FAKE BIKES

Cheap imitations won’t break the bank, but they could break your bones...

We found a bargain – a brand new carbon frame, complete with VPP lower link-driven shock layout and Californian good looks for less than $1,000. If that sounds too good to be true though, it really is, because the bike we saw isn’t actually made by Santa Cruz. Instead, your $1,000 frame is fabricated by Winow Sports and made in Guangdong, China – it’s got 150mm travel, comes in eight colours, sells through alibaba.com, and is a near copy of the original.

We’re not suggesting Winow Sports has done anything illegal here, because the VPP link patent has expired and the words “Santa Cruz” do not appear on the listing or bike. But to any right-thinking rider, the bikes are identical to the eye. We reached out to Winow Sports, which told us that there are some “data changes” that also mean Santa Cruz is unable to ask it to stop production, no patents having been breached.

While hunting out the Winow Sports bikes (the company makes plenty more than just the Santa-Cruz-alike) we also stumbled across a slew of other bikes from various sellers that bear striking resemblances to other mainstream brands’ offerings. And a bike that looked suspiciously like a Specialized Stumpjumper, complete with Sidearm frame design, which was swiftly withdrawn from sale after we pointed it out to Specialized.

So, with huge savings to be made for consumers with frames selling at less than a third of the price of the real thing, is it in your best interests to buy a near-replica ride?

Absolutely not, Specialized says. But then it would say that, wouldn’t it? “One quality that makes it tough to differentiate is that the paint is often pretty good,” says Andrew Love from Specialized. “But you don’t ride paint.”