Originally Posted by
arvin smee
It is a genuine Shimano product, it's just not an authorized sale. You're right about no warranty, but I'm happy to lose that for 50% off. It's pretty easy to tell the knock offs from the legit parts with these vendors. The legit parts sold around 50% less than retail and are complex pieces where a fake would be easy to catch and lead to bad reviews from buyers. The knock offs are unreasonably cheap (75% less than retail) and simple (rotors, sometimes pads) which many buyers might not notice. If you know what you're doing, you're fine. It's really no different from buying used parts, right? Large discounts in exchange for caveat emptor.
Not necessarily plenty of fakes and knockoffs that look nearly identical and not always genuine as geniune products from Shimano are sold through authorized retailers. I would treat it if actually really a Shimano product from a Shimano factory somehow sold outside of an authorized dealer like a used part.
Not so easy to catch these days and with brakes saving money for unknowns is not worth it to me.