I apologise if that's a stupid question, I'm new to bike building and restoration. I bought this 6 speed freewheel for an old Motobecane bike I'm restoring. It also came with a chain and a removal tool (that worked in all fairness)
I realised its a knockoff as soon as I opened the parcel, as it didn't have the Shimano colours, and thats on me for not thinking a freewheel, chain, and tool for less than £20 was too good to be true.
From what I can see though, it works perfectly fine, feels similar in build quality to a genuine Shimano one I bought a few months ago for another bike too.
Would I be stupid to use it? The bike I bought it for is nothing special anyway, I'm just wondering if anyone has experience with this knockoff brand or others haha.
by AlwaysQuotesEinstein
6 Comments
Good experiences with Bucklo’s. One day my bike will probably explode underneath me or something, but the steel cassette I got works great.
The only time I’ve seen Shimeng is on really, really nasty pump-and-dump bikes (Ride Pork was the sticker on the fork). It’s a bit of a how-long-is-a-piece of string question. There are good and bad quality knock-offs, but beyond recommendations you won’t really know what you’re getting and may not have any recourse if you get a duff product.
I use them all the time. Obviously not dura ace quality but it’s not really different than cheap Shimano freewheels
The only problem with knock-offs (if you’ve come to the decision for yourself that you don’t care about intellectual property and trademarks) is that you just never know beforehand if it will be bad or good. And, after all, how long it lasts of it’s good.
So buying (cheap) knock-offs typically comes with the extra cost of having to experiment a bit: with function, durability, looks (exact color matching from pictures) and feel (does it still look good from close, does it feel solid).
Let’s face it, the market is full of expensive knock-offs, too, even by reputable brands. Still you would be certain they give you a certain level of quality.
Not all knocks were created equal…
ie. the boot vs knock vs clone
If it’s steel, I say maybe play ball. If it’s alloy or “titanium” toss it in the trash.