Fake chains off eBay

[Russ34]

Hi again , just an update , I took my bike to a bike shop after finally giving up on it , I had the gears tuned etc after snapping the first chain and fitting a second , all was fine until the first few miles then it started jumping again , after close inspection I realised the links were getting tight , not good on a brand new chain ! I looked at the writing and instead of saying narrow it said ‘marrow’ I googled this and apparently there are fake chains about ! Just letting people know !

 

[Andy-Mat]

Hi again , just an update , I took my bike to a bike shop after finally giving up on it , I had the gears tuned etc after snapping the first chain and fitting a second , all was fine until the first few miles then it started jumping again , after close inspection I realised the links were getting tight , not good on a brand new chain ! I looked at the writing and instead of saying narrow it said ‘marrow’ I googled this and apparently there are fake chains about ! Just letting people know !

WOW! Thanks for the update.
I was one of the many who never even dreamed that such a problem could even happen.
If you bought the chain on ebay, you may have a case for ebay to refund your money.....
Just a thought!
Regards
Andy

 

[slowcoach]

Just wondering. Did the bike shop supply the chain or was it one you had bought elsewhere and fitted yourself.

I would have thought maybe a good cycle mechanic at the shop would have spotted the issue if it was a chain you had supplied.

 

[Russ34]

WOW! Thanks for the update.
I was one of the many who never even dreamed that such a problem could even happen.
If you bought the chain on ebay, you may have a case for ebay to refund your money.....
Just a thought!
Regards
Andy

I did get a full refund on both chains !

 

[Russ34]

Just wondering. Did the bike shop supply the chain or was it one you had bought elsewhere and fitted yourself.

I would have thought maybe a good cycle mechanic at the shop would have spotted the issue if it was a chain you had supplied.

I fitted and supplied the chain myself but to be fair it only gave way under strain so testing it on a bike stand wasn’t sufficient!

 

[guerney]

I fitted and supplied the chain myself but to be fair it only gave way under strain so testing it on a bike stand wasn’t sufficient!

Did your chain arrive in counterfeit retail packaging? I've always been suspicious of bike chains I've bought on ebay, which arrived with no packaging. But packaging is easy to copy too.

 

[Russ34]

Did your chain arrive in counterfeit retail packaging? I've always been suspicious of bike chains I've bought on ebay, which arrived with no packaging. But packaging is easy to copy too.

They did come in what seemed to be genuine packaging but just a bit more tatty , the genuine one was definitely heavier too !

 

[Ocsid]

Had a "warning" really been there in the asking price?

 

[Russ34]

Had a "warning" really been there in the asking price?

£6.50 a chain , I haven’t bought many 7 speed chains but having just paid £13 I realised that I shouldn’t be so tight in the future! Lol

 

[Andy-Mat]

I did get a full refund on both chains !

Well done.
I myself have only bought 1 chain in the last 25 years or so, (some 7 or 8 years ago), it was fine and still in use when I gave the bike away.
I will have to be more careful when I buy the next time....
I usually buy products on ebay that are "in" Germany, with a rapid delivery, only very seldom from outside the EU, for that reason alone....
Maybe, it helps with the quality possibly....just guessing of course.
regards
Andy

 

[Bonzo Banana]

I think some of the lower end Shimano chains are made for them by KMC so you are paying a premium to get the Shimano brand on the chain. Saying that I think I've heard of fake KMC chains too but it might help stretch your budget if you buy from the factory brand itself rather than the rebranded product however as you move up the range I believe Shimano do manufacture the chains in their own factories. I think SRAM use KMC too so if you see made in China on an SRAM chain its probably KMC but higher up they use their own better quality factory in Portugal I think which they got when they bough Sachs.

I bought an ebike kit from Amazon and the freewheel supplied was a a Shimeng which with the cog teeth obscuring part of the branding looks exactly like Shimano.

If you have a mid-drive ebike it pays to get the very best chain you can afford but with hub motors often you can get away with any old rubbish chain really as the chain gets a much easier life than even a standard bike. A lot of the very cheapest hub based ebikes come with really crappy components including chains from brands I've never heard of. However the very worst chains will always be the fake branded chains.

 

[Fordulike]

If you have a mid-drive ebike it pays to get the very best chain you can afford but with hub motors often you can get away with any old rubbish chain really as the chain gets a much easier life than even a standard bike.

Totally agree with you there Bonzo Banana.

The BBS02 and BBSHD drives punish the drivetrain, due to the massive amounts of torque they transmit, so a strong chain is paramount.

Less chain wear over time preserves the chainring and cassette for longer too.

I swear by KMC chains and use their e-bike specific chain, which I have found to be incredibly strong and durable.

Expensive, but I reckon cost effective, due to the points above.

 

[lightning]

I've seen whole fake bikes on Ebay, one in particular is the "Cube" branded Ebike at around £1,000
Looking closely it's clearly nothing that's ever come out of the Cube brand.
Maybe the factory that makes the genuine bikes is tossing fake bikes out of the back door when Cube aren't looking.

 

[Bonzo Banana]

I've seen whole fake bikes on Ebay, one in particular is the "Cube" branded Ebike at around £1,000
Looking closely it's clearly nothing that's ever come out of the Cube brand.
Maybe the factory that makes the genuine bikes is tossing fake bikes out of the back door when Cube aren't looking.

Cube do use some pretty low end factories and have shorter frame warranties and lower weight limits. If you see here you can see Cube are using Bangladesh to manufacture bikes for them and those factories are fairly low end. I think Halford's Apollo range has used Meghna group bikes. I wonder if there are lower end Cube models sold on the Bangladesh market that aren't meant to be imported into Europe. If so Cube would have trouble stopping it as the bikes are genuine just not meant to be officially sold here but they couldn't really do anything here they would have to find the distributor in Bangladesh or another country that are exporting the bikes and try to stop supplying them those bikes.

Germany's Cube teams up with Meghna to make high-end bicycles

Cube, the biggest bicycle manufacturer in Europe, has teamed up with Meghna Group to produce high-quality cycles in Bangladesh.

www.thedailystar.net

 

[GLJoe]

I've seen whole fake bikes on Ebay, one in particular is the "Cube" branded Ebike at around £1,000
Looking closely it's clearly nothing that's ever come out of the Cube brand.
Maybe the factory that makes the genuine bikes is tossing fake bikes out of the back door when Cube aren't looking.

Link ??