My Chinese Carbon Frame/Wheels/Handlebar Experience and Review (Chinarello F8)

The thing with Aliexpress is that it's essentially a forum of millions of different sellers, of which at any point and time a seller could shut down their "store" if any trouble/low-star reviews pop up and reopen under a different seller name.

With sellers such as Dengfu, Hongfu, and Miracle Bike, there have been long term reviews all over the internet and their brand, company, and factory have to maintain a good reputation with the public because they cannot just simply close down their company and create a new company. It would take a lot of time. Their name and reputation has been out there for a long time. These companies take the time to improve and develop new and different frames as well.

Also, if you've been to China and seen the cycling scene there, many people end up riding Carbon Fiber bikes that are branded by, for example, Hongfu's "Avenger" brand. These companies design molds are based on open molds and successful western company designs.

From what I've learned, there are two separate groups of buyers when it comes to Chinese Carbon Frames.

The first group are people that prioritize having the aesthetics of big company expensive frames(I assume most reasons is that it looks nice and can show off to people) but not having to spend the full amount of money on a real frame and go to Ebay-similar websites such as Aliexpress and Alibaba and find sellers that are willing to counterfeit similar designs.

The second group are people that prioritize the feel, quality, and reliability of a Chinese branded frame. This group would rather dismiss the counterfeit aesthetics in order to get a frame from a reputable company because of say, safety or racing. For example, the Dengfu FM098 is known to look similar to the Specialized Venge or the FM066SL is similar to a Cervelo R5. The FM098 is NOT a Venge, it is an Aerodynamic frame designed by the Chinese company, which possibly, they could've designed it based off the Venge, but it is NOT the same. Same with the FM066SL, it is a Chinese designed "super lightweight frame," NOT a Cervelo R5. These companies want to establish a large enough connection with the cycling consumer community to eventually develop their own brand. For example, after years of selling plain and simple designed frames, Hongfu had finally developed their own line of frames named "Avenger."

At the end of the day, it is your own personal decision and life for whoever you want to buy from and for what reason.

Personal experience: I know at some point, I've looked and wanted to buy a counterfeit frame from Aliexpress for the "cool" factor but stayed away after doing some deep, deep research. With the research that I had done, I had decided to go with a more reputable Chinese company for a Carbon Frame for the purpose of racing next season.

/r/bicycling Thread