direct from asia carbon fiber bicycle stuff

[CunegoFan]

I had an FM-015 and put about 6-7K miles on it. It broke in a crash that would have broken any other carbon frame. In fact I think that frame was probably more durable than name brand frames because it weighed a couple hundred grams more. It rode fine. No complaints. The funniest thing was people telling me how "sick" my bike looked because, I guess, it was all black.

I think I'll buy a carbon fat bike frame next year and maybe a gravel bike frame as well. I am totally convinced that my future bike frame purchases should be either boutique frames made in the first world or cheap no-name frames made in Taiwan/China.

[rilz]

I hope I'm not hijacking this thread too much but I have similar questions about direct from china hubs like novatec, mr-ride, circus monkey, and whatever else is out there.

[shovelhd]

Novatec are good quality hubs. They take a while to break in but once they have they are quite fast.

I have a set of semi-custom generic Chinese wheels from carboncycles. I specified the hubs, spokes, spoke count, and rims. Novatec, CX-Ray, 24/20, 56mm 27mm clinchers. $540 to my door in three days after build. The rear has needed a little touch up truing but nothing more than a 16th of a turn. They ride great. I use them for training only and race on Zipps.

[PJN]

Do any of these companies make a full carbon mid reach road fork with fender eyelets of decent quality?

[cmg]

any of you guys ever dealt with VELOBUILD? How was the experience? any issues?

[Jeff N.]

I can certainly speak for Kestrel EMS Pro OS forks, a product of China. They are easily, IMO, the most underrated fork ever made. I've never been less than extremely pleased with their stiff, bomb-proof performance. Many of my bikes wear them including my engraved Merlin Cyrene (paint by JB). They're a bit heavier than others, but the strength and stiffness trumps whatever weight penalties there may be.

[buldogge]

Of course…lots of products that we all use are "products of china"…but…what products that are not marketed by a major/known company are people happy with…confident in…etc…???

-Mark

Originally Posted by Jeff N.

I can certainly speak for Kestrel EMS Pro OS forks, a product of China. They are easilt, IMO, the most underrated fork ever made. I've never been less than extremely pleased with their stiff, bomb-proof performance. Many of my bikes wear them including my engraved Merlin Cyrene (paint by JB).

[jdp211]

Originally Posted by ultraman6970

Chinese cheap frames aren't bad the problem starts when you have to claim warranty. As another forumite said.. best bang for the buck but if you have bad luck with a frame that was "passed' through QC, then you might have problems.

The thing is, and I'm not one who is keen on the China Carbon thing, is that the cost of replacement of those parts is still less than the crash replacement plans that most major manufacturers offer. If there's truly a manufacturing defect, most of the Alibaba/Hong-Fu's are pretty ok with replacing things (this is based on the experiences of friends of mine).

[cmg]

Originally Posted by jdp211

The thing is, and I'm not one who is keen on the China Carbon thing, is that the cost of replacement of those parts is still less than the crash replacement plans that most major manufacturers offer. If there's truly a manufacturing defect, most of the Alibaba/Hong-Fu's are pretty ok with replacing things (this is based on the experiences of friends of mine).

If the frame costs less than $500, isn't that at a low enough cost to replace on your without a company discount? what's the best deal your going to get from a major player?

[jdp211]

That's exactly what I'm saying CMG, crash replacement from the major players is usually something to the tune of a 50% discount on the new frame. Looking at a $3500-4000 frameset (Supersix/Tarmac/Madone/etc.) its a no brainer, speaking from a purely financial perspective, especially when "generic" frames can be had in almost whatever combination of geometries/features you want.

[wallymann]

love it! aggressive race-bike geometry but in a gravel-bike format.

[Jeff N.]

Originally Posted by buldogge

Of course…lots of products that we all use are "products of china"…but…what products that are not marketed by a major/known company are people happy with…confident in…etc…???

-Mark

Oh, OK. I see...

[Clancy]

With anything coming from Asia, it's totally dependent of the specifications that the importer sets down. Given that 95% or more of all carbon frames come from Asia, it's hard to know what's quality and what's junk. With that said, the big boys such as Trek, Specialized, etc, and smaller boys like Cervelo have marketing costs, etc., that are added to the costs.

There's a skew of Asian companies selling direct all items cycling, example wheels. A young Cat 4 guy brought a set of Soul wheels into our shop. Said he had them for a year. Bearing and freehub were toast. Crappy wheels. That's the only experience with Soul that I have. Super cheap, but even w/o this experience I wouldn't buy them.

With that said, Boyd sources most of his stuff from Aisa. Built to his specs, or still least he buys a level of quality that he wants. I'd buy those in a heartbeat.

Sure I can buy a super cheap carbon frame from a direct source in China, or I can buy from a brand in the states, Canada, or Europe. Given that I don't want to be having doubts decending at 40+ I'm willing to spend more.

But really, I ride steel and Ti and prefer Ritchey stuff. Even with steel or Ti, I'll buy from the US or Europe ATMO

Peter

[beeatnik]

Originally Posted by wallymann

love it! aggressive race-bike geometry but in a gravel-bike format.

The Bike Formerly Known As Yan Huang Zisun Man

[campy man]

Originally Posted by beeatnik

The Bike Formerly Known As Yan Huang Zisun Man