# Chinese eBay Carbon Handlebars



## piercebrew (Aug 6, 2004)

What are people's experience with eBay chinese Carbon Handlebars? 

Looking at 31 8 420mm Matt Black 3T Ergonova Team Carbon Fiber Road Bike Bend The Handle Xu | eBay

There seems to be a lot of different similar examples of the 3T Ergonova handlebars. I do see some very similar or Proyong which look the same. 

Proyong Full Carbon Drop Road Bike Bicycle Handlebar Superlight 31 8mm 40 42 44 | eBay

Thanks.


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## tvad (Aug 31, 2003)

It's unclear if these are knock-offs or the genuine article, but I suspect knock-offs, and therefore I wouldn't trust them enough to purchase.


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## austinjoe (Dec 19, 2014)

Always an interesting topic, and a sign of the manufacturing times. 

Im guessing (but its an educated one) ,both of these handlebars could have been made in the same factory, the difference may be quality control(?). Perhaps 3T has a specification where the finished carbon product must pass X,Y,Z criteria before leaving the Chinese factory to ensure its strength and robustness when its assembled and used by a customer ; when it fails X, Y or Z (or all) it gets placed in a bin , if enough of them fail someone else picks up the sweepings and places a sticker on it. Next it finds its way onto EBay.

Maybe there is nothing wrong with it and it lasts through Paris-Roubaix? Or maybe it will crack in half on the first pub crawl? I really want to believe all of the mid- to high end manufactures have a solid quality control in place that seperates the final product from a poorly manufactured one, hence the big price difference.


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## tvad (Aug 31, 2003)

austinjoe said:


> I really want to believe all of the mid- to high end manufactures have a solid quality control in place that seperates the final product from a poorly manufactured one, hence the big price difference.


That's the crux of the issue for me, and since there has been no irrefutable evidence presented that the knock-offs are the same quality, or that they're inferior quality, then I choose to eliminate the uncertainty and buy only the name brand components.


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## Notvintage (May 19, 2013)

piercebrew said:


> What are people's experience with eBay chinese Carbon Handlebars?


You're out of your tree if you buy crap like that off fleabay. Get the real atticle that has passed UNI 10518 safety standards testing (or equivalent).


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## ghettocop (Apr 19, 2014)

Stop posting counterfeit stuff. I don't think it's "unclear" as to whether that is genuine or not.


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## CrankyCarbon (Dec 17, 2014)

as mentioned, each copy could have varying degrees of durability and longevity.
I've seen some carbon bars just slide into 2 pieces. The epoxy gave out in combining multiple pieces of the bars to create one bar.

Of course, the only way to find out is to buy one and use it.
It may work fine for you, and may unravel for Joe blow Sprinter.
Depends upon your Adversion to Risk Taking.

And if there is a problem. Don't think they're gonna recall it.
Or help you if you crash because of it.


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## MMsRepBike (Apr 1, 2014)

3T uses carbon kevlar inside of the bars and reinforces them where areo clip-ons may be used. What are the chances that these people do either?

That's the core issue with things like this. This material only has strength in a single direction. There's a science that goes into making a very lightweight carbon product. The orientation (layup) is critical, so are the exact products used. When that is the situation, which it is, it becomes a matter of trust in the company. A matter of trusting that the engineering and testing they have done to make such a light and important component will ensure it's safety for you. Carbon bars are very expensive. I have two sets that cost over $300 and one that costs over $400. It's a hard pill to swallow for most, and alloy bars are not bad. I use alloy bars too and they work fine. Great price. I have a BMC sitting here with alloy ergonova bars on it. I recommend that.


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## piercebrew (Aug 6, 2004)

ok I was thinking similar things about quality control, but my other thought was how hard is it to make a carbon handlebar? It seems like there are endless threads on no name carbon wheels. My thoughts were handlebars would be easier to produce and thus less risk than a wheel set.


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## austinjoe (Dec 19, 2014)

tvad said:


> That's the crux of the issue for me, and since there has been no irrefutable evidence presented that the knock-offs are the same quality, or that they're inferior quality, then I choose to eliminate the uncertainty and buy only the name brand components.


im the same way, i stick to a recognized brand.
we need a mole though for about a week stint at a chinese carbon manufactuer. they can give us the real insight into exactly how these look-alikes flow into the marketplace. i have to belive if you are making $0.30 US an hour, working long days in a less than ideal situation, you could care less about how something is made. hence a need for hightened quality control at the end of the line for name brands.


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## adjtogo (Nov 18, 2006)

The question is, are you willing to risk your life by buying cheap knock-off carbon fiber handlebars that probably do not have any QC?


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## tvad (Aug 31, 2003)

adjtogo said:


> The question is, are you willing to risk your life by buying cheap knock-off carbon fiber handlebars that probably do not have any QC?


^That's the bottom line. IMO, the gamble isn't worth the cost savings.


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## Randy99CL (Mar 27, 2013)

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You live in a culture where counterfeits are rampant and all that matters is personal profit. The counterfeiters consider the masses to be nothing more than sheep ripe for fleecing. Some of the fakes (e.g. Prescription drugs) are actually unhealthy and dangerous; people have died but no one can be held accountable.

You own an overseas factory that has the technology to make a cheap product that can copy the looks of an expensive item. The look is all important and internal construction is totally hidden. It is to your advantage to make it as cheaply as possible and replace expensive materials with anything that will hold it together. 
You have no reason to care at all about quality because your name is not on it and it can’t be proven that you made it. All that matters to you is your swelling bank account and there’s absolutely no reason for you to be concerned that someone may be killed or injured as a result of the failure of that item that you made and sold.

There is no way that anyone can trust that crap.

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## piercebrew (Aug 6, 2004)

I do think that this is also the price for paying people minimal wages. If I buy a $300 bar, how much does it cost them to make in China? Enve makes $350 bars in the USA, so I think it is the corporations that are only after profit. And I don't want to pay $300 for a bar made in China that I could pay $60 for, if it is made by the same people at the same factory. I am more concerned about me getting injured from made in China bars, so I'll just wait and get some Enve bars.


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## adjtogo (Nov 18, 2006)

piercebrew said:


> I do think that this is also the price for paying people minimal wages. If I buy a $300 bar, how much does it cost them to make in China? Enve makes $350 bars in the USA, so I think it is the corporations that are only after profit. And I don't want to pay $300 for a bar made in China that I could pay $60 for, if it is made by the same people at the same factory. I am more concerned about me getting injured from made in China bars, so I'll just wait and get some Enve bars.


Go ahead and buy it. After your bars crack and you go flying over the handlebars at 25 mph and break your clavicle, cheekbone, nose, and lose a few teeth, plus tons of road rash that will hurt like hell, go ahead and tell us if was worth saving a few bucks. Just go ahead and le us know how it turns out for you.


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## MMsRepBike (Apr 1, 2014)

piercebrew said:


> I do think that this is also the price for paying people minimal wages. If I buy a $300 bar, how much does it cost them to make in China? Enve makes $350 bars in the USA, so I think it is the corporations that are only after profit. And I don't want to pay $300 for a bar made in China that I could pay $60 for, if it is made by the same people at the same factory. I am more concerned about me getting injured from made in China bars, so I'll just wait and get some Enve bars.


This is probably the most common misconception.

Counterfeits are NOT made in the same factories. If you understood how carbon fiber parts are made, this would be very easy to grasp. A factory in China will BUY one of a real item. They will then make a mold of it and make counterfeits based on that. What comes out is a carbon copy (pun intended) of the original on the outside. This goes for frames, wheels, bars, stems, anything counterfeitted over there. This is NOT a case of a rogue third shift that make stuff using brand materials. They make their own water transfer graphics (often with a color or spelling mistake somewhere) and apply them to their own fake crap. Or often they're just lazy and apply graphics of whatever to whatever generic part is available.

So if FSA has a factory in China, and there are also fake FSA bars coming out of China, they are coming from two different places. 

But it's not a bad idea to just stick with ENVE. And if you want an ENVE frame, then just look up Alchemy. They use ENVE carbon fiber to make their frames. USA made.


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## mikerp (Jul 24, 2011)

piercebrew said:


> I do think that this is also the price for paying people minimal wages. If I buy a $300 bar, how much does it cost them to make in China? Enve makes $350 bars in the USA, so I think it is the corporations that are only after profit. And I don't want to pay $300 for a bar made in China that I could pay $60 for, if it is made by the same people at the same factory. I am more concerned about me getting injured from made in China bars, so I'll just wait and get some Enve bars.


Might want to check where the Enve bars are produced. From what I've read the rims are made in the US, the bars are developed in the US but fabbed overseas.


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## mikerp (Jul 24, 2011)

I'm surprised the thread hasn't been moved the Chinese Carbon thread.

I'm against the knock off badged items, if you want the logo buy from the company.


If you want to save and aren't interested in the logo, go directly to the company making the item in China, not an ebay dealer.
I've bought rims and frames from China, I know of shop LBS owners that actively race that have bought frames for themselves from China and they haven't been able to break them.
I would not bother with an ebay dealer many buy from a fabricator and simply resell the item. I went round and round with one on a frame, ultimately cancelled the auction, got my funds back and went right to the source and had the frame in a few weeks. The fabricators I've dealt with are in for the long haul. There are plenty of guys that have done group buys on other forums with no issues.

On a side note Chainlove has carbon bars at great prices all the time, they have been clearing out 3T bars lately for the next years model.


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## mfdemicco (Nov 8, 2002)

MMsRepBike said:


> This is probably the most common misconception.
> 
> Counterfeits are NOT made in the same factories. If you understood how carbon fiber parts are made, this would be very easy to grasp. A factory in China will BUY one of a real item. They will then make a mold of it and make counterfeits based on that. What comes out is a carbon copy (pun intended) of the original on the outside. This goes for frames, wheels, bars, stems, anything counterfeitted over there. This is NOT a case of a rogue third shift that make stuff using brand materials. They make their own water transfer graphics (often with a color or spelling mistake somewhere) and apply them to their own fake crap. Or often they're just lazy and apply graphics of whatever to whatever generic part is available.
> 
> ...


I'm not convinced of this. A frame is a sophisticated fabrication and the fabricator has to have skilled labor and expensive moulds. Who's to say if Pinarello doesn't own the plant in China, that there aren't exact copies going out another door? In fact I saw one today. That said, less sophisticated parts like bars and and stems I would worry a lot more about breaking.


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## masont (Feb 6, 2010)

I work in a shop. Every so often I get asked to install one of these. I *always* use a torque wrench, which is nice so when the bar breaks during install I can tell the customer exactly what torque the bar broke at. Roughly half the time they break before I can even get up to the stem manufacturer's torque. 

There are some outstanding alloy bars that are probably roughly the same weight as the knockoff carbon bars that are very reasonably priced. And you won't be taking your life into the hands of whomever made this bar you know nothing about other than it's really cheap. If you can't afford name brand carbon at online prices that are somewhere in the neighborhood of wholesale dealer cost, you should use an alloy bar.

There's no upside to knockoff carbon. It isn't any lighter than alloy, there's a huge safety concern - really the only upside is that carbon looks cool on your bike, but some crappy knockoff bar doesn't look cool at all. It looks like you got a crappy knockoff bar.


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## JaeP (Mar 12, 2002)

I bought one and I like it!


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## masont (Feb 6, 2010)

JaeP said:


> I bought one and I like it!


I hope it works out for you. And I really hope it doesn't fail when you're descending.


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