Anyone heard from BTLOS recently?

[NHAero]

I ordered a wheelset in mid-November. They were in contact (used to be Amy, now it is Sophy) last on Dec. 29th saying that the wheelset build was in progress. Usually they at least answer an email within 24 hours (there's a 12 hour time difference IIRC) but haven't heard back since the 29th.

Is there a holiday in China or similar?

[mstateglfr]

Chinese New Year is in a few weeks. That lasts 1-3 weeks depending on the business, from what I experienced in my prior professional life.
I actually just pushed thru a large order for my company yesterday because I didnt want to wait for more meetings that would only drag out the order date to when the vendor is closed.

[merckx]

The country is also pretty banged-up with COVID at the moment. That may be an additional factor.

[MarkY]

I may have gotten lucky. I ordered a set of BTLOS wheels on Nov 8th and received them on Dec 6th.

[thwart]

Originally Posted by merckx

The country is also pretty banged-up with COVID at the moment. That may be an additional factor.

This.

It’s not like Wuhan in early 2020, but it sounds pretty horrible. The country may lose as many as 2M people.

[Upcountry]

I may or may not have purchased another wheelset recently...
Ordered from them on December 1st, they shipped on December 21st, and arrived to my place on December 29th...
They're really nicely built as always(my fifth set from them).
I'd just give them a bit of time, or try them again in a few days.

[prototoast]

Originally Posted by MarkY

I may have gotten lucky. I ordered a set of BTLOS wheels on Nov 8th and received them on Dec 6th.

They probably had a huge surge in orders over the holidays, so it's not hard to imagine that someone who got an order in early received the wheels relatively promptly, while someone who got an order later could be waiting several months.

[bikerboy337]

i was in the same boat, ordered late November and just got notice today they shipped.... so about 5 weeks from order to ship. The last wheelset i ordered from them about 1.5 years ago took like a week until shipping...

i did order a rim brake set, so it sounded like they had to make the rims... but definitely slower than in the past...

and the email responses were slow as well, but they did respond about 2 weeks ago saying the rims were being produced...

All in all wont be back, maybe 6 weeks from order to delivery (should be here early next week), but not the fastest turnaround this time...

[deluz]

Ordered 2 rims 11/8 received on 11/28.
Maybe wheelsets take longer because of the time to build them.

[nalax]

Originally Posted by thwart

This.

It’s not like Wuhan in early 2020, but it sounds pretty horrible. The country may lose as many as 2M people.

This +. And it doesn't look like they're prepared to deal with the huge Lunar New Year travel which will bring the virus from big city to the country and vice versa with millions of people travelling.

Btlos just finished another discount promo on 12/28. Probable short staffs and orders may be overwhelming them. Expect another promo before 1/22/23 which is New Year and then however long they close down for the holiday. One good thing is that prices look the same. I hope to get in an order on promo and get it in a couple of months after winter's gone.

[jimoots]

I was talking with a buddy who deals with China, the entire office was down with it right before Christmas.

I wouldn't be surprised if this is affecting both customer service and actual builds for BTLOS.

[nalax]

I sent an email inquiry to Btlos last night and received a reply from Sophy this morning. So things are still running over there.

[NHAero]

I also heard from Sophy this morning and sent her my best wishes for the health of all the folks working there. I must have been under a rock but hadn't followed the COVID policy shift there and its consequences.

My wheelset is now built and they are going to ship tomorrow, and she said they will ship a faster way than EMS because they feel it's taken such a long time to fulfill the order. Pretty good service!

[bikerboy337]

Ordered mine late November as stated above and they arrived today via UPS.... slower than i anticipated but not an issue really as my frame is stripped at the moment as i anodize it and wont be riding till spring anyways.

Pleasantly surprised. Picked the 35mm front/45mm rear rim brake setup with BITEX hubs... come in at 1350g on my scale (lighter than the estimate). I'll get them set up in a few weeks and try them out on a dry day if I can, but those rims cant be beat for the price... if you can wait a few weeks...

[darkmother]

I have one pre-built wheelset and two pairs of rims that I built myself from BTLOS. The prebuilt wheels took much longer to arrive than the bare rims.

I'd be inclined to be patient for the time being.