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Chinese Bikes

Hi guys

I was wondering what you guys think of entirely chinese branded bikes? I noticed one on aliexpress. The price and config seem ludicrous. Has anyone ever tired these? I have spoken to many people in China and they say that the reason why it's so cheap is that the Chinese branding makes the bike much cheaper. But surely it would not make it only $50 new.

Does anyone have their opinions/experiences about these sorts of bikes?

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Bicycle-road-bike-disc-automobile-race-bi...

p.s I'm researching bikes for my friend who wants to buy a temp training bike before upgrading to a new road bike in the summer. I'm mainly looking at old steel bikes on gumtree but this particular bike caught my eye.

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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43 comments

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velonista replied to joules1975 | 10 years ago
1 like
joules1975 wrote:

...at least they have proven warranty backup, unlike the direct Chinese frames...

Where'd you hear that? Your wife's boyfriend's third-grade teacher overheard it in a noisy aboriginal barber shop while vacationing in the wilds of Borneo?

I repeat. If you yourself don't have first-hand experience of the direct Chinese frames warranty system, then you're just regurgitating the same played-out urban myth that every other hater that came before you has peddled to you!

At least provide ONE link to back up what you KNOW about the direct Chinese frames warranty system! Just ONE! Not what you heard. Not what you believe. Not what you WISH. What you KNOW.

One link is easy! Right? Failing that, the only thing Chinese you have any real experience with, is Chinese whispers.

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thre3aces | 10 years ago
0 likes

Be wary my friend. Cheap carbon is always a danger zone. Yes you're right. There probably aren't defects on your model but to be honest problem with genetic chinese wholesalers is that they simply don't check their products thoroughly enough. But good to hear you've had a good experience so far.

The size thing may be an issue. But it does claim to have 700c wheels so it can't be that small. But Yea, I wouldn't expect anything more than cheap crap. But i guess cheap crap is enough for a temp bike

Avatar
velonista replied to thre3aces | 10 years ago
1 like
thre3aces wrote:

...Cheap carbon is always a danger zone...problem with genetic chinese wholesalers is that they simply don't check their products thoroughly enough...

On what are you basing your horror story? Chinese whispers don't count. Unless you yourself have actual first-hand experience with "genetic chinese wholesalers" [sic], then you don't know what you're talking about.

If you do know, then provide links to back up what you know. Otherwise, you're just repeating some urban legend you heard from your third cousin's friend's next door neighbor over in Timbuktu who blogged about it that one time in 1999.

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thre3aces replied to velonista | 10 years ago
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velonista wrote:
thre3aces wrote:

...Cheap carbon is always a danger zone...problem with genetic chinese wholesalers is that they simply don't check their products thoroughly enough...

On what are you basing your horror story? Chinese whispers don't count. Unless you yourself have actual first-hand experience with "genetic chinese wholesalers" [sic], then you don't know what you're talking about.

If you do know, then provide links to back up what you know. Otherwise, you're just repeating some urban legend you heard from your third cousin's friend's next door neighbor over in Timbuktu who blogged about it that one time in 1999.

Mate chill. I'm not attacking chinese generic goods. I am in fact quite a big fan of it when it comes to electronics.

Electronic is in fact a great example. If you get a generic phone it's wayy cheaper. You can see where They've taken shortcuts because it's a phone. Any tech savvy person can tell. And in most cases you can live with that.

But the problem with a carbon frame is well... How can you tell? You can't see the shortcuts (if any, and you're probably right, there most likely isn't) . But if there is on that particular batch, maybe a worker was being a dope. You just can't know. And if it fails and let's say snaps on the road then you're screwed.

Also, in case anyone cares my safety sense has come about from my recent accident where I managed to wipe out on a corner at 40mph. My t3 aluminium frame was perfectly fine but had it been badly made carbon it could have snapped and God knows what would have happened after that.

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bashthebox | 10 years ago
0 likes

I've just bought a Chinese frame, actually - will make a thread to document the built up when I've got a moment.
I bought from a company called Hong Fu, and was pleasantly surprised by most stages of the process.
What I've ended up with, for around $700 including paintwork and postage, is a frame that weighs 900g, forks that weight about 350g, carbon bars and carbon bottle cages. The paintwork is custom to my own design - they weren't able to provide the exact colours I was after, but it's pretty close and the paint looks great. Crisp and clean.
Just starting the build now, but I can't see any of the defects many people talk of - that of holes being painted over, misaligned hangers, etc.
Dealt with a lady called Nancy whose English was great, and was helpful and responsive on her email.
Really impressed so far, and can't wait to get the build done and ride the beautiful thing.

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drfabulous0 | 10 years ago
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A mate of mine once asked me to help him with a £40 Chinese bike, immediately I noticed that the paintwork was horrendous, I have sprayed £1 black spray paint onto rusty handlebars and got better results. Before getting the frame into the stand I noticed that there was no way to attach the round seatpost to the teardrop shaped seat tube. Overlooking these two major defects the bike itself, which in fairness had been ordered as a "small" was in fact a tiny facsimile of a real bicycle, which could only have been ridden by a borrower. When he messaged the seller they ignored him, he eventually got his money back but it took months, this was on DHGate.

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dave atkinson | 10 years ago
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i like the sound of this Bicycle road bike disc automobile race bicycle aluminum ring sports car 21.

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thre3aces | 10 years ago
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Well, truth be told poor English and knock off designs are to be expected in my opinion. But at the end of the day. If it's for someone who doesn't ride seriously and only to be used as a temporary bike I'd say that it's perhaps "acceptable"

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themartincox | 10 years ago
0 likes

Blue and white, I want it in blue and white!

And THAT is how you do a call to action!

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farrell | 10 years ago
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It could be that the company involved is doing these so cheaply in order to get a reputation and feedback, using it as a loss leader before ramping the prices up.

They could be scammers.

The bikes could actually just be that cheap.

£20 for the folding bikes. Madness.

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PJ McNally | 10 years ago
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Please Road.cc buy one and test it!

I particularly like the look of that "Sihmano" cassette  3

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farrell | 10 years ago
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Its got an "apologetics chain attached". That's a big selling point for me.

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Gkam84 | 10 years ago
0 likes

I have no idea, but at that price Road.cc could buy one to test  3

Including postage, it comes in at £40

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