Re:The Sketchy World of Fake Bike Gear
by Asbostos on Sunday October 04, 2015 @09:12PM
(#10329508)
China actually has export controls to protect the rest of the world from its bad products. Like you say, it must have a Chinese brand otherwise it's either a fake or illegally obtained (out the back door of the factory).
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Re:The Sketchy World of Fake Bike Gear
by mindslight on Sunday October 04, 2015 @09:38PM
(#10329564)
Ah, this is actually formalized? My intuition says that Chinese brands would know how to police through the appropriate channels, but it's not surprising it's an actually an official thing.
What I can't really figure out is how to reliably get the "better" unbranded parts (small quantities, using ebay/aliexpress). The only indicator seems to be how consumer-targeted the particular item is. Electronic components / assemblies have been fine, while 4 out of 4 phone chargers I tested were pure garbage.
Obviously creating a relationship with a manufacturer is the way to go for larger batches, which is another reason buying from a US importer makes sense. Then again I've got to wonder when I see the same-looking unbranded items in US retail stores, if those ones actually meet their ratings or if the type of people buying them will never verify.