KMC chains on Ebay – genuine?

I’m looking to pick up a couple of KMC 10 speed chains. I’ve always done well with their X10s.

Some sellers on Ebay have them at around the £13 mark with free postage. By comparission Merlin are £22 (not sure about postage).

Are there issues with fake KMC chains, or are the Ebay ones likely to be genuine?

Extremely likely to be fake – don’t buy chains on eBay or Amazon.

I’m currently after new SRAM rotors and have the same predicament with eBay listings…i think rotors fit the same principle as airvent states above ^^^

rotors are a just sheet of laser cut stainless steel though so are much less problematic in fact if they are the right thickmess it doesnt really matter.

chains are much more involved!

Definitely only get chains from proper retailers.

Kind of agree VanHalen, but there’s cheap stainless steel and there’s good stainless steel, I’d rather be sure I’ve got the correctly specified material for my brakes 🙂

Genuine KMC X10 chains in a Decathlon box. Limited coating choice, but £14.99 https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/10-speed-bike-chain/_/R-p-311685

Shimano 105/SLX 11-speed £20.44 at Halfords https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-parts/gears-drivetrain-and-cables/shimano-cn-hg601-105%2Fslx-11-speed-chain-116-links-628090.html

too cheap, likely fake.

Had similar yesterday when looking for red Keo cleats. eBay full of fakes.

Just another reason to dislike ebay…

rotors are a just sheet of laser cut stainless steel though so are much less problematic in fact if they are the right thickmess it doesnt really matter.

Why would i risk it? I like a bargain but its seems a false economy to spend a load on Code calipers and then risk fake rotors to save a tenner each end

There are deffo fakes, e.g.   xtr chain (*hollowpin) came with solid pins – I got my money back

checkout the seller, there are a lot of proper bike shops on eBay , they should be ok, but fbloggs123456, selling clothes, wildebeest  hampers and brand new chains at a suspiciously good price, maybe not.

rotors are a just sheet of laser cut stainless steel though

Really?

some pointers to help spot obvious fakes here

https://www.kmcchain.eu/service/fake-chains

and yeah feebay can f right off slimy barstewards 😉

Really?

well AFAIK they are not cast or machined so yeah, quality of the steel is the  real issue.

Tredz were doing good prices on chains when I ordered a couple of weeks ago

‘Kramer
Free Member
rotors are a just sheet of laser cut stainless steel though

Really?’

well – not the middele bit of floating rotors (but who runs those??)! but he braking surface will be. some of the REALLY cheap ones (and the shimano ones i have in my box of crap that are resin only ones) are stamped.

I appreciate there are different variations of stainless (ie asda cheap stainless forks rust eventually but posh knives dont) but i`m not sure it make a world of difference to your average biker.

i always use legit chains. i`ve snapped enough to know it can result in much unpleasentness

airvent
Extremely likely to be fake – don’t buy chains on eBay or Amazon

This without checking out the ones the OP s referring to?

fossy
Definitely only get chains from proper retailers.

Many many sellers on ebay are proper retailers.

Having said the above and ACTAULLY LOOKED at “KMC X10 chains” on Ebay – there are A LOT of dodgy ones. You just gotta be careful.

There’s one seller the listing is “For KMC 8/9/10 Speen Chain Road Bike Quick Link fit Campy SRAM…”  X10 – £9.99 – that listing is obviously dodgy. Doesn’t really even say that its a chain being sold! So there are definitely some to avoid buying from. Usually you can just check the seller name to see if you’re buying genuine (eg. Woollyhatshop), but the listing detail is always a clue to what you’re actually buying.

Dismissing ebay as all fakes and crims.. yeah, very short sighted.

During covids the only chains I could get were KMC branded but they really didn’t last I can’t be sure they were fake I didn’t have the above guide but hope for KMC they were!

Who knows. But my theory on chains is that they’re not that expensive from an actual bike shop, but are vital to your bike so probably best to buy from a reputable dealer

Thanks everyone (that KMC page on fake chains is handy too).

I think I’ll stick with reliable retailers (as I did in the end when buying SRAM rotors a while back).

This was the listing I was looking at (although there are cheaper) – https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/156218789589

I bought a shiny X11 Gold chain from ebay for cheap. Almost certain that its a fake. Put about 50 miles on it and it’s now basically silver. Well, it would be if it wasn’t so rusty. I Won’t be doing that again.

Managed to buy a fake Shimano, it did look reputable but was cheaper. Complained and ebay refunded without wanting it back. Put it on the pub bike which doesn’t seem many miles. It came apart at one of the rivets after a year or so.

Well I went with Bikeparts (Wooly Hat Shop) who I’ve used many times, so hopefully all legit.

I unintentionally bought a fake Shimano one. Even with a genuine one right next to it you wouldn’t be able to tell which is which without knowing already. Same for the packaging. I only realised because it was well beyond 1% worn after just 300 miles. Unless it’s from a retailer you recognise don’t buy chains from ebay.