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TECH NEWS

Fake Look frames on sale in Europe

French brand warns of counterfeit Look 695 and 695 Light frames

Look is warning that counterfeits of its 695 and 695 Light frames are being offered for sale in Asia and very recently in Europe, and says that these are potentially dangerous to the ultimate users.

“These Chinese-origin copies only have a visual resemblance,” say Look. “They have no relation to Look whose originals are not made in Asia. These counterfeit products are illegal and potentially dangerous. They do not have the performance qualities of our bicycles.”

Obviously, if you buy a fake Look’s aftersales service won’t cover defects, quality problems or any accidents.

Look say that if you want one of their products you should go only to Look-approved distributors and retailers. They’re listed on Look’s website. http://www.lookcycle.com/en/int/infos/trouver-un-detaillant.html

Look’s UK distributor is Fisher Outdoor Leisure. Recommended retail prices of Look 695 framesets start at £3,799.99.

Many major bike brands like Shimano, Specialized and Zipp struggle to combat counterfeit sales.

We reported way back in 2011 that FSA had identified manufacturers and sellers of fake versions of their wheels, chainsets, seatposts, handlebars and stems and, armed with the evidence, had them successfuly prosecuted by the police authorities in Taiwan on trademark infringement grounds.

Counterfeit versions of FSA products are still out there, however, the BBC’s Fake Britain recently reporting on an accident caused by imitation FSA mountain bike bars. 

Even brands like Rapha are permanently monitoring the internet to shut down sources of fake versions of their clothing.

As ever, the advice is that if the price looks too good to be true, it probably is, but a higher price is no guarantee of authenticity.

If you have any doubt about the authenticity of a Look frame, email siteinternet [at] lookcycle.fr to check before you splash the cash.

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. We send him off around the world to get all the news from launches and shows too. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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8 comments

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antonio | 9 years ago
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Last Easter I was looking in unashamed awe at a beautiful Cippolini, I was told in equally unashamed way it came from China.

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Nick T | 9 years ago
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Quite recently we had stories about authorised bricks & mortar Pinarello dealers with knock offs on display in store. That's a bit of an issue there.

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robcrow | 9 years ago
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This is why I would never buy frames or components off of ebay. Huge amount of fakes and stolen goods on there .Often the person selling them to you dosn't even know they are fake as they have purchased them off someone else on ebay previously.

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Kestevan | 9 years ago
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In other news - Ursine toilet found in woodland area..

Took about 2 minutes on Google to turn up a Chinese advert for a Look 695 frameset for < £400 ( Various Pinarellos/De Rosas and other assorted top brand frames also available).

Dont think anyone buying them thinks they're "real".

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mrmo replied to Kestevan | 9 years ago
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Kestevan wrote:

In other news - Ursine toilet found in woodland area..

Took about 2 minutes on Google to turn up a Chinese advert for a Look 695 frameset for < £400 ( Various Pinarellos/De Rosas and other assorted top brand frames also available).

Dont think anyone buying them thinks they're "real".

and if I buy one scuff it up a bit then stick it on ebay claiming it is real and second-hand, then what?

A lot of this is about brand protection, as you say most buyers would buy new in full knowledge of what they are buying but secondhand? Then if that frame fails?

Everyone knows that people are far more likely to spout off that the frame was crap rather than investigate that they have been ripped off.

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Nick T | 9 years ago
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It's somewhat telling that the counterfeiters didn't bother cloning the 795.

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truffy | 9 years ago
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Look's approved retailers apparently don't include online-only stores. At least not in Switzerland.

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disco | 9 years ago
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"French brand warns of counterfeit Look 695 and 695 Light frames" - Looks like there's a 695 copy rolling around road.cc too  103

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