Counterfeit / Knock-Off / Fake bike parts?

Has anyone come across any knock off mountain bike parts online? I'm was shopping on ebay for some cheap MTB parts then I thought about how many knock-off car parts that are on there.

I'm currently building a brand new hardtail from the ground up and am worried about getting knock off parts that will break easily. Anyone have experience with purchasing MTB parts on eBay? How to tell fake from real?

eBay isn't my only source too, I love The Path take off wall! But some of the deals on eBay are just too damn good!

:-k

 

I've come across them. They're usually labeled "Forte".

Seriously though, if you can, avoid online unless you've had past experience with it. If you have to buy online, do it from an established and reputable company. Jenson, Performance, and pricepoint are a few places that you can count on.


I browse ebay for parts from time to time, but ultimately, I go with either my LBS or a trusted online source like the ones I previously mentioned. IMO EBay, like craigslist, is just too much of a risk sometimes.

Hope this helps. :wave:

 

forte knock offs pretty much suck... except for the pedals, they're actually decent.

Beware of counterfeit cane creek headsets!

 

Fake cane creek and chris king headsets were being sold on ebay not too long ago

 

There's a thread on mtbr about imitation Ritchey carbon bars being sold on ebay.
DavidB, do you have any info about the headsets? I just bought a cane creek off of ebay...

 

lol my friend's forte flat pedal broke on him while climbing the 3Bs. this was 2 weeks ago

i bought a cane creek standard headset from price point, so i should be good.

i'm current shopping for drivetrain, brake, cockpit stuff right now. i imagine the 'easy/simple' parts are copied more than the mechanical parts. anyone seen fake XX, X0, XTR, Saint stuff? Casettes, Crankarms, chainrings?

thanks for chiming in fellas!:drunk:

 

I built my whole bike off ebay. My whole XT drivetrain was from taiwan. Quality is fine. I don't think they are knock offs and the pricing was comparable to sites like blueskycycling.com and jensonusa.com. I only went through ebay because bing had cash back. I got a good chunk of change back for my bike.

 

huh... i ran those forte pedals for a while... no issues

 

i have a forte q/r seat collar that works fine.

 

FYI ... fORTE IS PREFORMANCE IN HOUSE BRAND. LIKE BONTRAGER IS TO TREK

 

Forte ouncer last night worked perfectly :beer:

 

If the eBay seller has a history of “Very” positive feedback you should be safe.

 

Consider the source...all of these pieces are made in Taiwan (90+%) and are available to be redistrubuted by the exact same manufacturer with no labels, or someone elses label. It's the way of the bike industry...knock off's are enevitible and not necessarily worse made...a lot of time made in the same plant! (which royally sucks for the original designer I might add)

re: relabeling unofficial parts with company names...thats just no bueno.

 

Anyone have experiences with knock off 'unofficial' parts? How is the quality compared to original?

In the automotive world, there are tons of knock offs. There is a manufacture company in china called moonface that produces coilovers for pretty cheap. A lot of companies here in the United States buy these coilovers in huge quantities and just slap their own company sticker on them. Do they work? Of course! But, shock dyno charts are unavailable. Dampening is usually horrible. And support is nonexistent.

Reading feedback on eBay does help, but I still don't want to end up with an inferior product.. So anyone have experiences with these knock off bike parts? Like derailleurs, shifters, cranks, etc etc? Quality? Durability?

What eBay sellers have you bought from? Were they usually from Taiwan/China?

 

Hey, I've been called a knock off, now I know what that means..

 

Maybe she told you to "knock it off," not a "knock off"

 

Too funny CableGuy....