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Chinese Carbon 29er

4M views 10K replies 1K participants last post by  frank6262 
#1 ·
So a few months ago on here I saw some threads about people looking for a chinese carbon 29er. I got interested in them and starting looking and I've finally found one.

http://loiceyu.en.made-in-china.com/product/DqBQEJxuvbVM/China-29er-Mountain-Frame-MTB753-.html

The actual site is:

http://www.gotobike.com.cn/

I sent them an email asking about larger sizes and got a response pretty quickly from the actual company (They make tons of different things including road frames, wheelsets, water bottle cages, forks, etc.)

I was told that the bike will be made in 16, 17.5, and 20 inches. I was also told the 16 and 20 inch frames wont be available until the end of the year. I was given a price sheet which includes everything they make, a picture showing the geometry for the 17.5 frame, and a picture of the actual frame which are below.

500 bucks per frame plus 100 for shipping.

I think I'm going to go for this when the 20 inch frame comes out.
 

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#128 ·
Dictatorsaurus said:
Considering the high failure rate of Fisher frames, if you value your teeth, I wouldn't ride a Trek either...
Crock statement. Most cracks that I have seen reported were cracks at the TT/ST junction, a few on the chainstays/swingarms. Nothing in the HT area that I have seen. Nothing "catastrophic" where teeth were in peril either, though there may have been a few.
G
 
#129 ·
G-Live said:
Crock statement. Most cracks that I have seen reported were cracks at the TT/ST junction, a few on the chainstays/swingarms. Nothing in the HT area that I have seen. Nothing "catastrophic" where teeth were in peril either, though there may have been a few.
G
The point was there is no statistical data that proves the ebay carbon frames are better or worse than brand names.

I just dropped $3500 on a Giant but would also consider a carbon 29er from ebay.
 
#130 ·
Dictatorsaurus said:
Considering the high failure rate of Fisher frames, if you value your teeth, I wouldn't ride a Trek either...
+1, based only on friends i know who have treks, they have 100% failure rate. everyone i know who ownes a trek is on their 2nd or 3rd trek, some their 4th. and i dont know anyone who has broken a frame that is not a trek.

ill say this though, with the trek your pretty much garunteed a new frame when you break your trek. ;)
 
#131 ·
G-Live said:
Crock statement. Most cracks that I have seen reported were cracks at the TT/ST junction, a few on the chainstays/swingarms. Nothing in the HT area that I have seen. Nothing "catastrophic" where teeth were in peril either, though there may have been a few.
G
Years ago I had a pre-wallyworld Mongoose carbon fiber bike and that sucker snapped right in half about 2 " behind the HT on the TT and DT... only thing holding the front end to the bike were the cables
 
#132 ·
2 year warranty, it will probably cost more in shipping to send it back then it will be worth ;)

As everyone is speculating I'm assuming these frames are made in the same factory as one of the bigger name brands. The Chinese pull this card all the time from Apple products to high-end purses.

Personally i dont need another frame right now but I look forward to hearing feedback from someone that finally pulls the trigger on one. If consumers dont care about the sticker brand on their bike this could be a huge alternative for 29er fans!
 
#134 ·
nick d said:
+1, based only on friends i know who have treks, they have 100% failure rate. everyone i know who ownes a trek is on their 2nd or 3rd trek, some their 4th. and i dont know anyone who has broken a frame that is not a trek.

ill say this though, with the trek your pretty much garunteed a new frame when you break your trek. ;)
That's funny. I don't know about the more recent offerings from Trek, but back in the mid to late '90's their carbon held up great. I beat on a Y-bike for about four years and it never broke. Ironically, I broke the next three aluminum bikes I owned (Jamis, Tomac, Cannondale), and none of them saw a quarter of the seat time and abuse that old Y bike did. The suspension design sucked, but the frame itself held up fine.
 
#136 ·
ChipV said:
That's funny. I don't know about the more recent offerings from Trek, but back in the mid to late '90's their carbon held up great. I beat on a Y-bike for about four years and it never broke. Ironically, I broke the next three aluminum bikes I owned (Jamis, Tomac, Cannondale), and none of them saw a quarter of the seat time and abuse that old Y bike did. The suspension design sucked, but the frame itself held up fine.
18 years on my Trek 8300
still going....
 
#137 ·
pimpbot said:
Yeah, I'm thinking that for under $500, I'll roll the dice on that one. I'm sure they are plenty durable. They're probably not terribly refined in the ride quality department, or the lightest thing out there.
Agreed (assumptively), but you see, that's where I get "irked". If i'm buying a carbon frame then i'm expecting "carbon attributes". If it's carbon that's gonna ride like steel then, imho, it's not worth the time/money. That's a point of vanity I can't subscribe to.

Want? Yes!
Need? No!
More info? Must have! :)
 
#140 ·
well, true

AndrewTO said:
Agreed (assumptively), but you see, that's where I get "irked". If i'm buying a carbon frame then i'm expecting "carbon attributes". If it's carbon that's gonna ride like steel then, imho, it's not worth the time/money. That's a point of vanity I can't subscribe to.

Want? Yes!
Need? No!
More info? Must have! :)
but I can tell you, if the frame is 2.7 pounds, it won't ride like steel. If anything, it will ride like a low rent alu frame. Zero compliance... Hard like an aluminum baseball bat. For my purposes, that is okay. I'm really looking for a weight weenie racerboy bike to fill out my stable. I'm looking for a gofast hammertime bike without much regard to all day comfort. I'm looking for a bike that will get me up the long 4 mile Skyline climb out of Sea Otter as fast as possible.

Bonus points for having some vibration damping like a good carbon frame and not being too noodely.
 
#141 ·
Broseph said:
If it is a matter of putting down an extra $300 or $400 for a full warranty, then the Chinese deal just seems less worth the risk.
I think you should report to the DH/FR forum and take a look at how Specialized is treating a friend of mine on a broken SX trail. He was denied a warranty because his bike left the ground. An AM/FR frame that wasn't warrantied because it was used the way it was meant to be used :rolleyes:

So perhaps you'll forgive me if I simply don't put a lot of faith in some of these manufacturers and their warranties. At least if you break a Chinese carbon frame and they don't warranty it you aren't out several grand to replace it.
 
#143 · (Edited)
Jim311 said:
I think you should report to the DH/FR forum and take a look at how Specialized is treating a friend of mine on a broken SX trail. He was denied a warranty because his bike left the ground. An AM/FR frame that wasn't warrantied because it was used the way it was meant to be used :rolleyes:

So perhaps you'll forgive me if I simply don't put a lot of faith in some of these manufacturers and their warranties. At least if you break a Chinese carbon frame and they don't warranty it you aren't out several grand to replace it.
First of all, I'm NOT buying a Specialized(not that I have anything against the Big S, other than their prices). And to use one isolated case to make a broad generalization about mainstream bicycle company's warranty policies is a little silly. :rolleyes:

Second, I even posted the information that Hong Fu DOES offer a warranty. I have no reason to say that Hong Fu would not make good on on a warranty claim, but compared to a major brand with a large distribution network in the states, I'm willing to bet the big brand will be a smoother process most of the time.
 
#144 ·
dwt said:
You have to contact the manufacturer and deal direct.

With one click, you pay for the item and shipping to your house. Your payment is held by alibaba in escrow until you receive the item. When it arrives, if it's what you ordered and in good shape, you authorize alibaba to release the escrow. If there is a problem, alibaba has procedures to address that.
Have you (or anyone else here) dealt direct with a manufacturer or supplier without using an escrow payment service? Some of the suppliers on alibaba.com offer other manufacturers bikes are an pretty attractive (fell off the truck/boat?) price. I found something I'd like to purchase but the supplier wants me to pay them directly (in Hong Kong) via Western Union (first alarm bell) and say they can't do escrow through alibaba (second alarm bell). I sent alibaba a question regarding the company but it's feels sketchy. Any input? This is completely new to me.
 
#147 ·
Maxwe11 said:
Yeah, sounds like a scam, and probably is.
Yeah, I was just trying to find the "too good to be true" line and this is probably over it. I did contact alibaba and asked them both about the company and their reluctance to do escrow. I'll see what they have to say about it too.
 
#148 ·
Paypal or some other escrow only. If they're legit they'll do it that way. I'd only use Western Union if I was sending a relative money. It's one step away from mailing cash in an envelope.

When I bought my chinese frame I used Paypal, and it was only because tons of others have bought from the same place with great results.

My Chinese road frame is pretty damn nice I have to say.

-Steve in NJ
 
#150 ·
Whippany, near Morristown.

Best link I can find from the mfr site is http://dengfu.en.alibaba.com/produc.../FM015_carbon_road_frame_and_carbon_fork.html

I got an FM015 frame & Fork, regular seatpost style, headset, 3 derailleur hangers for $420 or so shipped from China.

*Tons* of info and pictures from other people on roadbikereview.com. I dealt with "Mina" from Deng-Fu. Pretty easy to deal with, even with her semi-broken english. Didn't jerk me around, the only issue I had is I'm pretty sure she did her math wrong and charged me ~$100 too little. Everything came nice, packaged nice, etc.

If anyone in NJ wants to see the frame, I don't mind showing it off.

When you deal with these companies you basically ask what you need and they'll give you a price. They typically have a 800 frame a week minimum order restriction or something crazy like that. They have no issue selling just a frame. :) Shipping is usually expensive so tack on all the extras while you're purchasing. Extras are dirt cheap. I think my derailleur hangers were $2 a piece. Headset was $10.

I don't know how these carbon frames work but I highly suggest buying the headset. I used mine but it's extremely helpful in figuring out which one to buy. The road frames use the campagnolo standard, which is a bit weird. If you spend the $10 you can then match up whatever fancy one you want to use to it, much easier than figuring out looking at the frame.

-Steve in NJ
 
#152 ·
Precab said:
My GOTO China 29er arrived this week. Looks in perfect order as I too have ridden a 26" carbon from China without issues. I could buy 3 from China for the savings. Dam holiday travel this week will postpone my build. Was $550 to the door delivered.
looking forward to the build and initial ride. I'm curious to see how this holds up for you
 
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