MrRider

Does anyone know if these cheap Roadlink copies (see link below) work the same as the WolfTooth Roadlink, or is there a difference or a catch? They are awfully cheap compared to the WolfTooth version:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...xtend&_sacat=0

jimc101

Why not just buy the real thing, so you know what your getting, Wolftooth make good stuff.

Kontact 

Because the ones on ebay are $3 vs $23?

I don't see why anyone needs a high end version of such a simple part. It's like buying name brand headset spacers.

MrRider

Yes, and from ebay the Wolftooth Roadlink will cost me twice that amount after shipping, it's actually quite a pricey little purchase which is why it's worth investigating this option.

DrIsotope

I have concerns about anyone living at such a level of frugality that they ask the internet for opinions on a $6 purchase. My personal "I'm just gonna buy this" threshold is a whole lot higher.

Pertinent to the topic, the Roadlink is machined, and you can tell. That knockoff piece is cast, and if anyone tries to claim different they're lying. Will that make a difference? Could make the difference between having a derailleur where it is supposed to be, and one that tries to take up residence inside the spokes. Could work perfectly for years. Spend the 6 bucks and find out for us.

jimc101

Guess you never want anyone to design anything anymore? Wolftooth (and any of the small guys) are not big manufactures, buy from the little guys, and support them, not knock offs.

MrRider

Did you miss the part where the Wolftooth costs a great deal more? No I'm not worried about spending $6 in and of itself, more the $50 difference between this and the Wolftooth version: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Wolf-Too...QAAOSwyYFZ9-ak

Bit more than $6 isn't it.

DrIsotope

The Wolftooth doesn't cost appreciably more, but shipping to Australia is absolutely BRUTAL. I've seen listings on eBay charging $30-40USD for shipping on an item weighing less than 2oz.

The Wolftooth is a better part. But I understand resistance to pay more for shipping than the cost of the item. Had I known this whole thread was an Australia issue and not a "being cheap" issue, I wouldn't have posted. How is it that stuff is so cheap when going the other way? I ordered an Aeroclam saddlebag from Cyckit in New Zealand, and shipping was like 7 bucks. If I wanted to send it back, it would cost over triple that.

MrRider

If the total cost was within striking distance of the actual cost of the item, I'd just order the Wolftooth. But cost to receive the Wolftooth is well above the actual cost of the item, double again for a good deal. It's like that with tyres too and lots of other overseas items. The Roadlink is tiny, and those copies are the same dimensions but don't have that insane postage charge to them. It must be coming from the Wolftooth end of things, postage doesn't cost anywhere near that much for such an item, surely they're just tacking that on to make the price of the item steeper. I've noticed a lot of ebay sellers do that. For the same item, some have a steep postage charge but cheaper item cost, whereas others havea cheaper postage charge but steeper item cost. But add them together and the total of both is the same. It seems these ones inflate postage charges to make a profit, or inflate the item cost for the same reason. $20 item costing total of $50.

Kontact 

Is there a patent? Do you not use slant parallelogram derailleurs out of respect for Suntour?

fietsbob

Was the Wolf Tooth Company awarded a Patent Internationally on it??

OneIsAllYouNeed

I bought one of the $3 knockoffs to compare to the real thing. I highly recommend buying the genuine Wolftooth model. The knockoff is hardly worth recycling.

jimc101

You can research this, but do you really think they care about a patent from a small US company when they are in China, when enforce-ability will be zero. Guess you never want any innovation in cycling again...

Marcus_Ti

Spend the $5USD for the cheapo copy...then when the performance sucks, buy the genuine article

Much of the world, particularly China, views US patent law as not only arcane and byzantine but also very naive. The ability to patent numbers, chemical formulae, or language, or rounded corners is simply insanity. It is also why US consumers end up having to pay obscene prices for goods like pharmaceuticals. And ultimately it helps small companies less than the massive multinationals.

jimc101

Were talking about supporting a tiny component company here, not a massive pharmaceutical, the issue of patent wasn't an issue, till someone else bought it up, if you want to buy a copy, fine, just don't expect there to be anything else to copy when the original design/maufacturing company has folded due to people buying knock-offs.

Kontact 

The Roadlink is still "patent pending". Wolf has made a lot of money from people that would prefer the real thing, weren't aware of alternatives or don't like cheap off-brand parts. Same reason we aren't all riding Deng Fu carbon framesets.

Innovation is great. I'm glad Shimano came up with the STI road shifter and that Campagnolo, SRAM, Sachs and Microshift were able to enrich the market with competition. I think it is great that Suntour invented Microdrive compact gearing, and I don't think cycling would be better if compact gearing died with Suntour.

Everything in cycling is a copy of someone else's idea. The Roadlink is an interesting little device that makes your shifting worse in exchange for being able to use larger sprockets. It is no more innovative than the first braze-on adapter or chain keeper - and now you can choose from numerous competing versions of both. I don't think you understand how market innovation actually works.

If the Roadlink was truly revolutionary, it would be granted a utility patent and be able to block anything similar. But in the age of replaceable derailleur hangers, Wolf doesn't necessarily have something radically new, and their income will come from being first to the market.

Keep in mind I'm a saddle manufacturer. I think this is better for the market than what you seem to be implying:
https://www.speedplay.com/index.cfm?f...useum.clipless

jimc101

Name a product that in the last 50 years in cycling is truly new, there are some (Ergo/STI shifters, not much else spring to mind), but very few, go back to the days when the diamond frame was designed, and most of the things that are promoted as being new today, can be seen back then, it's just we now have the materials/technology to make the ideas from back then into functional product today, in other-words, I think that's pretty much known. BTW your link is bust.

Kontact 

It is a link that works for me to Speedplay's clipless pedal museum. You can also get there by going to their site and going to the bottom of the "Pedals" pull down.

50 years - titanium, aluminum and carbon fiber frames, clipless pedals, electric shifting, double pivot brakes, tubeless, compressionless housing, oversize tubing, the mountain bike, threadless steerers, lifting pins and HG. Depends what you think of as new vs. adaptations of technology found elsewhere.

The Roadlink is a simple hanger extender. About as radical as a quill stem extender. Problem Solvers is an entire line of doo-dads like that.

MrRider

What happened to it?

OneIsAllYouNeed

MrRider

Maybe in this case you get what you pay for. The sheer cheapness of the product is what concerns me. I just found a Wolftooth with only a $9 postage charge, they seem to be going down, I've just ordered that one.

A couple of weeks ago they were all over $60 USD, just like this one still is (linked below) with a $46 USD postage charge and total price of $66 USD. That's $87 Australian Dollars for a $25 product, that was the cheapest price a couple of weeks ago, every seller was selling them at that price, and they were quite a few sellers. Obviously no-one was buying them so they're starting to drop it down. What a scam:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Wolf-Tooth-Components- RoadLink-For-Shimano-Wide-Range-Road-Configuration-/172554834021?_trksid=p2349526.m4383.l4275.c10#viTabs_0

jimc101

They were never $60 retail, they have always been $21.95, if your going on ebay prices, that's a whole other world of make your own price up (often prices are heavily inflated when sellers are OOS or they are away, to prevent you from buying) not a scam, just you not knowing how the system works.. https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/...ducts/roadlink

MrRider

I know the retail's $21, I'm talking about the ridiculously over-inflated postage charges on ebay that turn a $21 USD item into $65 USD. That is a scam alright, their postage doesn't cost that much, they're tacking that on to make the product more expensive to buy. The retail may as well be three times the amount for what the real postage costs (not what they quote their postage as costing).

Marcus_Ti

Actually it does.

Postage, in the USA, is a funny thing. Due to Congress passing laws--importing items from say China into the USA only costs $0.99 via a USPS service called "ePacket". However the same item (even just a cycling jersey in a bag), can cost $20USD to go from the USA to abroad. You have to be a very large company to get corporate accounts and ship lots of items for prices to come down with bulk shipping. I used to sell of computer parts-I outright said "no international shipping" to head of inquires, because I'm not spending $20USD to ship a CPU cooler barely worth that street value....and that is "First Class" shipping-AKA it takes 2 months to get anywhere.

When ePacket was done...many mom&pop storefronts on eBay simply went belly up. Intranational companies simply couldn't compete with Chinese goods making the same things simply on postage nevermind the costs Chinese companies can eat making things due to volume.

Kontact 

That doesn't explain $40 shipping on a 1 ounce part.