Bike Forums - View Single Post - Syncros quill stem

12-01-25 | 03:27 PM

#12

veganbikes

Clark W. Griswold

Joined: Mar 2014

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Bikes: Foundry Chilkoot Ti W/Ultegra Di2, Salsa Timberjack Ti, Cinelli Mash Work RandoCross Fun Time Machine, 1x9 XT Parts Hybrid, Co-Motion Cascadia, Specialized Langster, Phil Wood Apple VeloXS Frame (w/DA 7400), R+M Supercharger2 Rohloff, Habanero Ti 26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yan

I agree with you there is a difference between:

A) the factory was already producing the product before you came into the picture, you're simply acting as a middleman reseller, vs...
B) the design existed in the past but was no longer being made, you paid a factory to start making it again, vs...
C) the design didn't exist, you wrote an email to the factory describing what you want, and the factory's designer drew it up in CAD on your behalf
D) you designed the thing yourself and sent the factory a CAD drawing

With companies like VO and F5, it's mostly A and B, a small amount of C, and zero D.

There is an Australian company called "www.justrideit.com.au" which is currently selling the same exact stem under their own name "JRI Rigg Stem 1" - 31.8mm". So either an Australian company is stealing a Chinese company's design, or the design actually belongs to the factory and both companies are pure middlemen. The Australian company is selling it for $121. You can buy it direct on Aliexpress for $34 which includes free shipping from the other side of the world (lol). The local Chinese price on Taobao is about $20 (at today's USD exchange rate). The source cost at the factory is probably $5-8. What a joke.

Taobao link:
https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?abb...c=taobaoSearch

And here's the Shimano stem that I also have. Similar look, different mechanism. It uses a long allen key to reach inside the stem for tightening. I actually like the Shimano version more but it's only for traditional smaller diameter handlebars.

https://cicli-berlinetta.com/product...e7gL0tqP4UovR-

See you are saying zero of D and a small amount of C which is simply not the case. I am sure some are old designs and there are certainly companies buying products and putting a label on it but to make those claims that is ridiculous. That is not how this works. People do make designs that is how these companies get bigger. If you are just middle people then you don't make it far. SRAM didn't get big from just buying product from overseas it was a lot of R+D (not as much as maybe they needed) and then establishing factories overseas and probably now developing relationships with other factories. They are not just buying product.

From what I recall F5 did design the stem so they didn't just buy it but of course now that they are out of business people have taken the design. That is why you see it and see it cheap. You give way too much power to these Chinese factories as if they are all these massive powerhouses doing everything and nobody else is doing anything which is patently false. I wonder where you came up with that narrative or did you buy it from a Chinese factory after they designed it?