Carbon seat post from China/Taiwan etc

Anyone ever bought one of these or similar?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151106923482?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Seems pretty light but not sure about build quality etc

Snapped my Easton ec90 and was looking to save a few pennies but been caught out before buying from china.

Any comments welcome. Ta

My exotic has been fine on my C456

Don’t worry about build quality, the build quality on the Easton obviously wasn’t that great!
I’ve bought loads of MTB and motorbike bits from China/Hong Kong/Taiwan and never had a problem with quality.
Most of that kind of stuff is made out there anyway even if a cheeky manufacturer tries to pass off the finished product as ‘european’…they generally know what they’re doing.

Used a road orientated one on a hard tail mtb frame. Snapped the frame in the end (i dont think it was inserted far enough but there was no min insertion instruction with the frame, just the post). Post survived unscathed. The quality isnt upto easton levels, but they are functional.

Funny, I’ve just ordered a carbon post from HK. $38 and free postage. 27.2mm and 400mm long. It’s got Ritchey branding on it – Superlight I think. I’ve Googled and these seem to be close to $200 so I’m guessing it’s probably not a genuine one but the pics appear to be kosher. Will let you know when it arrives.

where from?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161091742837?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

This one says bontrager xxx on the stem but when I googled it the genuine pics have at different clamp, coupe be an older version but lamp looks decidedly cheap in comparison!

At these prices though, I don’t think you can lose. I put an Easton ec50 on for the short term but the weight difference is shocking, fat people need all the help we can get!

They appear to be doing counterfeits, personally I’d rather buy from one of the Chinese sellers doing their own design rather than trying to copy someone else’s. No real basis for that, just figure if they’re built to their own spec they may well be more reliable!

That Bonty stuff in the first link isn’t legit, and Ritchey are always being copied.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2012-Bontrager-XXX-Full-Carbon-Bicycle-Seat-Post-Setback-5mm-Seatpost-27-2-31-6-400mm/917117182.html
Just found this. Looks like it might be an old model. Bit of a drop in price but comparing it to this one

http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/bontrager-race-xxx-lite-seatpost.html.

Seems to be more bend at the top end….sign of a fake?

Just found this. Looks like it might be an old model. Bit of a drop in price but comparing it to this one

They’re 20% the price of the pukka thing, from China, from a company with a load of photos stolen from other websites, ostensibly doing loads of OEM kit, and you think it’s cheap because it’s last year’s design?

Ooook.

I have to say the possibility of having it snap and insert carbon-fibre up my arse or into my buttocks would keep me with a branded one. Can’t you just get an old stock one from somewhere that you know is real?

rob jackson – Member
where from?

eBay

Will make an assessment when it arrives. At that price I’m not expecting it to be legit. If it looks gash then I’ll flog it on Gumtree and report it on eBay and try for a refund.

Njee I simply meant that the curvature at the top of the stem could be an indicator of being a copy. I don’t claim it is a lower price because it is last year’s design. Ooooook?

Mmmm ok, but there are far far more blatant clues its a copy than the design minutiae!

Bought one of their inline posts, unbranded, just the other day. Arrived a lot quicker than expected. Seems spot on, so I ordered one of their stems to match.

That was on the road mike mind, not sure I’d put a carbon one on the MTB.

Oook.

There’s a UK seller on eBay selling the bonty for 35 quid. Blatantly buying the 15 quid Alibaba posts then marking them up. Chinese factories ripping off bontrager, or bonty buying a generic post and ripping off punters?

Yes there may well be a plethora of intimations and I was indicating it could be one of them.

Bonty could well be buying catalogue parts, but I think they still make their XXX Lite posts in the US, and I don’t recall seeing any other brands with identical design, which is the usual sign they’re just catalogue parts!

Not really a fan of their posts frankly, I’d buy a counterfeit of a better one! 🙂

Mine turned up.

So it’s clearly not original. After first insertion into the frame and a couple of moves up and down the height markings have begun to wear off. The post itself is 400mm long. Very smooth coating on the outside. Inside the post is dusty and there’s a seam the length of the post that can be felt inside. Where the post is cut it’s been sealed too. The head tightens up with one spring-loaded bolt which has threadlock on. On tightening the bolt I got to the point of as tight as I felt I should go, but the seat still moved forwards and backwards. There is a metal circle on each side that forms part of the rail claim and fits inside the top of the carbon tube.

Read that maybe some torque / carbon paste will aid with getting more grip but with less force on the single bolt. So I’ve ordered some Ritchey torque paste and for now I’ve put a thin film of threadlocker just as an experiment. Left it over night and in the sun all morning and it feels rock solid – I have no idea if the threadlock will screw up the carbon?

Anyway, it looks ok, pain to set up but think it’s about right now. $38 posted from HK. If it all stays in place then 6.5 / 10.

I am still going to order another Ti post as the last one I had on my Rockhopper was a very well spent $70. I had no issues with this at all. I’m edgy about the carbon one.

Exotic have some nice stuff… And they seem consistent too, I don’t know how much control they have over their sources, but some folks say that they’re basically an in-house brand for a big carbon manufacturer, rather than a rebrander, which is good if true.

Hylix also worth checking out, I got their forks and 400mm inline seatpost for the xc bike and I’ve got nothing bad to say about them really, the seatpost scratches more easily than my old Raceface Next but then it cost about 1/4 as much and weighs a good chunk less so that’s OK. The forks are sort of scary light and I’d be happier if they had a little metal in them for reinforcement around the brakes and maybe the base of the steerer but that’s maybe paranoia.

And yeah, I’d rather buy small brands than obvious counterfeits… I know the far eastern approach to branding and copying is a bit different to ours but it doesn’t seem like a good basis for a relationship, “Hi, we stole this, would you like to buy it?”, would you trust this man?

Well just been out for a few k’s. The loctite seems to have worked, it didn’t budge. Couple of odd creaks every now and again but I reckon I need to tighten the clamp a wee bit and will put some liquid torque on the post.

Nice to have 400mm and probably had my seat at a better height. Previous post was a 350mm and didn’t quite go high enough for me. Felt quite comfy to ride. Seems to add a bit more bounce to the back end of the frame. Looks kinda nice in the sunshine too.

Now it’s got me thinking about a Chinese carbon 650b and building up something dirty…. I had no idea that small amounts of carbon can lead to a more substantial carbon addiction!

Anyone ever bought one of these or similar?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151106923482?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649″
Yes. I’ve got that one. Been on the bike all summer. Seems well-built. Level markings haven’t rubbed off. Only gripe is that it was a little tricky to set up as the aft bolt head is under the saddle so it’s a fiddle to get your angle correct when nipping up the fore bolt. A minor niggle, really. Pretty delighted with it otherwise.

Just realised I got my fore/aft the wrong way round… No matter. You get the gist.

After picking up a bit of broken Le Mans car and having carbon in my hand for the next fortnight, counterfeit carbon bike parts is high on my list of things where the consequences are too high to take the risk.

Was it a counterfeit le mans cars?

So I’ve ordered some Ritchey torque paste

…that’s just cheap wholesale torque paste decanted into into a little sachet with Ritchey printed on it you know. 😉

(seriously, per gram it is about 50 tomes more expensive than same stuff in a tub as supplied to non-bike industry)

Hi,
I bought a Syntace P6 carbon post on Ebay which has been very good.
Think its some seller in Taiwan.Think it was £50 on Buy it now.30.9 only though.
There was only a few at the time but have noticed them back on every now and again.Wasn’t sure it was a genuine article but seems pretty good.I noticed Syntace does not list a P6 carbon post anymore so maybe old stock?
Worth a punt though!
Thanx,
Max

lol@compositepro

@julian wilson

Yeah I daresay you’re correct but I don’t need a tub of it and not much choice but to pay 4 dollars off of Australia eBay for a sachet.