How to know if the bike is genuine

karel
karel Posts: 24
edited September 2014 in Road beginners
Hi All,

I have recently bought a second hand Pinarella Dogma from a private seller for £5500 which i am picking up at the end of the week. He has sold high end bikes before and I have chatted on the phone etc and everything points to everything being fine as I make sure I do as many checks as possible before I paid a small deposit.

I honestly did not know there were counterfeits/replicas about until someone mentioned it last night. When I pick the bike up is there anything I can look for to confirm it is genuine which everything points to, but I just want to be sure?

Thanks

Comments

  • styxd
    styxd Posts: 3,234
    A serial number? Original receipts/documentation?
  • arran77
    arran77 Posts: 9,260
    Try and pay for it in a way that offers you some sort of come back if it turns sour, PayPal perhaps?
    "Arran, you are like the Tony Benn of smut. You have never diluted your depravity and always stand by your beliefs. You have my respect sir and your wife my pity" :lol:

    seanoconn
  • drlodge
    drlodge Posts: 4,826
    In a word, provenance. Looking at the bike itself won't give away many clues, but some kind of paperwork that provides a story of where the bike came from, ownership etc is needed. If the seller can't or won't provide any paperwork and want cash, I'd walk away.
    WyndyMilla Massive Attack | Rourke 953 | Condor Italia 531 Pro | Boardman CX Pro | DT Swiss RR440 Tubeless Wheels
    Find me on Strava
  • navrig2
    navrig2 Posts: 1,833
    arran77 wrote:
    Try and pay for it in a way that offers you some sort of come back if it turns sour, PayPal perhaps?

    I read somewhere recently that PayPal works best when the item is posted rather than collected. This generally to protect the seller rather than the buyer so you may find that he will be reluctant to use Paypal.

    Details here:

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/gds/Do-Not-Accept ... 860/g.html
  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    karel wrote:
    Hi All,

    I have recently bought a second hand Pinarella Dogma from a private seller for £5500 which i am picking up at the end of the week. He has sold high end bikes before and I have chatted on the phone etc and everything points to everything being fine as I make sure I do as many checks as possible before I paid a small deposit.

    I honestly did not know there were counterfeits/replicas about until someone mentioned it last night. When I pick the bike up is there anything I can look for to confirm it is genuine which everything points to, but I just want to be sure?

    Thanks

    If it actually does say 'Pinarella' on the downtube, then it's definitely not genuine...
  • jgsi
    jgsi Posts: 5,062
    Imposter wrote:
    karel wrote:
    Hi All,

    I have recently bought a second hand Pinarella Dogma from a private seller for £5500 which i am picking up at the end of the week. He has sold high end bikes before and I have chatted on the phone etc and everything points to everything being fine as I make sure I do as many checks as possible before I paid a small deposit.

    I honestly did not know there were counterfeits/replicas about until someone mentioned it last night. When I pick the bike up is there anything I can look for to confirm it is genuine which everything points to, but I just want to be sure?

    Thanks

    If it actually does say 'Pinarella' on the downtube, then it's definitely not genuine...

    Ezy Rider supplying them 'decals' again?
  • arran77
    arran77 Posts: 9,260
    JGSI wrote:
    Imposter wrote:
    karel wrote:
    Hi All,

    I have recently bought a second hand Pinarella Dogma from a private seller for £5500 which i am picking up at the end of the week. He has sold high end bikes before and I have chatted on the phone etc and everything points to everything being fine as I make sure I do as many checks as possible before I paid a small deposit.

    I honestly did not know there were counterfeits/replicas about until someone mentioned it last night. When I pick the bike up is there anything I can look for to confirm it is genuine which everything points to, but I just want to be sure?

    Thanks

    If it actually does say 'Pinarella' on the downtube, then it's definitely not genuine...

    Ezy Rider supplying them 'decals' again?

    It would say fuck all on the down tube if was EZ selling it :wink:
    "Arran, you are like the Tony Benn of smut. You have never diluted your depravity and always stand by your beliefs. You have my respect sir and your wife my pity" :lol:

    seanoconn
  • karel
    karel Posts: 24
    In a word, provenance. Looking at the bike itself won't give away many clues, but some kind of paperwork that provides a story of where the bike came from, ownership etc is needed. If the seller can't or won't provide any paperwork and want cash, I'd walk away.

    This I agree with, Cheers
  • Where did you see the bike in the first place? Do you have a link or pictures of it?

    A few people on here who know them well may be able to spot subtle signs of a fake be if paintwork or shape etc. Even a good fake can be easy to spot to the trained eye
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    Where did you see the bike in the first place? Do you have a link or pictures of it?

    A few people on here who know them well may be able to spot subtle signs of a fake be if paintwork or shape etc. Even a good fake can be easy to spot to the trained eye

    +1. Actually, there are plenty of fakes out there and every single one of them that has been posted on here has been very obviously fake. Firstly, the paint jobs on the frames are usually hopelessly inaccurate - OK when you look at the bike but extremely obviously wrong when you compare it to the real thing (eg the main Pinarello lettering on the down tube so far always seems to be spaced too far apart). Secondly the spec is almost never correct. Thirdly (and probably promising in this case), the fakes are usually too cheap. I think the people who build up the fake frames a) can't be bothered to source all the correct components and b) probably think that if there is any problem later from the purchaser they can then say "well, you hardly thought you were getting a genuine brand new Dogma for £1500 did you"?

    TBH, chances are if the OP posts pictures of the bike on here, he'll get a quick answer.
    Faster than a tent.......
  • ben@31
    ben@31 Posts: 2,327
    I often think about the number of Zipp wheels that are for sale on eBay.

    Often there's an advert for some replica Zipp decals further down the page.

    I once read Alan Sugars autobiography ( a surprisingly good read about the psychology of selling stuff ). He said it ws amazing how well the Chinese could even copy packaging. Even down to the half-torn-off courier sticker that he accidentally left on the box.

    "If it's too good to be true ... "

    ofc-1.jpg

    wal-mart-a-spokesman-for-wumart-said-we-dream-about-being-the-walmart-of-china.jpg

    image-11-e1408437965392.jpeg

    starbucks-in-china-you-can-get-bucksstar-coffee-of-course-this-isnt-the-only-starbucks-rip-off--theres-been-seyahi-coffee-and-star-fucks-coffe.jpg
    "The Prince of Wales is now the King of France" - Calton Kirby
  • Is that Barrack Obama on the OFC pic?