chinese wholesalers

ianbar

i have just seen on a club forum a chap has bought some ffwd 60 wheels from a chinese wholesaler which i think is ghgate. are the products on these types of thing the real article or are they well basically fake? and thats why they end up so cheap?

StillGoing

China does not recognise copyright and happily lets companies openly put out imitations of the genuine product. Quality can be quite good to absolutely dire through the range of copied products. I bought some Chinese carbon wheels that weren't branded as someone else's product and they are quite good for the money. A fake iPhone or Rolex though would be nothing like as good as the genuine article and I'd say the same with Chinese wheels branded as someone else's.

Monty Dog

You need to understand the distinction with companies who are producing generic bike components and those that are deliberately producing fakes to be sold to unwitting buyers. Plenty of good deals to be had on unbranded frames and components bought direct from China via ebay etc - search the forum, there are lots of previous threads should help you sort out the scammers from the genuine dealers. The reason they appear cheap it that by buying direct your are effectively cutting out 2 layers of distribution and profit margins which results in the same product tripling in price by the time it reaches your local shop. The obvious downside is no warranty or support - no problem is you are mechanically competent and can sort out small problems for yourself.

cougie

For me the concern is safety. A big brand has to have testing. An unnamed Chinese factory might be able to put out anything with no real worries about longevity or affecting the brand name - as it hasn't got one.

I'm sure some are fantastic and do care about quality and test their kits - but I have no idea what those are.

If they're branded with big name decals and are clearly too cheap - well I don't think I'd risk it.

Moonbiker

planet x is selling carbon frames atm cheaper than chinese unbranded ones.

ianbar

it was wheels i was focusing on atm at least, i do have visions of some disaster happening based on the testing factor etc. shame i got really excited for a while, think unbranded planet-x deep rims wold be a safer bet at this point

trek_dan

I wouldn't be worried about the quality of the carbon rim, they are beginning to be fairly widely used in the handbuilt market - it would be the quality of the build that concerns me. If you've got a friendly LBS or wheel builder you could get them to check the spoke tension, but by the time you've done that you could have bought from RideArgyle or PX.
I'm very tempted to get a set of the 25mm wide carbon/alloy clichers that are available on Ebay for £320.

racingcondor

Planet X may be sourcing what are essentially the same product (generic far eastern carbon) but they have a vested interested in sourcing them from someone reliable and backing up their product properly.

There are companies (Gigantex most obviously) who are reliable if you buy direct from them but of course you'll lose the service back up should something happen.

Companies which are actually stickering up their products to look like FFWD (or the various Chinarello's etc) however, are clearly in it more to make money by any means so personally I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole.

If you're looking at carbon rims then you'll struggle to beat planet X on price anyway so unless you're obsessing over U shaped rims or want a spoke count other than 20/24 I think you're best off buying local. By selling unbranded at those prices Planet X have made a very obvious choice to corner the UK market.

crankycrank

When buying Chinese there are no generalities IMO. Some products are great with great backup service and some are just the opposite. If you have a specific set of wheels in mind post up the brand, model, pics and seller to get opinions from other members who have actually used them. Also consider if spares are available and if you are liable for shipping costs if the wheels need to be sent back. Although many companies are trustworthy you have no legal recourse if something goes wrong so it's completely up to them to honour any warranty (or not).

santana007

Just asked this same question , and the thread was locked , so glad I found the answer here ..

ugo.santalucia

santana007 wrote:

Just asked this same question , and the thread was locked , so glad I found the answer here ..

The difference is that the OP here was asking whether something was genuine or fake, while you know they are fake, but ask whether they are any good anyway. As KNOWINGLY buying counterfeit items is illegal , the question per se on a public forum is pretty daft.... don't you think?