Teamprovicycle

these cant be legit can they ???
https://www.dhgate.com/product/2017-...COSMNBL%7C2%7C

HillRider

Given the fact that the ad doesn't even spell bicycle correctly:

".....2017 EASTON ec90 Carbon fiber cicycle handlebar and bike stem......"

I'd be suspicious of the claims.

phughes

Hey, what could go wrong?

AnkleWork

How could they be anything other than legit?

dsbrantjr

Right? And besides, it is well known that China does not tolerate the shipment of counterfeit merchandise.

sch

Google Chinarello and the Specialized fake frames for some more insight into the likely origin of these "Easton" parts.
Or explore: https://www.google.com/search?ei=oYE....0.FDhHucKz6W4

jimc101

At that price do you even need to ask?

Iride01 

I've heard this given as a reason about some counterfeits and knock offs but don't know if it is fact.

Companies that go to some parts of Asia and perhaps other continents and countries, for manufacturing of their product are not actually building and controlling their own operations there. They are simply contracting out the manufacture of their product. So they don't necessarily have full control of what happens to their products that didn't pass quality controls and were rejects or simply what happens with production overruns that are not given to them. I'm sure they try to address such stuff in their contracts, but perhaps the laws and cost of litigation in those countries makes it not worthwhile to pursue.

alexdi

The assumption here is that *every* overseas manufacturer (even one that Easton presumably vetted) is unscrupulous. I don't believe that.

A knockoff is a knockoff, not a factory over-run or a reject. (The first doesn't make sense, the second doesn't square with the new appearance or the degree of quality variance in these knockoff products.) It's not hard to reverse-engineer the shape of a bar, they could do it in an afternoon. They don't need leaked CAD drawings and they don't particularly care about the layup.

This bar is clearly a knockoff. The graphics alone give it away. It might still be decent, but it's not an Easton.

TimothyH

Counterfeit and outright stolen and rebranded parts from Asia are a fact.

It is not even debatable.

fietsbob

worried about confirmed authenticity or seeking a bargain, you must choose 1 or the other.

Iride01 

What? I certainly am not saying or implying this for You've completely forgot the statement I made to keep this in context..... No where do I imply that overseas manufacturing itself is bad.

alexdi

Sure you are. Here's what you said:

A) Brands don't have "full control" over manufacturers
B) So manufacturers might be reselling rejected parts

What brand would work with a manufacturer engaging in this practice (ignoring for a moment the assumption a rational manufacturer would endanger a lucrative, continuing relationship to make a few bucks on the side undermining the same products they're building)? None of them.

If you're proposing the practice is occurring anyway, despite these relationships and due diligence in vetting the manufacturer, then what implication for other brands who want to outsource? They can't trust anyone.

To me, this 'factory rejects' notion is the other side of the 'I'm getting a legit part that came out the back door' coin. They're both wrong.

fietsbob

Going thru a Known Bike Shop and a importer-distributor, you have those folks handling warranty claims.

Bypassing them and you are on your own.. but it may be cheaper ..

JohnnyCyclist

I've got a friend who rides a "Chinarello". That's a risk I wouldn't take.
I've got a friend who likes to ride "blacked out" (black bike, black kit, no blinky lights, etc.). That's a risk I wouldn't take.

I've got family members who think I'm nuts to ride a bicycle on the roads, no matter how many safety precautions I take.

Everyone must decide their own level of risk.

P.S. I always wheel suck my blacked out friend with my (mostly) hi-vis jerseys and (always) blinky lights. It's safer that way

Marcus_Ti

Asked and answered. No they really can't trust anyone. Not all countries in the world share the USA's rather absurd notion of copyright/patent law.


Even in the USA, on US shores, people "walk away" with hardware and resell it all the time. Go on EBay you'll see "ES" branded CPUs from Intel....those are "Engineering Samples" sent to large OEMs (Dell, HP, etc) for system testing that are supposed to be destroyed by those OEMs---and enterprising underpaid employees raid the dump bin and sell them because almost always those ES chips sent-for-testing are viable. This practice is strictly forbidden by Intel, but it happens all the time anyway. EBay tries to crackdown on the practice--moving it to semi-private seller forums on computer boards like HardForum and Overclock.net

AnkleWork

I asked the OP who clearly does not have an answer.

Iride01 

Well, no I did not say that. When you pull out snippets from the entire message, you change the meaning. The very first sentence in my post is intended to cover the entire thought that followed it. There is no sense in me trying to defend any of the other extrapolations you have made from my statements you misconstrued.

easyupbug 

I did vendor qualifications and QA/QC in China for several years and can tell you anything is possible. If closely watched by the US customer they can be excellent quality end runs, or runs made with a few corners cut to same $. We eventually employed Chinese QA/QC as they are better at the very subtle corners that get taken. I would be very careful.
That said, things like designer sox with little opportunity to fudge from the manufacturer I would buy on the street for $1 or at the Silk Street Market after it moved from behind the American Embassy rather than pay $5 in a shop or $4 to have them cleaned by the hotel.