buying fake Thomson, FSA and other bits from Ebay ??

[magicmistertea]

Okay I am after a seatpost and stem for my bike, The thing is I dont really want to spend the money getting brand new kit

Anyway I recently bid on a carbon FSA seatpost on Ebay, After placing my bid I started reading about fake FSA kit. I emailed FSA with a link to the auction and they confirmed it was fake !! :cry: hence I have not paid the seller ( I won the auction) .

So now im starting to wonder how many fake Thomson, FSA, hope, syncros etc seatposts, stems and bars there are on Ebay ??

How do I know what to bid on and what to avoid ? Some of these fakes seem quite good especially when you only have a few photos to look at.

 

[fettler]

Re:

FSA (amongst others) relies heavily on sub contract manufacture. These "subbies" must stick to FSA's or whoever's tolerances & specifications or have their parts rejected & sent back. Guess what happens to all the stuff from these manufacturers when they get it wrong & the manufacturer rejects it? They don't want to bin it so give it to their brother/uncle/friend who has a warehouse down the road who sells it on ebay.
I have a "non official" OS99 carbon wrap FSA stem from ebay on my road bike. It`s perfectly manufactured and weighs only a paltry few grams more than it should. (Because the titanium bolts have been replaced with steel ones.) Only fault was a tiny paint run on the inside of the bar clamp, only minor but maybe enough to deform the lightest of bars so not FSA acceptable. Mechanised production & spraying usually means it's not one item they get wrong it's the whole batch.
20 seconds with some 240 grit paper & it was fine. I fully believe it is from a genuine FSA manufacturer. It cost me £17 posted instead of £100+ as it should have done.
However, a friend of mine bought a Ritchey bar, stem & seat post set from HK via ebay & this was obviously counterfeit. Big wall thickness, poor paint & bad decals.
So beware!
People pay loads of money for second hand gear & you never know if it's been looked after or crashed on a regular basis.
Do you gamble regularly?

 

[Itsallablur]

There was a program on BBC1, well a couple on FSA fakes.

The chap from FSA stated that now there are bar codes and qr codes found on their kit just like on my k force crank arms.

The only way you are going to buy real FSA items is by purchasing from an FSA retailer or by buying 2nd hand with receipt if still kept.

Why wouldn't you trust sellers on 2nd hand kit, I mean would you reject my set of k force crankset purchased by a retailer in original box which is a piece of work in itself just because it was 2nd hand.

I think paranoi aside a minute hear, there's always going to be a slight risk buying from ebay but less than you might believe.

right then folks, who's for another go at the crack pipe...

I would if I were you go straight to the cheapest place for a Thomson post as can be had for £35 sometimes new, yes NEW. Even though they're £75 rrp.

now go buy with confidence having had a slap.

 

[magicmistertea]

There was a program on BBC1, well a couple on FSA fakes.

The chap from FSA stated that now there are bar codes and qr codes found on their kit just like on my k force crank arms.

The only way you are going to buy real FSA items is by purchasing from an FSA retailer or by buying 2nd hand with receipt if still kept.

Why wouldn't you trust sellers on 2nd hand kit, I mean would you reject my set of k force crankset purchased by a retailer in original box which is a piece of work in itself just because it was 2nd hand.

I think paranoi aside a minute hear, there's always going to be a slight risk buying from ebay but less than you might believe.


right then folks, who's for another go at the crack pipe...

I would if I were you go straight to the cheapest place for a Thomson post as can be had for £35 sometimes new, yes NEW. Even though they're £75 rrp.

now go buy with confidence having had a slap.

Na I dont mind buying second hand ( Im on Retrobike !!) Good condition 2nd hand kit is fine with me, I just dont want to buy a seatpost that literally ends up in my ass after a slight crash

 

[Itsallablur]

I very much doubt you'll find fakes readily for sale 2nd hand.

although your chance encounter with a fake on ebay was in the minority of chancer sellers from overseas no doubt.
Worrying but not to the point of excess imho.

anyway, I hope you find exactly what you're after at a sensible price new.