Buying Whole Bike from China

Bear in mind that sourcing from outside the EU can be expensive. A whole bike is unlikely to get through customs unnoticed.

Add the price of the bike and shipping. Look up the duty rate (TARIC code 8712003090 - 14%) and add that to the total cost - eg £900 bike, £100 shipping = £1000. Add 14% = £1140.

THEN add VAT - 20% to that total - £228 = £1,368. Yes, that's tax on a tax.

Carriers may also add an unspecified charge for customs clearance.

Splitting as parts may just up the number of handling charges. False declarations of value - cost £900, tell the courier it's worth £50 and guess the compensation if it goes missing.

Paul.

Frame wise I wouldn't take a risk bearing in mind your can buy from Planet X or Ribble at the same price (possibly less by the time you factor in import taxes). I've got various carbon wheels from different Chinese suppliers (Farsport, Carbonzone and CN Carbon) and all have been absolutely fine. Again though it doesn't work out as cheap as it appears by the time you pay import duty and handling charge if they get stopped at customs.

polaxgr wrote:

sam anon wrote:

I read an article recently about a couple sourcing brand name quality components in Taiwan and shipping the bikes to you in bits, might be a good halfway house?

care in sharing these companies?

Trying to find it! Sure I read it on here... :roll:

I've had wheels from Farsports and never had a problem

Currently have an aero bike that i bought as a frame and wheels from China. Painted it myself and built up with bits from the parts bin and ebay/forum purchases. Cost about £1100 max, probably less. It goes like s### off a shovel, looks fantastic and completely problem free. Buy form the right seller and you will probably be fine.

My bike



Link to site

http://www.velobuildmall.com/2017-toray ... p0097.html

The Jackalcp wrote:

My bike



Link to site

http://www.velobuildmall.com/2017-toray ... p0097.html

Steerer needs cutting

Svetty wrote:

The Jackalcp wrote:

My bike



Link to site

http://www.velobuildmall.com/2017-toray ... p0097.html

Steerer needs cutting

sweeeeet. very nice.

how did you find dealing with them? i've dealt with Carbonzone before who were spot on...

Svetty wrote:

trek_dan wrote:

Frame wise I wouldn't take a risk bearing in mind your can buy from Planet X or Ribble at the same price (possibly less by the time you factor in import taxes). I've got various carbon wheels from different Chinese suppliers (Farsport, Carbonzone and CN Carbon) and all have been absolutely fine. Again though it doesn't work out as cheap as it appears by the time you pay import duty and handling charge if they get stopped at customs.

Planet X/Dolan/Ribble carbon frames are mainly of Far East origin eg the RT-80 from Planet X is the FM-066 Chinese frame.....

Yeah obviously. My point is though if you pay VAT, import charges, handling fee etc on a chinest frameset it becomes just as cheap to buy from Planet X etc and you get a warranty.

darkhairedlord wrote:

polaxgr wrote:

The Jackalcp wrote:

I've had wheels from Farsports and never had a problem

Currently have an aero bike that i bought as a frame and wheels from China. Painted it myself and built up with bits from the parts bin and ebay/forum purchases. Cost about £1100 max, probably less. It goes like s### off a shovel, looks fantastic and completely problem free. Buy form the right seller and you will probably be fine.

I will buy from Farsports, now my dilemma is dt 350 or 240 ? Any suggestion guys?

Also the frameset i want is counterfeit...i am sorry..SORRY...but i like it...thats why i wanna hear opinions about those in particular..

If they were any good at making frames they wouldn't need to fake it.

what is fake about it?

Svetty wrote:

The Jackalcp wrote:

My bike



Link to site

http://www.velobuildmall.com/2017-toray ... p0097.html

Steerer needs cutting

Nah, its just how I like it. Something to impale myself on if I stack it.

Matthewfalle wrote:

Svetty wrote:

The Jackalcp wrote:

My bike

[img]http://i68.<span class="skimlinks-unlinked">tinypic.com/4lkcbp.jpg</span>[/img]

Link to site

<span class="skimlinks-unlinked">http://www.velobuildmall.com/2017-toray-800-carbon-fiber-aero-road-frame-vb-r-068-hot-sale_p0097.html</span&gt;

Steerer needs cutting

sweeeeet. very nice.

how did you find dealing with them? i've dealt with Carbonzone before who were spot on...

I would highly recommend Velobuild. Chris, the guy that runs it, has excellent English so there is almost no chance of misunderstandings. He is prompt to reply and goes to a lot of effort to make a sale. I was after a very particular blue and he mocked up a number of images to try and help achieve the right one. In the end I did my own graphics and painted it myself. He kept me informed throughout the process and was responsive when I had some basic questions around the build. How would things have gone if I had issues, who knows and that is the risk with these purchases.

polaxgr wrote:

mamil314 wrote:

I can confirm that you will, indeed, die - like the rest of us.

In my opinion, importing whole bike is not worth the hassle and does not save you that much. It could work if everything functions fine and you don't need to use warranty/support/returns. By now, there's not that much wrong to go with getting a well established wheelset or frameset from them, but whole bike is another song.

sorry..i wanted to say that i would buy parts. mostly frame and wheelset. I will get the groupset from my local store (Greece). Saddle + integrated handlebar also bought from ali, which in 1st glance are very good and light. saddle = 119g, handlebar = 340g

Shop around for the handlebars. There are plenty of links for cheap bars that look quite strong based on youtube videos. There is even a Trek copy of their latest integrated bar weighing in at 260g. If it were me I'd try and buy it all from the same place if possible.

polaxgr wrote:

The Jackalcp wrote:

I've had wheels from Farsports and never had a problem

Currently have an aero bike that i bought as a frame and wheels from China. Painted it myself and built up with bits from the parts bin and ebay/forum purchases. Cost about £1100 max, probably less. It goes like s### off a shovel, looks fantastic and completely problem free. Buy form the right seller and you will probably be fine.

I will buy from Farsports, now my dilemma is dt 350 or 240 ? Any suggestion guys?

Also the frameset i want is counterfeit...i am sorry..SORRY...but i like it...thats why i wanna hear opinions about those in particular..

If you want DT then I'd probably just go 350 unless the weight is a big deal. I've personally used Novatec and Bitex without issue so would save my money and go for one of those ( probably bitex). As for the frameset being fake, most are based on moulds from established brands which isn't a bad thing. The question really is around the quality of the carbon, the amount of resin used and the QC process (if any).

Some smart looking frames at that Velobuild site, unfortunately (for me) I can't see any XXL or 63cm sizes. Ditto for many other cut price suppliers from the Far East. Does anyone know of one that caters for taller riders?

Matthewfalle wrote:

darkhairedlord wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

darkhairedlord wrote:

polaxgr wrote:

The Jackalcp wrote:

I've had wheels from Farsports and never had a problem

Currently have an aero bike that i bought as a frame and wheels from China. Painted it myself and built up with bits from the parts bin and ebay/forum purchases. Cost about £1100 max, probably less. It goes like s### off a shovel, looks fantastic and completely problem free. Buy form the right seller and you will probably be fine.

I will buy from Farsports, now my dilemma is dt 350 or 240 ? Any suggestion guys?

Also the frameset i want is counterfeit...i am sorry..SORRY...but i like it...thats why i wanna hear opinions about those in particular..

If they were any good at making frames they wouldn't need to fake it.

what is fake about it?

that bit?

that hasn't answered the question.

there is no reason at all why a frame would fail because it has another bike's paint job on.

so long as it is a good frame you can paint in hot pink and write "froome is a doper but people ignore this fact as they are sky fan boys" and it won't make an iota of difference.

per above.
your question was "what is fake about it?"
My response was to highlight the bit where the OP states he wants to buy a counterfeit bike.
I never said it would fail because of the paint, you did that all on your own.

Further, Please don't turn into Stevo/Fish^2 with all that "answer my question" nonsense!

polaxgr wrote:

I just like cipolini frames..so you can understand what i am looking for...thanks for the info and reply. I am 76kg and they told me they did tests on the frame with 200kg. Is that true? I dont know.. I ordered the frame(and wheels from farsport). I feel like i have gambled 1200euros in a casino..now lets wait and see what the outcome will be..I will post when i get them if you guys are interested

coolio - please post and ignore the haters - they are but square clubbie dullards.

maybe set up a thread on the "your road bikes" section so it doesn't get lost here.

looking forward to this.