Chinese Carbon Road Frames

xpro

Hey guys

I have read a few threads on here regarding Chinese carbon road frame, bought both on ebay and via various websites. Many of the threads seem to now be quite old, 2010/2011, so I was wondering if any of you have purchased one of these types of frame more recently?

I noticed the ebay seller carbonzone is mentioned a few times, has anyone had any experiences buying via this ebay seller?

Does anyone have any recommendations of particular frames or sellers they have bought/bought from?

Any input would be appreciated.

ShutUpLegs

UTFS

xpro

ShutUpLegs wrote:

UTFS

Thanks so much for the warm welcome, so to respond in kind, STFU

DLH1985

Perhaps some more useful information for you;

http://www.velobuild.com/

I've used them myself (my FM066SL frame should arrive tomorrow). Really easy to deal with and takes most of the stress out of it. I haven't bought the frame believing it to be the same quality as the super-bikes of the world, but for a few race seasons it'll do perfectly.

Cornish-J

i've had an fm098 and currently awaiting my new TT frame - both from dengfu via velobuild. no complaints about the 098 and hopefully the TT machine will be as good!

roadracedave

I've just bought an FM-066 frameset from Hongfu, and the ordering process was very simple with just a few emails sent back and forward to confirm model, size, price etc

Can't yet comment on the frame itself though, as its still sat in customs (only ordered it last week), but it was dispatched the next day, and only took two days to get to the UK. Will hopefully receive it early next week, providing customs pull their finger out!

xpro

Thanks guys, all very usefull comments, cheers!

Fogliettaz

Collected my FM066 on Wednesday, shall be giving a full inspection tomorrow. First time I have had to pay Customs charges after buying 2 previous frames and a set of wheels from Hong-Fu. My arrived in the UK 30th Dec so sat in customs for over 2 weeks.

petemadoc

It seems that customs are having a clamp down on chinese imports. A year ago it was unheard of to get a customs charge, now everyone seems to get landed with one.

If you're intending to build a complete bike (you don't already have a groupset and wheels lying about) then I'm not sure buying from China makes sense anymore. The sales at the likes of Wiggle and the Planet X and Ribble prices on complete bikes probably work out cheaper. You get UK warranty etc etc

I bought a Chinese frame nearly 2 years ago now and I'm very happy with it. Upgraded a few bits here and there but never felt the need to change the frame, light and stiff and comfortable, used for training, racing and a trip to the Alps. However there are some dodgy looking frames about and some horror stories, so do your research. There are pages and pages over on roadbikereview.com and more on velo build.

Basically if you want to make life easy for yourself use a UK retailer. If you want something with a custom paint job and you like to fettle then buying from China can work out well.

xpro

Fogliettaz wrote:

Collected my FM066 on Wednesday, shall be giving a full inspection tomorrow. First time I have had to pay Customs charges after buying 2 previous frames and a set of wheels from Hong-Fu. My arrived in the UK 30th Dec so sat in customs for over 2 weeks.

Interesting, would be good if you could post again once you have recieved it. How much did it cost in total?

petemadoc

Oh yeah... and search is your friend

viewtopic.php?f=40042&t=12751016

xpro

PeteMadoc wrote:

Oh yeah... and search is your friend

viewtopic.php?f=40042&t=12751016

Thanks Pete, I missed that one when I looked, i will give it a read!

Fogliettaz

Customs Charges were £44.59 so not to bad considering this is the 4th large item I have bought from Hong-Fu.

Monty Dog

There's a huge thread on Roadbikereview:

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/bikes- ... 72806.html

thegreatdivide

Do you get a choice of newspaper for the inside of your forks? ;-)

xpro

For those interested, I took delivery of my Carbon frame Friday just gone, customs charge was £14!

oli2001

what did you go for? and who with? Pics?. i'm a happy owner of an mc 053 (scott foil copy) from miracle trading. my customs; £22. well worth it in my experience and would buy direct again.

xpro

Hey Oli. I went for the RB004 from ebay user carbonzone. I ordered begining of Feb with a 6-8week order time, plus i was warned it may be delayed further due to Chinese New Year. The frame arrived in 3 weeks! The frame seems fantastic, the only issue I have is the rear mech holder is bent and wont allow the rear wheel to fit, I have messaged them today asking for a replacement to be sent.

Bike is only part built, but after much ferretting around, I have managed to put together a solidly spec'ed machine, with plenty of ultegra parts and some 105, all new. With Mavic aksiums, my total spend should be just over £1000 which i think it amazing value. To buy a branded model along these lines, gotta be looking twice that!

I wil post a pic as soon as its in some sort of order!

oli2001

man, thats a fast turnaround time(considering chinese new year too). mine took about 5 weeks but i did have it painted. i had a spare mech hanger sent with mine but all arrived ok. i guess sods law with your mech hanger, you should ask for two, just in case for the future. really happy with frame. i had some 50mm wheels, bars and seatpost from china and a second hand sram red groupset off here. like you say alot of bike for the money. post some pics up of the frame when you get chance.

xpro

Here we go:



Kit is mostly Ultegra, with 105 levers and pedals, total costs came in at a shade under £1100, including finishing bits like bar tape etc.

oli2001

nice one, looks decent.i'm sure you are pleased with it and definitely happy with the price!
i got knocked off last week, toptube busted. absolutely gutted
no reflection on the frame, as the car was doing 60!
luckily my chinese carbon wheels survived with just a broken spoke

petemadoc

oli2001 wrote:

nice one, looks decent.i'm sure you are pleased with it and definitely happy with the price!
i got knocked off last week, toptube busted. absolutely gutted
no reflection on the frame, as the car was doing 60!
luckily my chinese carbon wheels survived with just a broken spoke

Sorry to hear you had a fall, I hope you got the drivers insurance details, should be easy enough to make a claim if they were at fault.

This is one of the reasons I went for a cheaper frame, the fear of trashing a £1000+ frame in a race or an accident is too much. If I crash then I won't cry about my £380 frame, I'll just replace it.

One day I might buy a Colnago master or similar for sunny leisurely days but for riding hard and racing, expensive frames don't make any sense to me.

oli2001

yeah, sorted with them. she was distraught and was keen to resolve without insurance involved. i priced the frame up as a scott foil (as it was a copy) so i've now bought a cervelo and made a handsome profit. i would have bought a chinese again but wrong time of year to be without a bike.

velodromerocket

As well as customs clamping down I've recently heard a horror story involving trading standards.

Garage down the road had 6 frames seized, both blank frames and ones baring a particular Italian brand name. Apparently all of them classed as counterfeit and due to be destroyed.

xpro

My customs experience couldn't have been simpler, but i guess, I was only importing one and it wasn't a counterfeit!

Sorry to hear you got knocked off Oli, glad you are ok and getting a new frame!

oli2001

cheers fellas, i must add though. my (now broken) chinese frame, although a copy based on a scott foil was not painted or labelled as one. Its simply a case of buying a chinese frame and putting my own label on it. Isn't that what ribble/ planet x do?
(ribble stealth= de rosa 838?) except i missed out the middle man. yep, you dont get the R & D costs but you pays your money, you takes your chances.
I guess the ride quality isnt the same as a £3+ grand bike but unless you race at a good level then the trade off is worth it? if you can pay the big bucks then fair enough.

velodromerocket

Kind of but it isn't just the brand names that are trademarked.

Certain design features of these frames are also protected, so even a blank frame if it has had the mould taken from a genuine one is classed as counterfeit.

A wavy fork and rear triangle design as an example, without naming the brand.

Manc33

PeteMadoc wrote:

It seems that customs are having a clamp down on chinese imports. A year ago it was unheard of to get a customs charge, now everyone seems to get landed with one.

I think when I buy one I will hunt for a UK seller with a used one or something. I always think "customs" is just a modern version of a kind of pirate/smuggler tax, where the pirates just got a lot more sophisticated and even made it acceptable to most people to just pay it.

When exactly was it voted for? I can't believe anyone would actually have voted to be charged money that way, doesn't seem believable if you ask me. Lawyers probably don't know, or can explain why it is legal to do it. It is anti-free trade. You can show laws about it, but that doesn't explain anything - like the ethics/morals of it and the financial loss it causes people, that just means someone made up a law and are using it to make money off you, it doesn't mean it is acceptable. "To stop people making money" is I guess one answer as to why we have customs. That is evil. :evil:

If someone risks buying chinese parts they should sodding well get them at the price they paid, it takes research to find low prices and quality goods etc.

gozzy

That's quite an amazingly ill informed rant.
Smugglers only existed to avoid customs charges. It's quite an old concept. Everything gets charged import duty, just because you can search the Internet doesn't entitle you to avoid charges. I'm sure Philip Morris wishes he could use that argument.

Monty Dog

Customs tarifs have been used for centuries to protect the sovereign interests of nations and provide a tidy sum for the exchequer - if you don't like it, you could always move somewhere else.

Manc33

How does Nike create a pair of shoes in the far East for £2.50 and then sell them in the UK for £90.00?

Why doesn't "Nike" have to pay UK customs to the tune of £87.50 per pair of shoes?

I honestly wouldn't rant about this if the Government ever explained any of it, like when did the public agree to it exactly, where does all this money go when we pay customs, why doesn't Nike or anyone else pay it... you'd think they would be falling over themselves to show you why it is fair.

Anything else involving paying money, the people you pay bend over backwards to show you the benefits of spending the money with them. It "keeping the nation sovereign" doesn't cut it for me. The nation would still be sovereign if customs charges didn't exist.

OK maybe a better question is how can I set myself up as a "company" and do what all the other companies do importing stuff and paying no duty on it? Can't grasp what the difference is between an individual that has to pay it and a company that doesn't.

I think it costs £20 to create a company (on paper). What if you said you're working with the China factory lol. Something has to give. What gets me is customs don't even prove you're going to sell the item and make money on it. 99% of the time we buy these items for our own personal usage, therefore customs duty doesn't actually make sense. You "might" sell it doesn't work either. You might run around naked with a traffic cone on your head. The moon might be made of cheese.