cyclinfool

My riding buddy bought a Trek 1000 last year - he is not one to spend a lot of money on his bike even though he is very affluent and could afford whatever he likes. Before starting a century last weekend he checked the bike into the free bike mechanic at the start because he could not get the brake release to go back to the riding position, the mechanic set it for him but said the caliper may need replacing (because now it won't open to get the wheel out), he went on to say that although the calipers on that bike looked like Shimano they were chinese knockoffs - closer inspection, they did not have a manufacturers label on them at all, but they did look like Shimano. I was shocked if this was true, first of all Trek is a reputable company and selling a road bike with Chinese knock off parts is low class. Looking at the Trek web site for thier low end roadies they say the brakes are alloy with Shimano levers - so I guess that's the clue. What a disappointment, I would have certainly only expect this with a Wally-Mart special.

Now on the positive note - he loves his bike, he rides well on it so I guess that is all that matters. He has put 1500 miles on it since last Sept so we will see how long the components hold up as he is a big (not fat- but tall) rider and can put out pretty good power. The bike does chuck the chain from time to time but that just may be an adjustment thing.

stapfam

Have to say that unless it has the Shimano- Sram- Campag logo imprinted onto it- It will not be what you think it is. My OCR has some funny brakes on it and I cannot get them to work. Boreas has brakes that look identical but has Shimano 105 on them- No problems at all. Only other difference I have noted is that the chrome on the Unmarked brakes has Rusted and the 105's have not.

But I suppose you get what you pay for but this leads onto the next joy of Riding--Upgrading. Just wish it was not necessary though.

Tom Bombadil

Many do it now on their lower end bikes. Trek, Specialized, Giant, Felt, and many more.

It is hard to build a bike for the $700'ish market and not have some knock-off parts. Most common places are brakes, hubs and rims. Some are going sub-Sora on the derailleurs, still Shimano but very low end Shimano ... which isn't much different than a knock-off.

Tom Bombadil

Lots of lesser parts are knockoffs too, like seatposts, stems, handlebars, pedals. You generally won't find many brand names on those parts on the low end road bikes.

For example, consider the 2007 Giant OCR3. List price $650. It has no-name pedals, seat post, handlebar, stem, and hubs. Their brakes are brand name, but they are very low-end (and crappy) Tektro which aren't any better than a knock-off - some Tektro are okay but these are so low-end that they aren't sold as separate parts.

cyclinfool

Unfortunately my friend is not an upgrade kind of guy - what I would hate to see is that he has a lot of failures that cause him to get frustrated with the bike.

maddmaxx 

What did the equipment sepcification list say for the 1000 when bought? Surprise at a later time is rarely the result of the manufacturer/retailler replacing the specified part with a cheap knockoff. When it is, lawsuits follow...........

z415

They look like Tektros to me. Regardless, they are probably made in the same place as low end Tektros or Shimanos.. do Shimano components get down the to 1000 level? I know they have the 2200/2300 and the 3000s are Soras.

And that frame is probably made by Giant in a factory somewhere in Taiwan for really cheap.

cyclinfool

I have no idea and I doubt he does either. He went by the recommendation of a very good and very small one man LBS and bought the bike from him - BTW this guy has an excellent rep and I suspect he just did not try to talk my friend into a better bike which a big bike shop would have (and he could have easily done that). My friend could easily afford a custom built full carbon Serotta with all Record, he just realizes he doesn't need that.

Again - I doubt it was fraud. I think it is a matter of trust. This is more of an issue for me than my friend as I put a lot of trust in Trek, now I realize they have had to lessen thier standards and offer cheap products to compete and hit a price point. Thats ok - it just means you really need to look at the fine print and do your homework.

One good point - the frame on this bike is nice, I may try to talk him into relacing the components with 105 - that would be my bare minimum. I really think the Brifters and the Bontrager crankset on his bike are real crap.
I had to kick it up a notch when he got this bike - his very old cannondale was holding him back. Now he and I are always pushing each other - we are pretty close on the flats, I kick his butt on short climbs, he kicks mine on long climbs. If I get him to upgrade I might have to get stronger (yet again ).

Tom Bombadil

If you eliminate all bikes with frames made in Taiwan/China, there wouldn't be many left on the showroom floors.

cyclinfool

My Tarmac Expert frame is made in Tiawan - I have no issue with this as the bike suppliers are putting thier name on the product, in this case these were no-name. BTW - the chipset in the computer that most likely all of these messages are typed on were made in Tiawan. When quality is controlled and it has to be for carbon fiber, is closely scrutinated by the OEMs, they can produce a superior product.

Tom Bombadil

I wasn't criticizing the quality of made in Taiwan/China goods. That quality can vary, from poor to excellent, depending upon the investment and the standards imposed by the contracting company. The same as USA manufacturing.

cyclinfool

Tom - the problem with print - I understood you and was supporting your note to Z415. You are dead on as always...

maddmaxx 

Many branded brakesets come from a Tektro factory. $ for $ you friend could do worse than say a Tektro RX40 brakeset for his bike. If you track down a place to sell them they will be relatively inexpensive and far superior to all but the top of the line brakes from big brand names. Shop quickly though because they are a well kept secret. Something in the area of $60 for a front/rear set is a good target.

Tom Bombadil

My Fuji has a lot of good quality parts on it, nearly all Shimano 105 level. However it does have cheap Tektro 926 brakes on it. They feel cheap, cheap, cheap.

I may get around to replacing them, but few people are easier on brakes than I am. If I do it will be because I got tired of having that crap on my bike.

maddmaxx 

You could replace just the pads..............but quality pads would be worth more than 926's.

cyclinfool

Never heard of these - can't even find a company website.

I think he will take the bike back to the LBS and let them deal with it. The guys work is such that his hours are limited.

This supports my impression when I bought my Simoncini - buy a good frame and a full Campy Veloce or Shimano 105, this is the minimum. These will easily give you 20K miles w/o problems - more than most people will ever ride, or about 4 or 5 years for this crowd.

Tom Bombadil

That would still leave me with the crappy Tektro brake levers. I think it would be an upgrade to go with one of the knock-off Cyclist Choice lever sets.

cyclinfool

The levers are supposed to be Shimano - but now that you mention it, I never checked them closely. You may be right.

Tom Bombadil

My levers, on my Fuji, are low-grade Tektro. The Trek 1000 is probably Shimano. But the low-end Shimano stuff isn't very good either. I've been told by two owners of LBS in my area that they have a lot of quality problems with lower end Shimano gear.

As maddmaxx states, there are some very good Tektro brakes out there. The RX40 are well regarded.

But just as Sony makes A/V components ranging from high-end to crap, so do many of the bike part companies. Well "makes" is not quite accurate, "brands" is more accurate.

cyclinfool

Ain't that the truth - and it's gotten worse than that. Brands that you have trusted in the past have captilized on the value of that brand and sold it as well. You may by a cheap mouse with a brand you trust only to find out they sold the right to brand that product.

tsl

My Trek 1000 dates from model year 2000. The brake calipers have no make or model designation on them at all. Not even in hidden places--I checked when I disassembled and rebuilt them. (The bike had been used exclusively on a trainer for a couple of years, and sweat had corroded them solid.)

Near as I can tell, they're identical to those on more recent 1000s, at least up through the 2006 model year.

In any event, while a bit mushy once past a light application, they work well enough.

BluesDawg

Let's stop trash talking Tektro. They do make some very low end and cheap parts, but they also make very good brakes that are inexpensive and a good value. I have Tektro brakes and levers on a couple of my bikes and they feel and perform very well.

There are many possible reasons for the brakes being stuck in the OP which could have nothing at all to do with the quality of the components. Just because the brakes have no name doesn't mean they are no good. I know several people riding Trek 1000's who have had no brake problems other than the pads.
For a few years recently, many new bikes from Specialized, Trek and probably others came with brake pads which were awful. They would scrape metal from the rims and become very mushy as the metal built up on the pad. The local LBS started making a swap to Kool Stop pads a standard procedure on new bikes. Neither manufacturer would acknowledge they had a problem despite many complaints.

z415

I wasn't implying it was bad or that it was rare - I have that Trek 1000 frame . I was under the impression (wrongly) that the OP disliked products from over there. AFAIK only nicer OCLVs and the nice FS (Evo?) stuff are made in Wisconsin these days, but that might have changed since I read about it.

And as for these "knock-off" brakes on the Trek, they work just as well as last generations Shimano 105s (9s, when they had the whole group in black) when using identical pads. Just a little heavier and that little flip so you can pull out your tires seems a little clunkier. Oh, and no stock brake pad holder.

BluesDawg

Is he a maintenance kind of guy?

cyclinfool

Nope - he will take it to the shop.