Elite Wheels Ali Express
- Thread starter gmw492
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Lets just say theres a reason people dont buy live asking medicines from AliExpress.
I personally extend that to anything which has the potential to kill me,
I personally extend that to anything which has the potential to kill me,
sevenfourate
Devotee of OCD
- Location
- Lowestoft, Suffolk
I’d rather squeeze my private parts in a vice, remove the handle and set fire to myself than ride those wheels.
Save up for a couple of months more: and buy yourself some proper ones 👍
Save up for a couple of months more: and buy yourself some proper ones 👍
OP
OP
gmw492
Veteran
Thanks any decent recommendations Prime , Hunt
sevenfourate
Devotee of OCD
- Location
- Lowestoft, Suffolk
Honestly - not my thing for cycling. But I have some reasonable knowledge of the complexity, detail, cost of Carbon made for another sport. And I’ve seen it being manufactured myself. To produce grossly cheaper products means lesser quality raw products, stages missed, less care taken, lesser paid / skilled workforce etc etc. On such a key component as bike wheels: I really don’t think that’s the place to knowingly skimp.
Good luck !
joeegg
Active Member
- Location
- Barnard Castle
Merlin have some deals on Vision rim brake carbon wheels.
super_davo
Veteran
I have two sets of Ent-Gravels. I bought the first set for my Ribble CGR to replace the lumps of iron Mavic Aksiums it came with. Was so impressed after a month or so riding them that I ordered another so I could have a set with GP5000AS TRs for winter road use and a set with gravel tyres so easy to switch between the two.
The model I have is not the lightest - about 1600g for 45mm depth, but a 24mm internal width which was important for my usage. The finish of the rims is superb - look way more premium than a set of Primes I have. You need to fit tubeless tape yourself but they supply some pretty decent stuff in the box, and they don't come with valves or spare spokes (but use pretty standard Pillar spokes).
You don't need to pay tax per se - you need to select the DPD shipping which covers the taxes. Make sure you order at the beginning of the month or during a sale when they have their discount codes available, I was able to use a £30 voucher both times so came in about the £270 mark each. Genuinely can't think of a single mainstream brand you could get for £550 that I'd rather use than them, and I have two sets for the price...
The model I have is not the lightest - about 1600g for 45mm depth, but a 24mm internal width which was important for my usage. The finish of the rims is superb - look way more premium than a set of Primes I have. You need to fit tubeless tape yourself but they supply some pretty decent stuff in the box, and they don't come with valves or spare spokes (but use pretty standard Pillar spokes).
You don't need to pay tax per se - you need to select the DPD shipping which covers the taxes. Make sure you order at the beginning of the month or during a sale when they have their discount codes available, I was able to use a £30 voucher both times so came in about the £270 mark each. Genuinely can't think of a single mainstream brand you could get for £550 that I'd rather use than them, and I have two sets for the price...
sevenfourate
Devotee of OCD
- Location
- Lowestoft, Suffolk
And you believe they’ll be genuine coming from Ali Express; likely from China ?
Animo
Über Member
Yes, Elite have their own webshop on AliExpress. Order from there and you'll be fine.
super_davo
Veteran
There are forums like Chinatown, Weight weenies & YouTube channels dedicated to direct from China / AliExpress stuff alongside plenty of people on the ground using it. If something was no good, if you read those sites, you would know about it.
I've been cycling for 15+ years and I remember when I first joined my club a load of people chipped in to order a job lot of carbon frames direct from the factory in China. They didn't suffer catastrophic failure then, nor did all the people buying unbranded deep section wheels 10+ years ago. The stuff you can get now is way better too.
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
Can you buy direct from Elite ? It's like you can get discounted Shimano kit from Ali-Express, but I wouldn't. Plenty of well known manufacturers out there that you could order direct. Stuff like Plant X frames / wheels are Chinese parts, just with their own labels.
Animo
Über Member
Yes, you can buy direct from Elite, but as I said above, they have their own webshop on AliExpress. I suspect they use it to shift older stock that doesn't form part of their current range. The wheels on there seem to be a bit narrower and heavier than their current offerings.
https://www.elite-wheels.com/
wonderloaf
Guru
This is similar to my experience, bought a pair of the 38mm deep ENT-Discs to replace the Aksiums on my Ribble CGR (spooky coincidence!). Transferred to my Dolan GXT and have now completed ~2000 miles on them and they have been faultless, no damage to the rims whatsoever and the wheels have stayed true, I don't mollycoddle them either as I use them both for road and occasional gravel riding.
I got mine for £264 delivered from the Elite webshop in Aliexpress, the lady at Elite was very helpful and steered me away from taking the cheapest Aliexpress delivery option, as in your case I selected the DPD option so tax and duty was included in the price.
Before buying these wheels I did an awful lot of research and couldn't find a single review or mention where people had these wheels fail on them, and based on my experience wouldn't hesitate to buy another pair.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Its from AliExpress, so they could be branded Rolls Royce and that's little guarantee or their actual origin. We're not talking about a reputable retailer here.
Their own actual webshop excepted, of course.
In terms of whether theyre any good as an "upgrade" depends on what you're trying to achieve.
