Cheap Ritchey WCS - Are these genuine??

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E-bay shop selling the cheapest WCS components I've found so far....though they are from Taiwan so am I being paranoid that they could be fake?

Handlebars £59.99

Seatpost £96.99

supersonic

Seems cheap, but you may get hit for taxes and duties.

Plenty of uk based carbon alternatives, some cheaper.

canada16

I swear I have seen the same prices here.

Yes I got mine 8 months ago for 45.00 at high on bikes,

Oh there you go

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ritchey-WCS-Carbo ... dZViewItem

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supersonic wrote:

Plenty of uk based carbon alternatives, some cheaper.

Well I am a big fan of supporting our own manufacturers if I can Who would you recommend for carbon seatposts and bars?

supersonic

Been some good deals on raceface kit, and I just pickes up an eXotic seatpost for 35 quid.

ads4

I saw the exotic stuff, though I have never heard of them. I like the idea of carbon post and bars for sub £100 Are they any good? (Presumably your answer will be a big yes considering you just purchased!) Do you have any history on the company?

supersonic

I hope they are good ;-)

The forks are getting very good reviews, that is for sure.

toasty

Their forks are the same as Nuke Proof and White Brothers sell for vastly inflated prices if I remember correctly. I'd assume their post is another one that a lot of companies buy and rebrand.

I've been VERY tempted by those forks on occation, my Stumpy ended up with Rebas on though so that plan has been abandonned.

I'd still rather have the Ritchey WCS, but then it is 3x the cost of the eXotic one. Even at that cheap rate. After all the arsing around I've had with my Zaskar and creaking seatposts I think I'd rather stick to aluminium on aluminium from now on tho tbh*


*It's currently using normal grease and overly tightened up which seems to have shut it up. There was far too much friction with the carbon grease and it seems to have a shim anyway, ngggh.

supersonic

I'll let you know how the post goes!

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supersonic wrote:

I'll let you know how the post goes!

Cheers, will be very interested to hear your thoughts.

Speed_King

Trust me they ar ereal mate the onyl reason the items are cheap is two fold the guy actually bulk buys them therefore can sell them on cheaper, and two you will get a heafty carriage charge but considering the price of the items it still aitn bad i got all my wcs stuff from the shop in question except the seatpost and they are genuine i even checked with Rithcey so hope this puts your mind at rest bud

jmillen

...Had anyone been clobbered for VAT / Import Duties on any of these Ritchey items from Taiwan?

Tank-slapper

It is best to budget for 30% extra for import tax and VAT, just in case the customs people decide to pick your parcel.

5Thumbs

Got some Ritchey WCS bars off ebay delivered from Taiwan about 6 weeks ago.(took about 10 days for delivery). Lovely bars brand new £46. Haven't had the customs and excise man knocking yet .....

jmillen

Although I'll end up paying £10-£15 more I think I'll go with highonbikes, no long waiting time or risk of import duty etc

Tank-slapper

Kudu Bikes are still doing WCS Carbon seatpost for £110 with free delivery:

http://www.kudubikes.co.uk/shop/410/70/

upinsmoke

I bought a set of SR Suntour Epicon RLD forks off the guy. Watch for his items with "Best offer" on them as I talked him down a bit.

Glad I did, I got hit for VAT from C&E (although it was only for £5 as he had marked the value of the products as $40)

The most annoying thing was that Parcelforce48 then charged £12 admin before they would release.

Recommended seller though, very well packaged and quick to respond to any queries. It took 8 days from winning the auction to them being at my door.

canada16

I would so much buy from the UK.

The guy at highonbikes is amazing, dont think the guy from taiwan will be the same if you need to return.

Plus they are 49.99 on an auction, buy it now 59.99 so they are not cheaper.

Plus not to say the guy on ebay is dodgy lets say he does return them if anything goes wrong, it will take weeks.

totemsub

Hi guys, bought these from absolutecycles (ebay store)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0586100044

They are a reputable shop but the bars seem fake as they don't have any internal sleeves for bar ends, and the sanding on the stem clamp area seems to be different from originals. What do you think ?







Do you think they're fakes ?

D-Cyph3r

I bought my carbon FSA K-Force bars and OS-115 stem form absolutecycles. Considering both came in minimal packaging i'd guess they were OEM or straight from factory jobbies.

I wouldn't say fake though.

nickfrog

Price seems about right as i just paid £60 delivered for Truvativ NOIR carbon bars in 680mm at 165g verified.

totemsub

I'm asking because on MTBR Forums there was a thread regarding this very subject, and they said the WCS Carbon bars had aluminium inserts at the end to support bar-end usage. Mine don't have this. And although I'm not planning to use bar-ends, I still am concerned about using bars which are possibly fake (I'm not keen on eating my stem )

Does anyone know about these bars ? Maybe they removed the alu inserts for 2010 ?

nicklouse

if they are OE they can be any spec that the OE asked for.

if the OE did not want inserts for bar ends then they will not have any.

Pudseyp

Outland are now doing posts for around £30 and bars for £35....I have seen them on fleabay..so may be a cheap alternative to pimping your ride...(not sure if they are pure carbon or carbon wrap though)

totemsub

I guess i'll just fit the ritchey bars and see if they hold up !

mrbblack

just bought this i hope its real!

mrbblack

anyone know what the WCS stands for?

darren555

Isn't the rainbow logo a big enough clue?

road_donut

I got my Stem & Bars from a UK e-bay shop cant remeber which one now tho ..... all is fine with them

had to get my seatpost from CRC i couldnt find a 30.9 X 400 one on e-bay

Bar Shaker

Damn the lot of you. I have been trying to resist bling WCS carbon bars for weeks now.

Having seen these prices and the pictures I am now in bits.

ETA - Ritchey's website says the stem area is now 'textured' rather than sanded.

They are only 80g lighter than my ali WCS bars but the lure of carbon is so strong.

totemsub

Although I'm not a huge fan of carbon frames - I love carbon parts such as bars and stems.

I haven't even fitted mine yet, as it will go on my new frame which I'm still saving up for .

Going for either the new Cotic Soda (made by Lynskey) or the Lynskey Pro26. Have no idea which to go for !

I love the Cotic's brushed graphics, and the cable routing is neat. The Pro 26 is around 200 grams lighter though, but I don't like the decals, and not sure about the twisted tubes, and cable routing is under the down-tube which I don't like.

Pah, when I save up enough money I'll decide !