WARNING - 'Very Probable' Fake Ritchey Stems on eBay

skelkelly

Hi All

Friend of mine recently bought a Ritchey stem off eBay, I went round to help him fit it and immediately recognised it as very probably a fake. I have had Ritchey WCS kit before and it's head and shoulders above the quality of the one in question.

It's got a dodgy carbon wrap over a poorly made alloy stem. Quality of finish is terrible and graphics are wrong in part.

I advised him to get in touch with the seller and ask for full refund. The seller gave him a full refund no questions asked, he just had to post it back. Kind of makes you think the seller knows it's fake???

The item number is 140911287163, I urge you all to report it to eBay and beware.

trek_dan

Seems to be happening more and more. Companies buying low quality carbon replicas from China and selling them as the real deal on Ebay. There was a similar thread a few weeks ago about some 3T Carbon bars.

Monty Dog

They don't even look like any Ritchey WCS kit either - with the best prices on the alloy stems at £40, then you'd think that £20 for a carbon one would be a bit suspicious.

kingofthetailwind

F#*k it, I bought one. Not from that seller though.

Mine wasn't advertised as carbon (or I would have twigged) but it was £11, so much cheaper than elsewhere. I thought the wrap looked a bit dodgy. Seems to be fine though to be honest.

I'll be replacing it though.

Bozman

Comes from the same place as the 3T fake gear, have a look on that alibaba express, the Ritchey stems are less than £18 and if you buy in bulk they virtually give them away.
Having spent a bit of time looking for bits and bobs during my last build, I noticed that there's loads of knockoff 3T, FSA and Ritchey coming out of Northern Ireland, I wouldn't touch eBay for anything like that now.

kingofthetailwind

Bozman wrote:

I noticed that there's loads of knockoff 3T, FSA and Ritchey coming out of Northern Ireland, I wouldn't touch eBay for anything like that now.

Yeah, seller is in Belfast.

g00se

Lots of fake FSA OS99 stems on ebay too.

ShutUpLegs

Always worth checking what is being sold on Aliexpress as they are usually the same goods on ebay. Search for 3T / Colnago of FSA and there are alot of copies there.

Like this: http://sy.pe/FbP6

Crispyapp

I have to say this is very annoying that eBay consistently let these sellers get away with selling fakes. It punishes genuine sellers like myself that recently sold this http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/290843930500 ... _500wt_922 this is a genuine original alloy carbon wrapped stem.... I was in undated with questions asking me if it was fake etc etc. its annoying as I also have a set of carbon streem bars to sell but due to all the fakes people seem scared to bid.

I have recently bought the new ritchey superlogic bars stem and post and already I'm seeing copies of these on eBay, I'm pleased to say though the copies actually have white lettering where as mine are all matte blk (stealthy) so be aware of what your buying and do your homework.

gloomyandy

Blimey, it is a little scary to see just how much "branded" stuff is available from Aliexpress!

Sprool

ebay should really clamp down on counterfeit stuff like this, but for goodness sake you're not really expecting a legitimate carbon stem for under £20 are you?

meesterbond

Is this another 'WARNING - Bears 'Very Probably' deficate in the woods' example.

If it's cheap enough to make you think, 'wow, that's cheap', then it's probably dodgy.

ShutUpLegs

viewtopic.php?f=40091&t=12902976

Unless it comes with a receipt I'd be cautious

upperoilcan

Sprool wrote:

ebay should really clamp down on counterfeit stuff like this, but for goodness sake you're not really expecting a legitimate carbon stem for under £20 are you?

Exactly.....It's not rocket science.

If it's on Ebay and it looks too good to be true then it more than likely is.