Any good cycling components on ali express?

Arequipa

Good evening!
I hope you are all well.
I am researching building an economical, road bike with 2nd hand parts or Chinese home brands... not necessarily copies of legit big brands.

I am looking at cvr cranks & the sensah empire groupset on ali express and a deng fu carbon frame....

Have any of you bought components on ali express?
How were they in terms of quality, value, reliability?

Just one last question... at what price point will i have to pay import tax?
If so it might be cheaper to buy components in smaller transactions, over a period of time...

I appreciate any feedback!
A

magicbastarder

you've to pay import tax on anything bought from outside the EU, i thought?
and not just the value of the item, you also pay it on the cost of the shipping. in which case it'd be the opposite, that buying in bulk and reducing overall shipping charges would make things cheaper.

however, this is from someone who buys physical items online probably less than once per year so i may be talking nonsense.

con747

https://www.revenue.ie/en/importing-vehicles-duty-free-allowances/buying-of-goods-online-for-personal-use/buying-goods-from-outside-the-eu.aspx The post office charge €10 on top I think. Aliexpress is taking from 4 to 10 weeks delivery for me now.
I always keep goods below €33 to avoid charges on small items.

cletus

Once the value is over €21 (maybe €23), technically you pay tax on it. Whether customs actually check this and charge you is a different matter, although I understand that they've been more stringent as of late.

An option to look out for is where the company will ship from, say, the Netherlands, in which case the tax won't apply.

Regarding quality, no idea, but there's a guy on YouTube who did an entire carbon bike build from Chinese components, worth a look

con747

cletus wrote: »

Once the value is over €21 (maybe €23), technically you pay tax on it. Whether customs actually check this and charge you is a different matter, although I understand that they've been more stringent as of late.

An option to look out for is where the company will ship from, say, the Netherlands, in which case the tax won't apply.

Regarding quality, no idea, but there's a guy on YouTube who did an entire carbon bike build from Chinese components, worth a look

They only charge vat if the vat content is over €6.

Arequipa

Thanks for the replies...
Yea, i saw that youtube video..the bike looked cool!

Re the shipping.. given covid and life at the moment..i am not worried about a long wait!

I have watched a few videos on the sensah empire groupset, including one by 'China Cycling', it gets a good review, except for the front der. ...which seems a bit painful to set up properly...
It could be a good choice for a x1 chainset for a gravel bike...

Arequipa

From memory.. i have bought a few things on ali express... sunglasses, bibshorts, cycling jerseys.. and i have never been charged vat or import duties...

I think ever order less than €30....

cletus

con747 wrote: »

They only charge vat if the vat content is over €6.

I wasn't aware of that, thanks

Plastik

From January 2021 that sub-€x threshold is no longer and vat/duty will be charged on all imports irrespective of price. Send your thanks to Brexit.

cletus

Plastik wrote: »

From January 2021 that sub-€x threshold is no longer and vat/duty will be charged on all imports irrespective of price. Send your thanks to Brexit.

Where did you see that?

ED E

cletus wrote: »

Where did you see that?

Theres a revenue PDF on it posted in the Online Shopping forum.

Plastik

Revenue https://www.revenue.ie/en/importing-vehicles-duty-free-allowances/buying-of-goods-online-for-personal-use/buying-goods-from-outside-the-eu.aspx

July, not January, maybe not the Brits fault after all!

Note
From 1 July 2021 import VAT will:
be payable on all goods entering the EU, irrespective of their value
and
always be collected, irrespective of the amount due.

cletus

Well. That's pretty shïte

TheDocMan

Bought and built bike with Sensah 11sp Empire groupset. Overall excellent. Shifters and mechs especially good ( Sram type shifting). No prob setting up front mech and there was a issue with L front shifter on early groupsets but sorted now with replacing a few plastic parts with metal. Faultless and crisp.
Brakeset is a copy of 105 Shimano
Chainset especially impressive - "Rotor like" . Plenty stiff and good shifting. Hollotech design - 24mm axle
Chain and cassette - cheap and only fair quality
B/B - BSA and seems fine.
Took an age - nearly 3 months for delivery. No tax or duty requested.

godtabh

TheDocMan wrote: »

Bought and built bike with Sensah 11sp Empire groupset. Overall excellent. Shifters and mechs especially good ( Sram type shifting). No prob setting up front mech and there was a issue with L front shifter on early groupsets but sorted now with replacing a few plastic parts with metal. Faultless and crisp.
Brakeset is a copy of 105 Shimano
Chainset especially impressive - "Rotor like" . Plenty stiff and good shifting. Hollotech design - 24mm axle
Chain and cassette - cheap and only fair quality
B/B - BSA and seems fine.
Took an age - nearly 3 months for delivery. No tax or duty requested.

any links to that?

Arequipa

Thank you Docman!
The whole group set us between €100 -€200..
Did they not charge you any duty on this?
I thought they would....

A

TheDocMan

No, everthing- 11sp shifters, shifter inner cables, front mech ,rear mech, brakeset, chainset 52/36, b/b , chain and cassette cost me 272e.
Got it via Ali Express - Holle Bike Store
No duty paid ,arrived by An Post

Arequipa

Wow.. that is a great deal then..
Having to pay the import tax on top, would definitely tarnish the purchase..

TheDocMan

Only got it as a stop gap- was waiting to get a full 9000 Dura Ace groupset. Was very pleasantly surprised. Even though I've got the D/Ace stuff, I was in no rush to strip it off and rebuild. Im considering keeping it rather then selling it on tbh.

cletus

Arequipa wrote: »

Wow.. that is a great deal then..
Having to pay the import tax on top, would definitely tarnish the purchase..

Just be aware, it's not that he was exempt from import duties, just that he wasn't 'caught', as such.

There is no guarantee that you, or anyone else, would not have to pay
It's a risk you take, but one you should budget for

TheDocMan

cletus wrote: »

Just be aware, it's not that he was exempt from import duties, just that he wasn't 'caught', as such.

There is no guarantee that you, or anyone else, would not have to pay
It's a risk you take, but one you should budget for

Agreed.
Maybe they judged by the box- if its fancy packaging and an unveiling experience youre after- not here!! Basic cardboard box, small,crammed but well bubble wrapped in box