Chinarellos, Chinondales and Chinagos, How to Spot a Counterfeit Bike?

Carlton Reid and the UK’s bicycle industry publication, BikeBiz, have compiled a series of articles aimed at outlining the caveats behind counterfeit bike frames and related products. 

While Chinarellos, Chinondales and Chinagos continue to populate all corners of the internet with strikingly faithful knock-offs of the real product, Reid and BikeBiz caution buyers from putting themselves at risk by riding one of these inferior fakes.

The counterfeiting of bikes is nothing new, which dates back as the early 1800’s with the “draisine”.

Back then however, things involved more of a case of copying than they did counterfeiting, whereby a competitor could simply build the same  product without the fear of legal consequences, based upon the lack of copyright law that existed at the time.

But, today, the aim of the modern day counterfeiter, is to simply capitalize on an already successful product, by creating a fake version using inferior materials and manufacturing, as a means of keeping costs down and maximizing profits.

However, there’s a distinction between a counterfeit bike, and an open-mold bike, that should be mentioned.

In the case of a counterfeit bike, they’re exactly what the term implies – illegally made knock-offs that notoriously involve low-grade materials and poor workmanship, which more often than not, lead to safety concerns. But, in the case of an open-mold bike, they’re generally considered copies of pre-existing models, wherein the out-sourcing brand has no exclusive rights over the design. And, therefore, the exact same mold can be sold to competing brands, and/or be offered as a no name brand under the auspices of the manufacturer.

This is a practice that is typically seen with entry level carbon frames. 

Yet, despite a rise in crackdown on counterfeiters, bogus products continued to permeate the bike market.

Here, Reid and BikeBiz have put together a series of informative articles to help consumers identify counterfeit bike products, and explain what  an open-mold bike frame entails.   

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• Cream, Competent or Cowboy – Which factories are faking it? Who is making fake carbon frames: a “third-shift”, back-street workshops, or “the same factories that make for the big brands”?
• Alibaba and the forty fakers – Who’s retailing the counterfeits? Chinese websites and apps offer “factory-direct” prices for big-brand carbonbikes and parts. Too good to be true?
• When a fake isn’t – open molds vs the knock-offs No-name versus brand name.
• When is a Pinarello not a Pinarello? When it’s a Chinarello Some roadies proudly ride fake Pinarellos, but how good are the “Chinarellos”, and are they made in the same factory as the real thing?
• Snap, crackle, and pop – do fake bikes and parts crumple? Some fake frames and counterfeit parts are built tough; some aren’t. How can you tell which are which?
• “I bought a fake” – who’s buying the knock-offs and why? People who buy fake frames, bike parts and cycle clothing may think they’re getting a bargain, but is it a Faustian one?
• Tribute bands and the Shadowlands – a design professor’s take on IP theft What’s real? What’s fake? A crash course in “intellectual property” and Platonic idealism with Professor Steven Kyffin.
• Faking bikes is as old as cycling – knock-offs are nothing new Folks have been faking bicycles since 1817.
• Fake China – where copyright means copy-it-right In recent years, China has taken steps to counter the counterfeiters, but in a culture where imitation is said to be the sincerest form of flattery the fakes won’t fade away anytime soon.
• Tiger watching the Tigers – Specialized’s Andrew Love fights the fakers Andrew Love is Specialized’s in-house IP investigator.
• Whack-a-Mole Inc. – the lawyers clobbering the counterfeiters Preventing Chinese factories from churning out counterfeit goods, and merchants from selling them is a tale of take-downs and sanctions.
• Fake folders – how Brompton and Strida tackle the copiers Counterfeiters don’t just target carbon frames they also make fake steel and aluminium folding-bikes.
• Sham chamois – never mind the quality, feel the width BikeBiz asked three apparel companies to share their views on counterfeit cycle clothing.
• Fake sense of security – counterfeit helmets are not for headbangers Put a lid on it, just not a fake one.
• “They’re just bits of plastic” – why cyclists buy fake Oakleys Of all the counterfeit cycle products available the most ubiquitous are Oakley sunglasses – fake Oaks are known as “Foakleys”.
• Moles, meet the mole-catchers – officialdom takes on the counterfeiters Law enforcement agencies, governmental organisations, bureaucrats and trade associations all play their part in tackling IP theft
• Don’t mess with the mafia – is it dangerous to expose the fakers? Tussling with the Triads is not to be recommended, says bike boss.
• On your marques – what can manufacturers do to foil the fakers? It’s not easy to stymie the copiers, but there are overt, covert, legal-eagle and forensic authentication systems that can help.
• Get real – How and why to avoid buying a fake Low price too good to be true? Then it’s possibly fake …