically opposite and yes I read reviews anywhere I can and also write them. I would say that more than 50% of first time purchases are unusable and I am so to say resigned to that. Those that are usable are on the OK side. Maybe we differ in standards . Also I talk about the first-time purchases because, when something actually works, I may buy it again. I also wonder, in the context of your claimed experiences, why mainland Chinese are sometimes ready to buy a foreign-branded product at a cost few times higher than nearly identically looking domestic product. Do they have access to some mysterious knowledge that, under commonplace circumstances, they just look at a domestic vs foreign label???

 

[u_i]

P.S. Ever few times, when buying on AliExpress, the delivered item is different from that advertised, so that much for the reviews.

 

[CEBEP]

Oh, my experiences are dramatically opposite and yes I read reviews anywhere I can and also write them. I would say that more than 50% of first time purchases are unusable and I am so to say resigned to that. Those that are usable are on the OK side. Maybe we differ in standards . Also I talk about the first-time purchases because, when something actually works, I may buy it again. I also wonder, in the context of your claimed experiences, why mainland Chinese are sometimes ready to buy a foreign-branded product at a cost few times higher than nearly identically looking domestic product. Do they have access to some mysterious knowledge that, under commonplace circumstances, they just look at a domestic vs foreign label???

If, unlike mine, your standards are so high, why order anything from Aliexpress in the first place? You could have ordered bag for your chain from Brooks or some other well known, none Chinese brand. No?

I've ordered SON Edelux II which is supplied with fork bracket suitable for Brompton. I actually didn't know the bracket will be supplied in the box so during the process of placing the order I've ordered stand alone SON fork bracket suitable for Brompton. So now I have 2. It places light so high up that its too close to the bag when mounted on the front carrier block making light unusable for me making me go and order alternative bracket. German company, product bought off a German website, produced in Germany, shipped from Germany.

And the Brompton specific TRIGO fork mount I previously ordered from Aliexpress for battery powered headlight worked like a charm. From China, made in China.

So yeah, experiences differ.

I've ordered $65 titanium seatpost from Aliexpress which was listed as 600mm which is exactly the length of my stock seatpost. The one I received was perfect, except it was 580mm. I've made few pictures showing the length difference and sent them to the seller. They apologized and immediately sent another one, asking me to keep or sell the 580mm seatpost I received. Your experience can definitely be different, just as your experience with any retailer in the world.

Would I buy a Rolex watch from China over the internet? Probably not. A bag for bicycle? Will definitely give it a try.

 

[u_i]

My account shows close to 150 purchases on AliExpress, so the statistical record is pretty solid with all kinds of cases. I have no intention to discuss it further beyond what I said. The discussion will not change what is there.

 

[yoho oy]

Have zero experience with AliExpress and you can find reviews of that store going both directions. I don't know what to think about it and because of that I am still reluctant to try that store. Judging from reviews some of the items shipped in very poor packaging and arrive quite mangled. That is additional worry. Many items that are found on AliExpress can be also be found on Ebay. Some of them have even very similar prices. If a price is very close, one should think about what is more important - shipping speed or price. When looking at items on Ebay one should check where does item ships from- some of them ships from China. Amazon lately became more expensive on many items compared with Ebay. Plus Ebay has free shipping on quite a few things despite order value while Amazon most of the time force you to buy more or get Amazon prime.

 

[berlinonaut]

Have zero experience with AliExpress and you can find reviews of that store going both directions. I don't know what to think about it and because of that I am still reluctant to try that store.

AliExpress is not a store but a marketplace. So there is no "standard" but it depends from the individual seller. Sellers there come and go/disappear quickly. There are a couple that have been there for years, sell their own products and are serious people but there are also a shitload of gamblers that sell about anything and do not have any clue what they are selling (and don't care as well). Customer service on AliExpress (the platform) has become worse and worse over the last years, so if you have a problem with a seller you are pretty much out of luck and fully dependent from the seller himself. A lot of selling on Aliexpress is via the most competitive prices, so in the end it is a massive gamble what you end up with. The problem that the attitude towards quality and business behaviour seems to differ between Europe and China massively doesn't make things better. Typically you have no idea what you will end up with: Something good, something bad, a counterfeit product that doesn't live up to expectations or a bargain. Or something completely different from what you have ordered or what was advertised.

 

[u_i]

AliExpress is not a store but a marketplace. So there is no "standard" but it depends from the individual seller. Sellers there come and go/disappear quickly. There are a couple that have been there for years, sell their own products and are serious people but there are also a shitload of gamblers that sell about anything and do not have any clue what they are selling (and don't care as well). Customer service on AliExpress (the platform) has become worse and worse over the last years, so if you have a problem with a seller you are pretty much out of luck and fully dependent from the seller himself. A lot of selling on Aliexpress is via the most competitive prices, so in the end it is a massive gamble what you end up with. The problem that the attitude towards quality and business behaviour seems to differ between Europe and China massively doesn't make things better. Typically you have no idea what you will end up with: Something good, something bad, a counterfeit product that doesn't live up to expectations or a bargain. Or something completely different from what you have ordered or what was advertised.

Exactly! And what I have been hearing approached the claims of a beginning roulette player that when you put your chips on red you are bound to win, just need to do enough research into the black repeating itself sufficiently many times, the red is bound to come out. Advice from other players what to bet on is also good. In addition the house gives you bonuses from time to time, so life is good and they are about to quit their job and make their living off playing roulette.

Incidentally, I was shocked last week when AliExpress gave me a full refund for an item that arrived completely dead, documented by filming - I cannot remember any such a refund case from before. Maybe it has something to do with the Covid advice in China to avoid mail from abroad.

 

[u_i]

The problem that the attitude towards quality and business behaviour seems to differ between Europe and China massively doesn't make things better.

Actually, inside China I had quite pleasant experiences with JD.com, the main on-line retailer there. I used local help to order. They delivered within 2 days anywhere in China and it might have been free for my order. They did not mind delivering to a hotel and, when the item was not yet there before my departure hour, when I was on the move, they just changed the delivery address to my next destination, completely on the fly. When I decided to go for a higher model of the particular item, the replacement was for free, just payment of the difference, and they sent out the replacement immediately after I turned in my original item to shipping and the latter just meant turning in the item to the hotel reception desk. The level of service was well beyond what I was used to up to that moment. The hotels I stayed in were nothing particularly fancy to call for special service - the locals told me that what I was experiencing was the norm with JD.com.