Intro

Hi there,

This blog will run you through my experience in purchasing a carbon road frame from one of the many companies in China and my thoughts on the whole process and product.

First of all I will link you to my sources of information leading into making a purchase.

The Latest of a few Roadbikereview threads

Here you will find all kinds of information on the main suppliers that people have dealt with and the issues they have discovered and many questions answered.

There is a website now dedicated to this purchase route;

I have been banned from Velobuild I had linked here for essentially posting information on a "counterfeit" product. I can understand their zero tolerance policy and despite my statements of this being a replica here, I can understand they have to be very careful not to promote any potential counterfeit products. I think their site is worth a visit for anyone buying a Frame from China and I would go back there when I come to buy again.

And finally the company I went with, this link is direct to the page of the fame I have bought

Great Keen and RFM301 spec page

From the Roadbike review link to the 6th thread about china frames, I went though every post. This took a very long time! I gleaned that mostly people were using two companies, Hongfu and Dengfu and had satisfactory purchases all round. I nearly bought from Dengfu and it was only when I saw a Dogma 2 frame a friend had bought and ridden did I make a last minute change to a company called Greatkeen. I still don't understand which companies are re-sellers/agents and which are actual factories but I think GK are linked to Dengfu but it's strange that the Pina frame I wanted was not shown on both sites. Also Velo build did not rate Greatkeen but the Roadbike forums contained many people happy with them, not one bad comment.

So have a read though the linked sites. There's not much point replicating information and the thing with going direct to China is there are many frames, some replica some not some almost replica, some replica's that vary slightly from seller to seller and many altogether unique frames. So you will have to find your own path.