Originally Posted by
shelbyfv
I've read that the Ali bars are
just the same as ENVE bars. At the end of the day they run off a few dozen extra, don't apply the ENVE label and sell them on Ali.
Smart buyers can then avoid being ripped off by BigBar.
I think you're joking. Pretty sure anyway. If you're not, lets go through this again.
Most bike stuff is manufactured in China. It's built to exact spec's and to an expected price point. You then have a fairly reasonable expectation of quality.
For the knockoff stuff, you simply have no way of knowing whether it's being made in the same factory under a different label or whether it is being made elsewhere with no control other than the shape. Even if it is in the same factory, you can't know whether the product was tested, it's even possible that the knockoff stuff is the product that failed the tests.
I've had mixed results myself, not all carbon stuff but knockoff ebay/amazon products. I had a carbon fork that was a solid performer. A good dropper lever. A decent seat. All knockoffs. I also broke a seatpost on my first ride. Had some zippers fall off. Got two identical carbon bottle cages. One was perfect and the other dropped a bottle at the thought of a bump.
15 years ago I went to Greenland and wanted a camera for the adventure, charging would not be readily available. I bought 10 batteries online at a shipped cost of $6 each, rather than the $45 price for the OEM batteries for my camera. They all worked perfectly.
Like I said upthread though, I wouldn't gamble with my safety.