if the Defy is so popular, where are the chinese copies?

rOcKeTdOg

i see the chinese Madone, Pinarello, venge and various Cervelo-a-likes but i've never seen a compact geom Defy/TCR copy, why? or am i looking in the wrong places?

JMcP92

Probably because it is reasonably cheap, the Madone is the cheapest of the lot you've got there and I think the entry level is around £1000. The Defy range starts at £499 so hardly makes copies worth the effort.
I grant you, there is more logic to making copies of the Defy Advanced, or TCR, but I can't see the Defy 1 through 5 being worth it

rOcKeTdOg

yea TCR ISP I'd have thought as it's carbon , no one copies any alu frames though do they?

JMcP92

Not since carbon became the thing to have, no. No point in doing so anymore.
Beyond the above guess, I can't be sure, it is true you can find copies but I'm unsure why you'd bother?

desweller

No cachet. Trek wouldn't have any either if it wasn't for LA.

rolf_f

Why would anyone make an alloy frame for £100 which is a fake of a £300 frame when they can make a carbon frame for £150 which is a fake of a £3000 frame?

rOcKeTdOg

Exactly, but a 1k+ carbon yes, but despite the moulds probably residing in the same factories there are no Giant copies, is their security better?

crankycrank

rOcKeTdOg wrote:

Exactly, but a 1k+ carbon yes, but despite the moulds probably residing in the same factories there are no Giant copies, is their security better?

Giant, being Taiwanese, don't source out their work as far as I know and may know the right people in China (if you know what I mean ) to keep the counterfeiters away. They do of course make frames for many other mfrs. but do it with proper legal contracts.

rolf_f

Another angle is that most people who buy fakes are into superficial bling - the subtle stuff doesn't appeal. It's no surprise that the biggest target for fakers seems to be Pinarello - arguably the most blingy bike brand; the Rolex of the bike world!

rickeverett

Are Chinese copies mealy moulds with no licence or open moulds anyway? - vast majority aren't stolen or copied designs. Some are development moulds too.

The Chinerello may just be one of them that was a development mould.

rOcKeTdOg

It's no surprise that the biggest target for fakers seems to be Pinarello - arguably the most blingy bike brand; the Rolex of the bike world

Are they? I think they look awful, but then I'm not a Rolex fan either

DKay

The Chinarello knock-offs are now years old. The open mould frames coming out direct from China are much better now apparently and the available range is pretty large.