Chinarello or ribble gran fondo?

dirtymonkey1985

I'm currently having a dilemma and need some help!

I currently own a ribble gran fondo which has done me well for the past 2 years. However I've been offered a oem dogma at a very good price and I'm very tempted as the ribble seems to be a tad bit too big for me and the dogma is the perfect size for me.

I just want some advice from people that have owned/tried the Chinese frames and if it's worth a punt

Cheers

b16 b3n

Fondo all the way, at least if somthing happens you can get it sorted, rather than send it back to China

giropaul

A carbon frame is a very complex thing. A good frame has a lot of technology in it. When you buy one, you buy faith in the brand and that it's not going to fatally fail.

Traceable, official supplier or "somewhere in China" (and most contract and consumer law doesn't apply in China).

If I'm hurtling down a descent I know what I want under me!!

rolf_f

dirtymonkey1985 wrote:

However I've been offered a oem dogma at a very good price and I'm very tempted as the ribble seems to be a tad bit too big for me and the dogma is the perfect size for me.

You mean a fake Dogma. There is nothing OEM about Chinarellos.

I like my Gran Fondo. It isn't the finest carbon frame around but it isn't pretending to be something it isn't. Well actually it is - it does say Handcrafted in Italy behind the seatpost. That's a lie

dirtymonkey1985

Thanks for the replies guys. It looks as though I'll be sticking with the ribble but it does mean I've got some spare cash to upgrade it a little bit

Shame seeing as I had permission from the wife as well haha

andyrr

Lots of very positive opinions of the 'fake' chinese carbon frames on the roadbikereview website. Unless I was very flush with money I'd more than likely go direct and not pay over the odds for a big-name frame. The Chinese/Taiwanese factories are manufacturing for the brand names so are more than capable of producing unbranded frames which probably use the same moulds.

petemadoc

I have a frame purchased direct from China, however it's not branded up as a Dogma. I don't know why but something about the "fake" branded frames puts me off, just the idea that the factory is prepared to label them as something else seems dodgy. I did a bit of research and went with carbonzone on ebay who don't offer any of these branded frames. My frame came from the same mould as the Ribble stealth and the De Rosa R838 but cost around £380 delivered. It's light and it's stiff.

There's pages and pages about this on roadbikereview and generally people are very happy, as am I. However there are the odd problems and sorting them out often doesn't go well. Saying that sorting problems out with the likes of Ribble doesn't seem to go well either from what I've read on this forum.

Unless you're really not happy with the fit of your grand fondo I'd stick with it and save your cash for something else. If the grand fondo definitely doesn't fit then Planet x , ribble or the direct china route are all good low cost options.