Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 41 total)
  • Carbon components from China on Ebay ?!
  • jekkyl
    Full Member

    like this seatpost for example: linkity link

    At a third of the price of even the cheapest on crc are they worth a punt or will I end up on the floor picking my teeth up regretting my miserly ways?

    dirtyrider
    Free Member

    its probably to the ones they stick fake FSA logos that snap easily,

    on whats this meant to signify on the advert?

    hatter
    Full Member

    Your teeth, your call, personally I wouldn’t buy anything that I intended to entrust my life/face/’man danglies’ to from someone with whom I’d have absolutely zero form of redress if said product failed and impaled me.

    Plenty of decent Alloy posts (Raceface, Ritchey, Truvativ)on CRC for £25 or less, that’s where my money would go.

    That said I’m sure there’ll be someone along in a minute to say I’ve been brainwashed by ‘the industry’ and that they’ve built an entire bike from unbranded chinese carbon for £0.85 which they’ve been hucking off buildings no problem.

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    P20
    Full Member

    I bought this one and haven’t died yet
    Though I haven’t used it yet….. It’s nice and light, looks well made. If you want carbon that’s more proven look at exotic on carboncycles.cc

    IanMunro
    Free Member

    I’m quite happy buying bike parts direct from China. I’d probably stay clear of an Ebay seller that appears to specialize in hair extensions though.

    njee20
    Free Member

    Posters like Hatter have just been brainwashed by the industry. I built a bike for 85p, and I’ve been hucking it off buildings with no ill effect… 🙂

    I would buy one, I’d check the reputable Chinese sellers before eBay though I must say. Light Bicycle et al do seatposts.

    hatter
    Full Member

    Argh, so much for the deterrent effect of preemptive sarcasm!

    matt_outandabout
    Full Member

    What about other gear? I can see some cheap headsets and BB’s that look just the same as all sorts of brands here…

    (alloy) stems and seatposts also seem el cheapo.

    midlifecrashes
    Full Member

    Plenty available through Amazon too, especially Flyxii and ICAN branded frames.

    aracer
    Free Member

    Would definitely be happy to try anything which wouldn’t cause a teeth ground interface if it failed if cheap enough. Not as worried as others, but would tend to use a bit of caution with bars and seatposts and only buy from places which have some reputation (road bike frame and seatpost are Pedalforce, which is branded Chinese carbon, road bike forks are Ritchey ones from ebay, which worried me more and I spent a long time thinking about because of the existence of fakes).

    Northwind
    Full Member

    Think I’d be more confident buying a no-name than a fake tbh. That might be daft, but with a company selling fakes you know they’re not to be trusted, whereas a no-name you at least can give the benefit of the doubt.

    njee20
    Free Member

    I totally agree with that, I’d rather a company made a product the way they thought it should be, than tried to copy the aesthetics of something else, despite in invariably being totally different!

    bobgarrod
    Free Member

    A quick search brought up a full carbon post for the ginormous sum of £8.50 (including postage) http://tinyurl.com/p5gb7cz – gift for someone you don’t like ?

    Can’t be safe for that money

    taxi25
    Free Member

    But it could be. Price isn’t always an indication of quality.

    njee20
    Free Member

    Can’t be safe for that money

    If Planet X were doing them would you feel the same?

    damascus
    Free Member

    My friend bought some branded carbon bars and seatpost from Ali express for next to nothing.

    The size they came in wasn’t made by the brand.

    They were ridiculously light and thin walled and when you put your weight on them they flexed.

    Personally I wouldn’t use them but he did and didn’t die.

    bobgarrod
    Free Member

    If Planet X were doing them would you feel the same?

    I’d hope that Planet x had some sort of quality control on the parts that they flog.

    Edric64
    Free Member

    I have cheap carbon wheels from China they are fine isn’t the Planet flex stuff just cheapo Chinese stuff marked up a lot ?

    aracer
    Free Member

    If you’re referring to my post, then I agree. I only bought in the end because I’d convinced myself they were genuine – spent a lot of time poring over photos of genuine ones and the supposed fakes and there was a slight but obvious difference. IIRC there was something small but very obvious if you looked properly – maybe dropouts? – and mine matched the genuine exactly.

    cookeaa
    Full Member

    A quick search brought up a full carbon post for the ginormous sum of £8.50 (including postage) http://tinyurl.com/p5gb7cz – gift for someone you don’t like ?
    Can’t be safe for that money

    I bought a very similar looking post last year for ~£12 IIRC still fine after the first 1000 miles or so…

    Not quite sure how much more safety a logo would really have bought me…

    We’ll see if it’s still going strong in another year or not…

    Xylene
    Free Member

    I’m told, getting stabbed in the bum hole is one of the harshest forms of punishment as it takes a long time to heal due to bacteria and if done properly it severes the sphincter muscles and you need a colostomy sack.

    Many years ago, my mate, a bit naughty, was knifed in the pub, as his legs buckled under him, he shat himself, and shouted you “twunts you have stabbed me in the arsehole and went mental, until someone said don’t worry mate, it’s only your back.” bruised the spinal cord so he was ok in the end.

    Why have I told that story – as you come off a drop, your bum hits the front of the seat, the leverage snaps the seat off, you hit another bump and wham, you’ve just been stabbed in the bum hole by a carbon spike.

    Not really a great story to tell people at the pub as to why you have a colostomy sack.

    rOcKeTdOg
    Full Member

    I’ve snapped 3 alloy “big name brand” posts but never snapped a “anonymous” Chinese” carbon one

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    Usual thing China is huge with a lot of manufacturing, my Chinese carbon frame is awesome, lots of testing and QC, comes with a 5 year warranty and a Santa Cruz badge, other stuff may be good though it’s probably a bit random and there is no way of really knowing.

    Other point is if it’s pretending to be something else – ie Fake it’s not legal to import and can be seized.

    bigrich
    Full Member

    a saw someone racing at the malverns with a snapped carbon seatpost. It looked all jaggedy.

    every time he went past we shouted “how’s yer bumhole?”

    great days, etc.

    jekkyl
    Full Member

    So in summary….some anecdotal evidence that cheap carbon seatposts are okay but they might not be. lol

    Rocketdog, where did you get yours?

    mooman
    Free Member

    I use cheap Chinese carbon wheels. Cheap Chinese carbon bars … and a cheap Chinese made (Ribble stickered) frame & fork r872. And now I come to think of it, my Cannondale Super6 HM was made in China … and probably bought cheaply by Cannondale too.

    Sometimes you just pay that bit extra for the decals.

    finbar
    Free Member

    You’ll die, blah blah blah

    (I’ve been riding Chinese carbon road bars – two different pairs – for about two years now and they’ve been awesome)

    unovolo
    Free Member

    Think I’d be more confident buying a no-name than a fake tbh

    Take a look on Aliexpress and you will find the same seatposts branded as Enve & Bontrager as well as unbranded, along with slightly different finishes.

    FWW I have a (Ch)Enve Carbon post which is surprisingly well finished and hasn’t broke yet with my 14.5st battering it for the last 6months,
    Got some Rigid Carbon forks from Flyxii which have been great so far on the same bike and a Carbon flat bar on another bike which has done 16months service with no issues.

    But also have a set of Carbon risers bought from a different seller on Aliexpress which I have never used due to them feeling just too light(125gms) and flexy.


    Stems been flipped now.

    cows_in_cars
    Free Member

    What concerns me about the direct from China parts (looking past the will it snap worries) is the ethical question of these super cheap carbon parts. Are they produced in the sweatshop, horrible labour conditions that have been documented plus the workers having to breath in carbon fiber particles?

    I am not saying that the carbon parts form “names” are produced in better conditions but there seems a little more hope that they are.

    It just seems horrible to save a few pence/pounds that someone’s life in another country it horrendous.

    Loved to be proved wrong though.

    dirtyrider
    Free Member

    FWW I have a (Ch)Enve Carbon post

    why would you buy fake branded parts? especially ENVE?, it doesn’t even look like the original item

    deviant
    Free Member

    Plenty of people are using ICAN, flyxii etc for frames, bars etc….from researching these companies they appear to be experts at what they do and dont just do bike stuff, they make tennis rackets, golf club shafts etc from carbon also…obviously there is no exclusivity and if a brand like Santa Cruz come along and commission a frame from them they will shut up shop to the common man and produce for Santa Cruz only…ditto numerous companies like Ribble, On-One etc may come along and purchase from these companies and flood the market with the same stuff but stickered up differently.

    Got no problem with it myself, consumers get more choice and better value for money, buying direct from the factory is no hassle in my experience…i’ve bought loads of carbon motorcycle stuff over the years like exhaust hangers, footpegs, wing mirrors, brake levers etc and never had a problem with fit or build.

    Currently using a chinese carbon seatpost on my road bike, bars on a MTB and eyeing up some Light Bicycle rims for my full suss later this year.

    unovolo
    Free Member

    why would you buy fake branded parts? especially ENVE?, it doesn’t even look like the original item

    As I wanted a cheap Matt Black Carbon post, could of got a Unbranded one but they were gloss 3k carbon, I’m operating on a limited budget you know.
    As for it not looking like a real one,

    Not exactly worlds apart are they?

    What concerns me about the direct from China parts (looking past the will it snap worries) is the ethical question of these super cheap carbon parts. Are they produced in the sweatshop, horrible labour conditions

    And yet people are happy to buy products from renowned customers such as Apple,Dell,HP etc whose suppliers have dubious histories.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxconn_suicides

    gonzy
    Free Member

    i ordered one of these last week

    for the princely sum of 6p….plus £12 for postage
    it should arrive in the next decade or so…but now this thread has me worried

    lightman
    Free Member

    Hmmmm, at least you’ll have no problem getting a full 6p refund if they turn up faulty!

    hora
    Free Member

    I’ve never had a snapped seatpost, stem or frame.

    I’ve never bought a cheap Chinese carbon part where regularly subcobtracting to other places can happen.

    Stop being a tight **** **** and buy properly. **** buying a part that could fail far from the carpark or at 20mph+.

    That £30 saving is **** all saving then.

    njee20
    Free Member

    Does buying expensive stuff make it impervious to breaking far from the car park or a 20mph+?

    hora
    Free Member

    Better QC control and brands care about bad PR.

    Xi Shuan industries wont have this worry nor any liability legal case against it.

    I could go after Fox etc but a proxy factory bought through ebay?

    unovolo
    Free Member

    I think some of the Naysayers ought to take a look at some of the Chinese parts again.

    I have genuine big brand name seat posts on other bikes(Ritchey,Control tech and a Carbon 3T post on the road bike) and the ‘Ch’enve post compares well to them in both fit and finish.
    The full Carbon fork on my rigid Mtb is equally well finished to the genuine Deda Carbon fork on my road bike.

    If I didn’t trust them(like the set of handlebars I mentioned in a earlier post) I wouldn’t use them.

    hora
    Free Member

    I only own two bikes so I dont have to cut any corners.

    njee20
    Free Member

    WTF?

    I want that on a t-shirt.

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 41 total)

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