Was really excited about this bike but I think I dodged a bullet. There is no serial number sticker on it and seller claims its because it was refurbished.
What's a dead give away that its fake by looking at these pictures ?
by newnewreditguy
Was really excited about this bike but I think I dodged a bullet. There is no serial number sticker on it and seller claims its because it was refurbished.
What's a dead give away that its fake by looking at these pictures ?
by newnewreditguy
12 Comments
>What’s a dead give away that its fake by looking at these pictures ?
Is this a test, or are you honestly asking?
I wouldn’t be able to spot a fake, which is why I stick with reputable local bike shops.
Show the threaded BB. You can usually tell by the cut. Additionally, there should be a serial number on the fork, and an additional one inside of the headtube.
The uncut steer is a huge red flag for counterfeit. Factory ones are typically cut during manufacturing
I’ve never heard of a refurbished frame. And even if that was such a thing, a frame that came from the manufacturer would still have a serial number.
Is there a Specialized shop nearby? Contact the mechanic and see if, for a fee, that they can inspect it and have the seller meet you there.
Is it supposed to be a size 49cm?
Something about the head tube seems off to me if it’s supposed to be an [SL8](https://escapecollective.com/content/images/wordpress/2024/01/Pro-bike-Sarah-Gigante-AG-Insurance-Soudal-2024-Team-bike-Tour-Down-Under-Winner-1.jpg). Definitely doesn’t look like an [SL7](https://www.google.com/search?sa=X&sca_esv=a02bafc0f52c5ebd&rlz=1CDGOYI_enCA1023CA1023&hl=en-US&sxsrf=AE3TifPTdXIx087azzF891h5Sh9L8t8qDQ:1752954510644&udm=2&fbs=AIIjpHyTFN8BbSyNXQ3oA-fn7H5NUrrIpQXg7ywPuzBdcoqHY9koTyP2YoWqyTioW_DKM8fobnJ8kSXcS-XenzerWcPYEnt5Dp_oGyUscMS1k34-PyVH9v9RTMDmwCCnRZ71tcE_ExHgZKxB6YZHBp2ZBdd6_ppUf3sKj9gimEVfd3oeMPDUPIhAJ9N0yYxy8EO4JYexJUDL5xp6Ay7m9Ho79V73SfPywo5QLXvZ2fTV53LiA79JZhI&q=49cm+tarmac+sl7&ved=2ahUKEwjGiKi32MmOAxV548kDHebNGg4QtKgLegQIExAB&biw=430&bih=745&dpr=3) to me either…
Doesn’t look bulbous enough for an SL8 and to me the SL7 looks a bit flatter than that so it’s giving me weird in-between vibes.
Take a look at the front brake mount – The SL8 brake mount is proprietry, same as on the Aethos. It wont take any other flat mount adaptor besides the Specialized one.
If thats a Shimano/any other brand mount, then its fake.
Edit – looking at the mount, it looks like the real thing – https://soshanger.com/en/accueil/6594-aethostarmac-sl8-disc-brake-adaptor-flatmount-160mm-s200700001.html
Further edit – not to say that immediately makes it a real frame, just harder to fake a Tarmac fork?
I’ve worked on someone’s fake tarmac recently. That one had paint overspray in the bottom bracket area and head tube, flaking carbon in the head tube, head tube had very different dimensions than the real tarmac, including an uncommon bearing diameter, brake mounts weren’t faced nicely and still had a lip of paint, seat post of the real tarmac didn’t fit in it (wildly different seat tube dimensions).
From a distance it looked pretty much perfect, as does this one (even though the brake mounts kind of look like that shitty facing I saw on that fake Tarmac).
But a “refurbished” frame as an excuse for lacking a serial number is a load of nonsense. I’d stay away.
Specialized asphalt
It’s real. The sn is probably missing cause it’s most likely stolen
I wish I could buy one of these for the knockoff price and make a tall bike out of it on the cheap.
The hard thing with fake frames is they often have all the parts of the real one because they have stolen the mold to make the frame. So looking for differences won’t help
Speed = specialised
Pictures are everything untless you see the bike in person. Ask them to photograph the bottom of the bike. If there is a rubber seal with the spesh logo on it, then it’s real. Plus with custom paints a decent painter would pop these out to get a good final finish.
Also if you can ask the dude to send pictures of the forks Spesh often have qr codes with part numbers on the un painted part of the carbon fork. Depending on the model they colour code it and have a hand written model number next to the small QR codes
The part I’ve seen that most folk fake are the 1 piece handle bars specialised are a smooth clean finish, fakes tend to be rough both internally and where the brake lines come out – not always a bad thing though, there was a major shortage on these parts late last year, some are pretty well made others are pretty shit and easiest way to tell is by looking at the flair and comparing the angle to the real thing but if they are missing the qr code and hand written stuff also then they are fake