natbla

I know you get what you pay for. However, I can only afford to look at these open source knock off frames at this time. So, I like the look of this frame, but was wondering if anyone state-side has experiences with purchasing and using this frame:



from this buyer on ebay: 88bikefun

Here is the current listing :

https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=320359791960


I understand all the Buyer beware stuff and the whole buy rom your LBS. SO no lectures please. I am interested in info on this or other similar sellers that people have used for these types of frames.

timmyquest

It's kinda ugly

kayakdiver

Kinda?

Steve_Reno

Don't do it, would you ride or race a no name, open source car? If you can only afford no name carbon you cannot afford carbon period cause what if something breaks/cracks.

Oh sorry you said no lectures.

Cue

The fork is fugly.

Why not this one?



https://cgi.ebay.com/Brand-New-Full-C...QQcmdZViewItem

Sawtooth

There was a huge thread on these frames on Fairwheel bikes forums. Almost all of the guys (5 or 6 total, I think) there who had bought them loved them and built them up with VERY NICE build kits. The consensus was that they are almost certainly back door factory jobs using the factory molds out of the same factories that also produce the proprietary molds for the name brands and that you probably won't go wrong in terms of quality. There were a couple of issues reported with getting the right headsets but that seemed to go away over the life of the thread.

I looked for the thread but can't find it. Sorry.

It is very similar to the CF 78 sold on bike island for $500. My neighbor bought that one and said he liked it better than his cervelo soloist. He said he absolutely loved that frame. That said, he owned it about 2 years and then bought a new specailized S2.

If it were my $300-$500, I would probably go with the Bike Island (BD) model. https://bikeisland.com/cgi-bin/BKTK_S...ils&ProdID=777 At least that one has some sort of known vendor attached to it through which you may be more likely to get any issues resolved. I don't think some ebay shop operating out of China is going to bend over backwards to make you happy in the event of a problem. In fact, the reports on the thread noted above indicated horrible english comprehension skills, let alone quality customer service. That is not to say that BD is known for it's service level, but at least you have a known retailer there. (who posts (or used to post) here, btw)

Steve_Reno

See this https://bicycledesign.blogspot.com/20...your-fork.html

Scary

Sawtooth

This comment is kind of like all those amazing comments made by the anti BD guys who have never owned one or never even talked to someone who did own one. While one can certainly use logic to reason wether or not it is likely to be a good idea, unless you have heard from someone who owned or rode one, you simply don't know.

Sawtooth

Interesting; and probably legit in some cases. But I would trust it a lot more if it did not come from a competitor with a known interest in protecting the existing lbs brick and mortar distribution system. The blog makes it sound as if this is probably the norm. And I doubt that.

jeffswood

I put "no-name" food in my body, and my grama useing "generic" drugs. Just becuase something doesn't have a brand name, it does not make it crap.

timmyquest

Generic drugs don't count. Generic food doesn't taste as good.

try again.

intence

In this case it's hard to know where the eBay frames are from, they could be first quality from one of the big factories, they could be something else.

I would feel safer with the bikeisland frame or wait for a PedalForce group buy.

Would I buy generic drugs from my local pharmacy ... sure. Same goes with generic food from my local store. Would I buy generic drugs from some no-name seller on eBay? I'm sure you get the idea. I'd rather get a cheap carbon bike from Performance, even BD/Bike Island as they're all relatively reputable.

Sawtooth

Actually, having served most of my career in the healthcare industry, I remember very similar debates about the supposed lower quality of generic drugs. Some people still buy into that but most have realized that medications (other than the super distinct name brand offerings) are really a commodity.

So, bikes can be a commodity as well. But the question is....are they commodities to a given rider? For me, that answer is "no". So, I am saving up for my dream frame.

Sawtooth

Excellent post.

timmyquest

There are no laws that govern the way a bike frame is constructed like there are generic drugs.

Generic drugs are identical to name brand drugs. The same isn't true for manufactured goods.

Sawtooth

Your point is well noted. I will concede that the risk of getting a product that is outside of the original manufacturer's quality specs is almost certainly higher with generic frames.

jrobe

There is a guy selling Viagra on Ebay too but I am not buying it.

natbla

I like them both but picked the one I posted because of the distinctive fork. But I like the frame lines on te one you show a little better. Either one will do design wise.

hansel

so whats the news? are you getting one, in very interested myself, and joined the form just for this reason. ive done my research, and found that the frames from Hong Kong are straight OEM. i talked to a rep of one of the manufactures, and they said they have had no problems with degradation, bad frames and such. the eBayer is just a middle man. the frames are made with 12k carbon (12,000 threads in a weave) ive also seen ones with 3k carbon seat posts and such (3k is 3,000 threads in a weave). ive always wanted to talk to people that own one of these frames, because unless you have it you don't know it. i agree with going with a company where you can be sure where your getting it, i also talked to the hong Kong rep about a warranty. they said that they offer a 2yr warranty on frames, posts and so on. Maybe if the frame is crap after i heal from my horrific flesh wounds i would want my money back =) let me know, very interested in the frames.

what really is a "brand" every bike is nameless, i just found a Moser track bike frame in my garage, not a scratch on it. and the moser name is just a sticker, that was probably outsourced to Hong Kong, or another Asian country same with almost all other companies. that's when OEM comes into play. its not a bad product its just made in another country. not all this "go USA cannondale, trek stuff" i have a trek fast track that was outsourced to china. dose that make it a bad frame?

max power

did anyone else find it odd that trek was tearing down and analyzing competitors frames? so much for being an innovative bike company =/

max power

generic food still has all of the same nutritional value. just like a generic drug has the same API as the original.


likewise this frame comes from the same mold and has a similar carbon layout to it. might not ride as good as the original but it's not going to fall apart just because theres chinese newspaper inside

VA_Esquire

I love on alot of generic medicine it says on the back the company the medicine was made from.....

Jynx

if you are broke get a leader aluminum frame. Dirt cheap (<$200) and way more reliable.

Gambutrol

I love that fork.

parabrand

The second statement is completely false. The bioequivalence of a generic drug is only required to be at least 80% as effective as the "original." C.f., Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations 28th Edition. U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. https://www.fda.gov/cder/ob/docs/preface/ecpreface.htm.