shoota 

Does anyone have any experience with these that they'd like to share? I'm interested in hearing about any brand, especially the Chinese carbon ones on ebay like this one:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/12-sizes-car...item417ba37880

kv501

If you are thinking about cheap, unbranded, Chinese knock-offs to save a couple dollars you probably can't afford cycling.

Not sure about you, but I'm not going to go 45 mph down a hill holding onto something made by people who don't spend money on development or safety testing.

Mike Sinyard is everything that's wrong with cycling, but these photos are the truth:



Support real cycling companies who actually spend R&D money to make good products. Or don't if you don't want to.

datlas 

Agree with above. I actually think CF stems and/or bars are probably not really any better than aluminum.

If you are dead-set on carbon, go for Taiwanese carbon like this, from Merek, which is more reliable:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Merek-Ro...-/221134188796

Darth Steele

I am not sure how much research and R & D goes into the standard bib/kitt. When you read the labels on the standard summer kitt they read the same x % of polyester and x % some other synthetic material. And the chamois is pretty much standard . I would agree that they shouldn't fake the names. But I have no issue with them producing substantially cheaper "non brand names" items. I am fine with someone buying cheap clothes.


If someone wants to buy a cheap carbon fiber water bottle holder then so be it.

As for actual bike parts, I agree that the buyer should be fully aware of what they are buying. Unfortunately most people are assuming that the parts bought on ebay may be real.

RobbieTunes

Tempting for the price. If you read some of the latest ads, they're very careful not to say these things are actually RAMs, FSAs, etc. I was told there is a way to tell the FSA copies from the originals, not sure about the other stuff. Perhaps someone should build one of those $700 Dogma 6.2 frames with like, kind, and quality parts from the same place and see what happens. Not me, but I've wondered why the bike magazines haven't tried that. Perhaps no volunteers to ride it. A friend of mine uses one, hasn't had a problem yet.

They don't even save much weight. My Easton EC90SLX/KCNC Wing combo is 293g.

As for the attire, I bought two pairs of the shorts for 9.99 each. One, like a lot, but the chamois is your basic foam car wash mitt. I keep thinking my saddle is loose. The other had some odd lettering on it, most of which rubbed off, leaving what looks like "viagra." One of my group riders just bought an entire Cannondale set, looks really nice. No clue if it is any better.

If anything, we should appreciate the downward pressure they put on the market.

hueyhoolihan

i've got several no-name ebay purchased CF seatposts, saddles and handlebars with probably 10,000-15,000 miles on them. perfectly fine IME and IMO.

i suppose there is junk out there. i bought a couple of good old USA ALLOY parts from American Classic back when they were just starting out that failed miserably. all the inexpensive CF ebay no-name stuff so far has worked. so there's room for argument as far as i am concerned.

i'm sure the OP can afford to buy whatever he or she wants as far as cycling is concerned. saving money had nothing the ability to afford things.

shoota 

Better at what? Weight, stiffness, everything?

I'm not dead set on buying anything specifically. I have a new frame and I'm just running through all my options and came across these on ebay. I'm just looking for user experience I guess. Buying name brand from China just seems silly.

How does the 41 feel about FSA?

petermk

Well, like the poster above said, there's junk out there but there are plenty of quality knockoffs as well. Last year I wanted to try out a full carbon saddle and I bought a knockoff San Marco Aspide Superleggera for $35. I just didn't feel like spending $300-350 on something that I didn't know I'd continue using after 1-2 rides. I've been riding it ever since without any issues whatsoever. Furthermore, when I went to service my bike at a very well known bling bike shop in Brooklyn, NY, salespeople there couldn't tell the difference. When I told them it was a fake Aspide Superleggera, they were quite surprised.

datlas 

Durability, especially after a minor crash.

I am not saying CF stems and bars are "wrong" but one argument is to look at what the pros use. I think they pretty much still use aluminum.

shoota 

They probably use them to keep the weight of their bikes above the limit.

mpath

OP, save up your pennies until you can afford a quality one.

SirHustlerEsq

Don't you guys go nuts about miniscule adjustments in bar angle, or am I just a crazy person?

coasting 

what's the poit of carbon stems when alu ones are lighter and cheaper?

vfrjo

Get it wherever you want. I would try it out first tho to make sure it fits you right. My lbs fitted a similar bar/stem (integrated) the guy paid $450 for online, for him to realize he needed to rotate the bar up. No go. Tried dif stems and spacer combos but eventually decided he couldn't get comfortable on it. $450 sitting in the case with $100 sticker on it for over a year now, and he's still using the bar that one was gonna replace.

datlas 

qft

SirHustlerEsq

Social superiority.

shoota 

Nope, you're definitely not crazy. I obsess over it too, which is why I'm here asking about these. My tenative plan is to get comfortable with the cheap alloy bars and stem I have and then try to match it with an integrated version. This is proving to be difficult since none of the integrated bars come in 17 degree.

I guess I didn't realize that they were. Mind pointing me to a couple?

Maybe

coasting 

i just got this and i was surprised how light it was.

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/t...m/rp-prod84205

shoota 

Very nice. But there's the problem, most new stems only come in 84/6 :/

coasting 

that one is 82/8 which is strange. i thought i made a mistake at first.

shoota 

Yeah that is strange but still isn't 17/73

coasting 

richey made a 17 deg stem. i bought it a few years ago and it is very nice too. not sure if they stillmake it. it was richey pro.

robbyville

Ritchey still makes this one at claimed weight of 118g and at $90 good weight/price. I've bought all my Ritchey Stems on ebay from a reputable dealer and gotten great pricing. I've had a few Ritchey Stems and all the weights were within the claimed amounts. The WCS 260 was probably the lightest if that matters but no 17/73 version and while I liked mine I did have some problems with the bolts (replaced by Ritchey though). I've had no problems with any of the others.

So a nice carbon bar at around 210g coupled with a stem like this might meet your needs

I currently use an Enve, but not sure about a 17/73

https://ritcheylogic.com/road/stems/w...lack-stem.html

shoota 

I'm thinking Ritchey may be what I end up with because they do make a wide variety of very nice components. It would be nice to match everything ya know

shoota 

Very nice, it's hard to tell in the pics but is the finish glossy or matte?

(lol @ affording ENVE)