I have 3 11speed Shimano chains. I don’t recall where I bought each of them but at least one or all of them are from AliExpress. Is there a way to tell if they are genuine?
by arclitgold
I have 3 11speed Shimano chains. I don’t recall where I bought each of them but at least one or all of them are from AliExpress. Is there a way to tell if they are genuine?
by arclitgold
22 Comments
The Dura-Ace one is definitely fake, real DA has hollow pins. The right one has hand drawn check marks on the length, which fakes often don’t, so there’s a chance it’s real. Would need to see more pics to confirm.
Right one or none, just based off recent GCN episode. Edit: added “or none”
Right one may be the only real one. Check mark is printed on left (real ones have a hand written mark). Middle one is all kinds of fake.
I’m not an authority, but the fonts on the left hand package look wrong. (and the HG901 chain should have hollow pins, so definitely fake.)
Right hand package looks the most legit to my untrained eyes.
Right one
First one looks fake because the links are stamped too “round” without the sharp, crisp edges Shimano chains have, and if “SK” is meant to be a production date code, I’ve never seen it stamped *that* prominently on a genuine Shimano chain. In fact, I don’t recall seeing production date codes on genuine Shimano chains at all.
Also, the check mark is printed on the box rather than hand-drawn, which ironically is more common on fakes than genuine chains.
Second one also looks fake because the pins aren’t hollow, and on the real HG901 they should be. Also, I’m *fairly* confident that chains don’t have verification serial numbers yet. So the fact that yours does suggests to me that someone made up a chain verification sticker and slapped it on the chain packaging to add credibility.
I don’t see any way to verify that sticker with Shimano. Their verification app only supports the QR codes they put on pedals and cleat packages.
Nothing jumps out to me on the third one, so it’s the only one that might be legit.
Only real way to know for sure is to smell em (only kinda joking). My guess is that the right is genuine because it has the hand-done check mark in blue sharpie.
These are not guaranteed tells because counterfeiters keep getting more sophisticated but a few things I see immediately:
1. When there are multiple lengths listed on the box, real Shimano chain boxes are marked by hand with a pen so of the 2 x 701-11’s the one on the left may be a fake and the one on the right has a better chance of being real
2. You can open the box and look for the quick links. Shimano still packs them in a separate small baggy whereas the counterfeit ones often put the quick links inside the same bag as the chain.
3. For the box in the middle I look at the 3 diagonal slashes to the left of “chain” at the top. They should be silver.
4. Look at the HG-EV just below the 11s. The font on the far right box is more rounded and the E runs into the V. This is the way Shimano does their print. The 2 boxes on the left are wrong.
Again, these points are not a 100% guarantee but its a good chance the right hand box is real and the 2 left hand boxes are not.
Typographically 1 and 2 are similar and “wrong”.
– “11s” is Arial in the first two and Helvetica in the last, you can tell by the slant on the ends of the s. The weight is also different. Same with the chain type next to the speed.
– the outline font below it is also similar in the first two but obviously a cheaper knock-off from the one used in the third.
The only thing that puzzles me is that on the third package it appears to say “SLi-TEC” instead of SiL. But could be printer error.
The three have two different part numbers. The one in the middle is a CN-HG901-11, while the outside ones are CN-HG701-11.
There is a variety of type faces used across the three boxes. Might be worth comparing them to an image at the Shimano site.
it’s the one all the way on the right.
The right one…or none. It has a blue check.
Would be better to see the back of the boxes,too.
I’m going to say that the one on the right looks genuine. I have a few in my stash that have been purchased either at my local shop or at Excel Sports.
For yuks, I took photos of the front and rear of the box.
https://preview.redd.it/la7b456kurme1.jpeg?width=1536&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=74dc3f5da66ed08341acf7520b9ac6f826677806
Nice try! OP are you the counterfeiter trying to see how good your copies are?
(Presumably you would say no, because that’s what a counterfeiter would say…)
Now the hand drawn check will be on copies now too.
If any of them are genuine, then the one on the right has the cleanest printing, printing on the cellophane window and the most accurate shade of blue.
The very first one I’d cross off is the one that says “Authentic?” and then has a bunch of Chinese letters.
the right one. The text and graphics on the box are more crisp, check box is solid white, the plastic wrap inside is not as reflective.
The chain on the right.
Who TF buys 3 chains at once? I hope you’re not trying to get some juicy karma/upvotes via the GCN Vid mentioned in this thread without mentioning them.
Just use each one until it breaks. Whichever one breaks first is probably authentic.
I agree with the one on the right. In addition to the comments on the packaging, the outer plates have that ‘notch’ where the other two chains are just normally rounded.
Right one with checkmark