On Monday, December 3, 2018 at 3:18:51 PM UTC-8, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 12/3/2018 3:54 PM, jbeattie wrote:

It's like the $12 angle grinder from Harbor Freight. At some point, the price is a giant red flag.

I do think there are some bargains to be had. Joerg likes the Chinese brake pads, and there are somethings sold by the Chinese that you just can't get elsewhere -- like these: https://tinyurl.com/y93bccln I'd buy things like a low-use tool e.g. a bleed kit or something for a one-off hub bearing job -- although I'd probably buy US/German/Japanese bearings.

I'd be interested in hearing about true Chinese bargains.

Interestingly enough, my $12 angle grinder from Harbor Freight has
worked out perfectly for me! So there's that.

More disclosu I bought it for one job, cleaning up welds on a set of
ornamental balcony and stair rails I was building. So it worked well
grinding hundreds of welds. It's been used only occasionally since.
(Even more disclosu I don't remember the price. Maybe it was more
than $12.)

I should have used some other tool as an example because even decent angle grinders can be dirt cheap. But yes, some things from Harbor Freight are an incredible deal -- if they make it out of infancy. I had a flashlight short circuit in my car before I even left the HF parking lot -- so I went in and got a new own. There were buckets of them.


I got some Vuelta wheels cheap from Nashbar for my commuter, and they're probably a standard Chinese factory item -- a mildly aero 28 hole aluminum rim, aero spokes and a Formula-ish hub. Same old same old -- decent but nothing earth shattering. Spending more might have gotten me a better set of bearings or freehub, but maybe not. On sale, they were a true bargain.

And we should try to remember that for almost anything regarding
non-electric bicycles, we've long since been deep into diminishing
returns. If your commuter's hubs had better bearings, could you really
tell while slogging uphill in Portland rain? If the spokes or rims were
more aero, would you notice it in your effort expended or in reduced
commuting time? Probably not.

You do notice when things break, and weight difference become noticeable in the aggregate -- with all the other heavy stuff on the commuter, but bearings have to be pretty bad before you can feel (or hear) any difference. My Vuelta wheels are not China direct, either. They do have a warranty and a domestic company that will return e-mails about spoke length (although they were a few mms off).

-- Jay Beattie.