Folding Bikes - Imitations of Pacific Carryme

Here is the website of one of the imitations of Pacific Carryme.
http://www.carrywe.com/se.asp?nowmenuid=500037

The layout and some photos on their website are directly copied from the website of Hometec Technology Inc., the distributor of Pacific Cycles' bicycles in Taiwan! :mad:
http://www.hometec.com.tw


However, George Lin, the boss of Pacific Cycles said, "None of the bikes of Pacific Cycles for which we have applied for patents since 1990:
A bike of Pacific Cycles needs more than 10 months from making to manufacture, so each series is unique.
There're so many technologies used on a bike from design to manufacture which the competitors cannot copy.
If someone wants to copy your product, there's no way to prevent from this even you have applied for a patent. However, the pattern of copying is rare in the bicycle industry because no one can survive by this."

Sustainable development: George Lin think that making bikes is making products for environmental protection and energy saving. Their enterprise has a slogan, "One more bike, one less car".

I was just bidding on a couple of these on Ebay earlier this week. Too bad I didn't win--I would've been able to write the review, lol.

Wow! They knocked off even the name!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
At least, if they knock you off it means that your concept was valid..... well, this is like saying that if your wife cheats, then at least somebody else sees the beauty in your wife as yourself ....

All in all, at least for the next few years, all of the bicycle industry in the planet has to live with considering that if your product is kind of good then the " Zhejiang Province Yongkang hardware industrial park " will knock it off. Probably the A-bike people can write a book about this. The book will sell well. I would buy it.

Zhejiang Province Yongkang hardware industrial park, unsurpassed capital of PRODUCT TROLLS!

Here is a company that copies almost all of Pacific's bikes, showing the Sbirdy:

http://www.strda.com/photogallery.asp?f_id=5

I love George Lin's attitude, such a breath of fresh air from those whiners complaining about how they can't compete with copycats and filing futile lawsuits. George Lin, on the other hand, simply out-builds and out-innovates them and after seeing the high technology he employs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RGM0BkUJw8&eurl=http://www.foldingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=36) I'm not at all surprised that he isn't braking a sweat. Other manufacturer's take note: copycats are nothing to worry about if you're the best!

Say what you will about the Carryme, but I've never owned a bike with such high manufacturing quality and the years of enjoyment I've gotten out of it while the copycats were trying to catch up has more than justified the very reasonable price difference.

Zhejiang Province Yongkang hardware industrial park, unsurpassed capital of PRODUCT TROLLS!

I have one of their products. I think it was damned good value. I ride it most days and the troubles I have had cost pennies to fix. The bike cost less than a third of the price of the original. I know another guy who had a new original Strida 5 and a copy. He sold the original and kept the copy.

Get over it - Zhejiang Province Yongkang hardware industrial park is here to stay and will outsell the makers of original products that are vastly overpriced. If a bike can be replicated for $94 which is what Zhejiang Province Yongkang hardware industrial park sells a copy Strida 5 for, guess what? people will buy them by the shipload. What a surprise - Strida 5 £400 in UK more or less, or £110 on ebay for a copy. Whooo hooo - big problem to choose there.

Here is a company that copies almost all of Pacific's bikes, showing the Sbirdy:

http://www.strda.com/photogallery.asp?f_id=5

That stuff is all from Zhejiang Province Yongkang hardware industrial park . It's the same maker as my strida copy. I saved the link to that seller.

It looks as if they sell the strida belt for E4 (four Euros) - which is surprising. Maybe I have misinterpreted the currency symbol on the site.

Get over it - Zhejiang Province Yongkang hardware industrial park is here to stay and will outsell the makers of original products that are vastly overpriced.

Not if the quality is too high or the innovations too rapid for them to copy. Kudos to George Lin for having this philosophy. :50:

No spending hundreds of £ just to avoid guilt for Pacific customers. If you pay more for a Pacific bike it's because it's actually worth more!

I say PRODUCT TROLLS.
Working in the car industry I know their cost effectiveness down to the dime.
They are not even competitive. Only subventions bring them to the price that they do.
Potentially they can even give the stuff out for free. The Central Empire pays for it. Not the customer.
Product trolls they were during the Ming dinasty, product trolls they were during the Ching dynasty, they still are product trolls, and probably will be after the next rebellion.

Lol

I have one of their products. I think it was damned good value. I ride it most days and the troubles I have had cost pennies to fix. The bike cost less than a third of the price of the original. I know another guy who had a new original Strida 5 and a copy. He sold the original and kept the copy.

In all fairness, since the Strida was specifically designed to be cheap and easy to make it might not be the best indicator of their ability.

In all fairness, since the Strida was specifically designed to be cheap and easy to make it might not be the best indicator of their ability.

fair point, but if strida was designed to be cheap and easy to make, why is it sold at £400?


It's a total rip off.

This is why the fakes exist and will sell millions of units world wide.

fair point, but if strida was designed to be cheap and easy to make, why is it sold at £400?

It's a total rip off.

This is why the fakes exist and will sell millions of units world wide.

I completely agree which is why I have absolutely no sympathy for companies like Ming Cycle or Brompton whining about fakes.

Take it from George Lin: If you want to prevent fakes then forget about IP rights and build a product worth it's price. Novel design and quality workmanship can't be faked; So if that's not what you're selling then your prices better be low!

Take it from George Lin: If you want to prevent fakes then forget about IP rights and build a product worth it's price. Novel design and quality workmanship can't be faked; So if that's not what you're selling then your prices better be low!

Well, I can't see that low price on their new IF bikes. :innocent:

http://www.pacific-cycles.com/product2.asp?cat1=1&cat2=4

Well, I can't see that low price on their new IF bikes. :innocent:

http://www.pacific-cycles.com/product2.asp?cat1=1&cat2=4

That was my point. There's no free lunch: to ask a higher price one needs to provide an additional service, in this case novelty and workmanship that the copycats don't have the skill and knowledge to imitate.

Brompton whining about fakes.

Brompton Managing Director Mr Butler-Adams (http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/09012009/399/brompton-rides-crest-weaker-pound.html) "argues that the cost advantage [of shifting production of Bromptons to Taiwan] would quickly be lost as production knowledge seeped into "the public domain" and led to plagiarism."

Does that mean that the workmanship at Brompton Co is no better than the Zhejiang Province Yongkang hardware industrial park? Because Pacific Cycles' director George Lin is confident that the plagiarisers simply aren't smart enough or skilled enough to compete.

I guess this shows who's more concerned about profits and who is more concerned about making a better bike for their customers.

I suppose sometimes the builder's ethos is more important to them than price or volume of sales and waiting lists for customers. I believe that Brompton strive to make things as well as they can and they want to do it in London. That's what they are about, not rivalling Dahon, or updating the design in trivial ways to catch new sales.

The only reason I bought the Merc copy was that at the time I bought it, I was quoted a ten week wait for a Brompton. That was no good to me and I took a chance instead. I wasn't disappointed by much about what I got.

Makeinu I really like your comments. I think you're right on.

It's okay for Brompton to do what it does. But over time, their ability to capture profits from those choices is eroding, because the relative value they provide (design and quality) is eroding.

They can try to hold on to what they've got, which is what most tender-hearted human beings do. Or they could embrace this reality and get better bikes into more people's hands. Better bikes will get into more people's hands regardless - up to them what role they want in it.