Buying Custom TT Carbon Frame from China/Taiwan - Thoughts?

[Luke1991]

Hi guys,

I have had this crazy idea for a while of building my own commuter bike using a TT carbon frame and TT handle bars. I plan to get each piece bit by bit and stick it together. Mostly to look bad-ass but also learn more about bikes.I also thought I would create my own little label, Ova Kill (see the link? ), to make it evident how silly the idea really is. I eventually plan to do an Iron man so I figured I can disassemble when the time comes and build it into a proper TT bike.

I was planning to start with the Frameset and have seen a lot online from China and Taiwan. I hear nowadays most major brands get them manufactured but I wasn't so sure on the no name brands. My first worry is security. Will money be sent and no frame is sent in return? Secondly, safety. How do you know just how tough the frames are? Could you be racing down a hill and the thing just disintegrates under you? Warranty, customer service (wishful thinking right), sizing is correct...the list goes on.

What do you guys think? Has anyone had experience buying frames from China/Taiwan? Are there safe and not so safe custom manufactures?

I would appreciate the help.

Cheers,
Luke

 

[PhantomVirus]

I heard that the Zhongwei R-002 frame is supposed to be extremely good. Bing/Google it VeloBuild is a good site for reviews and information. I have never gone down this road so I don't have any firsthand experience. Please post your results and progress! Good luck. Ron

 

[Mr645]

I would not really worry about hitting a big bump and the frame blows apart. The 2 main issues with the typical Chinese frames are first, you really don;t know how well it's built. Perhaps in a wreck something breaks and your frame cannot be repaired. Most of the time these frames are coming from the same factories that build name brand, top quality frames, but they are likely to skip some of the more expensive techniques and materials used by top brands to create the frames so many people enjoy. Sometimes a small, critically placed strip of carbon fiber can make a frame act just like the designer wanted it to, but that bit may be difficult to make, time consuming, or perhaps due to critical placement of several pieces, only 80% of the frames built pass inspection. A generic chinese version may skip these pieces all together.

Second if support. IF there is a problem, something does not line up, something is not threaded properly, etc. What do you do?

 

[leroy1010]

Quote: Originally Posted by Luke1991 .
Hi guys,

I have had this crazy idea for a while of building my own commuter bike using a TT carbon frame and TT handle bars. I plan to get each piece bit by bit and stick it together. Mostly to look bad-ass but also learn more about bikes.I also thought I would create my own little label, Ova Kill (see the link? ), to make it evident how silly the idea really is. I eventually plan to do an Iron man so I figured I can disassemble when the time comes and build it into a proper TT bike.

I was planning to start with the Frameset and have seen a lot online from China and Taiwan. I hear nowadays most major brands get them manufactured but I wasn't so sure on the no name brands. My first worry is security. Will money be sent and no frame is sent in return? Secondly, safety. How do you know just how tough the frames are? Could you be racing down a hill and the thing just disintegrates under you? Warranty, customer service (wishful thinking right), sizing is correct...the list goes on.

What do you guys think? Has anyone had experience buying frames from China/Taiwan? Are there safe and not so safe custom manufactures?

I would appreciate the help.

Cheers,
Luke


Hi
There maybe some events that money has be sent and no product is sent in return,this is the issue of integrity.
These events seriously affected China's reputation,China also attach importance to this issue.
Also perfect protection funds,Such paypal you can apply for a refund if do not receive the product.

 

[alienator]

Hi There maybe some events that money has be sent and no product is sent in return,this is the issue of integrity. These events seriously affected China's reputation,China also attach importance to this issue. Also perfect protection funds,Such paypal you can apply for a refund if do not receive the product.

Paypal doesn't guarantee a refund, and just writing about integrity doesn't mean anything. It's easy to claim to have integrity. China will continue to have an integrity problem when it comes to manufacturing given how little China does to prevent the production of fraudulent products (bikes, electronics equipment....). Just look at all the fake bike frames, bike parts, and bike clothing that comes out of China.

 

[Elder44]

Integrity issue, This was actually happened with me as well.. but I don't know about the reason of issue.

 

[go4sporting]

I think you can see go4sporting,you can get same advice

 

[alienator]

I think you can see go4sporting,you can get same advice

That's not a good idea. go4sporting is just a spammer, so its unlikely they're trustworthy. Plus, they have hiking/rock climbing pictures on they're site but sell bike kit, not hiking our rock climbing kit. So, the people at go4sporting aren't very smart, either.

 

[go4sporting]

I don't understand what you said, climbing pictures aren't sporting???go4spoting main bicycle and outdoor sport,they are think our life in sports.^^^

 

[go4sporting]

and you see climbing pictures don't saw bicycle ,I think have one's view of the important overshadowed by the trivial

 

[steve]

Originally Posted by go4sporting
and you see climbing pictures don't saw bicycle ,I think have one's view of the important overshadowed by the trivial

You might do well not to get yourself into an argument with Alienator, there are only 3 people in the world who can beat him.

 

[alienator]

I don't understand what you said,[COLOR=181818] climbing pictures aren't sporting???go4spoting main bicycle and outdoor sport,they are think our life in sports.^^^[/COLOR]

So where in your site are all your rock climbing and hiking gear? The better question is why behave like a scumbag and spam forums instead of buying advertising like respectable, trustworthy businesses do? Why should anyone give a company with such slimy business practices their money?

 

[oldbobcat]

Originally Posted by Luke1991
Hi guys,

I have had this crazy idea for a while of building my own commuter bike using a TT carbon frame and TT handle bars. I plan to get each piece bit by bit and stick it together. Mostly to look bad-ass but also learn more about bikes.I also thought I would create my own little label, Ova Kill (see the link? ), to make it evident how silly the idea really is. I eventually plan to do an Iron man so I figured I can disassemble when the time comes and build it into a proper TT bike.

I just want to know where you got the idea that a time trial frame would be a good basis for a commuter bike.

The iron men (and women) I know get started with a standard road bike because they know it will work in all training (and commuting) conditions. The dedicated TT bike comes after they know they're serious.

 

[ambal]

If you really want to buy a frame direct from China, it's as simple as using a supplier who has a good reputation. I don't trust a lot of them, especially the ones who spam websites like this. If they're dodgy enough to spam forum websites, can you trust them to deliver?? I doubt it.