I’ve taken 2 different chinese frames to Kona and had no complaints. 2 main disadvantages are you have to know your frame size and secondly accept no one will buy your frame afterwards.
I’d also advise going on aliexpress and finding the seller, vs. ebay.
You’ll be able to see their other frames / paint options, and can email them directly, to ask questions.
You can ask to modify paintjob or graphics/logos, even request a better price.
“Could you please throw in an extra seatpost, headset, carbon stem spacers, etc.”
You’re communicating w/ a sales agent at the factory or distributor.
In my experience, they’re very responsive and deciphering their English can be… interesting.
Figure out what you want, they’ll send a Paypal invoice; pay it and 3weeks later your new frame shows up at your doorstep courtesy of EMS/China Post.
It’s a leap of faith, but it’s worked for me.
Both frames I bought were open-mould, rather than ‘chinarello’-style counterfeits.
My last “real” purchase was a $350 aluminum frame w/ carbon fork & rear triangle, from performancebike.
It was drop-shipped from China anyways, logo’d with Performance’s faux italianesque brand. Why not cut-out the middle man?.
This was actually what I was fishing for: A long-time, reputable seller. Thanks!
If that’s what you need, I’d suggest looking a frame options from these sellers.
Seraph
Thrust
Desai (Smileteam)
Leadnovo
Daris
I have bought a road frame from “Thrust”, a gravel frame from “Desai”, and wheels from “Daris” and have been happy with them.
I love how all these threads center around conjecture and no real life experiences.
I guarantee that for every Chinese frame from a somewhat “legit” online vendor in the $400 to $600 range that has a problem, there’s also one from a main company like Giant or Specialized.
**I would totally do it **for a crit bike or a cyclocross bike. If you’re going to eventually crash it anyway, it won’t matter if it was going to break or not once you split it wide open in a pile up.
.
Uh, it seems like many people on here HAVE real life experience.
In contrast to YOU?!
Get real, dude.
If that’s what you need, I’d suggest looking a frame options from these sellers.
Thank you! The Thrust frame looks ideal, but they don’t have my size. 
Perusing other options now.
I wouldn’t personally trust AliExpress sellers. Order straight from the quality builders:
http://www.flyxii.com/
http://www.dengfubikes.com/
http://www.hongfu-bikes.com/
http://www.workswellbikes.com/
http://www.velobuildmall.com/
Whole thread on this on WeightWeenies
I’d also advise going on aliexpress and finding the seller, vs. ebay.
You’ll be able to see their other frames / paint options, and can email them directly, to ask questions.
You can ask to modify paintjob or graphics/logos, even request a better price.
I did all that on ebay. It’s really no different, except on ebay you have more recourse because of the feedback system, and theoretically the price should be higher because of the ebay fees. I say theoretically because I didn’t find that to be the case for the frame I wanted. Plus ebay ran a 20% off promotion June 6 (max $100 discount) that I’m sure would have beaten any direct seller discount I might have been able to negotiate.
Carbon-goods who I linked earlier has 1200 feedback and 100%. I haven’t bought anything from them, but that’s a pretty good record, IMO.
I’m curious to know from anyone who has purchased an open-mold frame how you went about ordering the correct size. I see that most of the sellers have geometry charts online. Is that all you used? I know my X and Y measurements, will that be enough?
Thanks, all, for the assorted bits of information—and especially the links.
Through it all, I wound up buying direct through Fly XII (thanks for the link, Caverunner17). They had both a frameset and stem/handlebar that met my measurements and budget. I’ll post pics once the build is complete…I’m guessing mid-to-late July, given shipping time and all.
The origins of a frame don’t mean much. The way manufacturers work, they can either build a sweet bike for big money, or a pile of crap to hit the contracted price point. Often on the same factory floor. Also keep in mind, you can swing into nearly any factory in Asia and ask to see a catalog of what they have to offer then say, “I’ll take 500.” As a “brand” you may not have a clue what is really in that frame. Also, although not as common, sometimes a factory has a bunch of unclaimed frames, or frames they decided to make to recoup some of their tooling expenses. They then pay someone to go find a buyer for those factory orphans. Again, who knows what’s really in the frame. I’m a bike journalist and years ago did a story about these orphan frames, some made with rice paper in the layup. LOL.
At the root of it, buying an unknown brand is exactly what you think it is - an unknown. Could be great, could be made with last year’s local newspaper in the layup.
I’m curious to know from anyone who has purchased an open-mold frame how you went about ordering the correct size. I see that most of the sellers have geometry charts online. Is that all you used? I know my X and Y measurements, will that be enough?
Each of the frames is going to have different stack and reach measurements. Some are going to be more aggressive, some more relaxed. Compare measurements to bikes you’ve had in the past. If you’re between sizes, go the smaller size. You can always adjust size a bit with different stems and seatpost heights to accommodate for a good fit.
Could be great, could be made with last year’s local newspaper in the layup.
Let’s play devil’s advocate… bike journalism is supported by ad revenue – from bike manufacturers.
Or as you’ve stated, bike “brands”. And most/all brands now use contract manufacturers located in Asia…
There’s an obvious bias to your caveat. No?
Could be great, could be made with last year’s local newspaper in the layup.
Let’s play devil’s advocate… bike journalism is supported by ad revenue – from bike manufacturers.
Or as you’ve stated, bike “brands”. And most/all brands now use contract manufacturers located in Asia…
There’s an obvious bias to your caveat. No?Eh, not really. I’m a freelancer and not beholden to any one publisher. I was a magazine editor for 8 years. There were definitely moments when I placed a toe on the ad-money line, maybe a little over that line.
I would also say, most writers are more likely to fawn over a brand for all sorts of reasons than chide one maker to defend another. If something sucks, it sucks. That might mean it doesn’t get editorial coverage at all. Who wants to burn words on a junk product when there are great ones out there to cover.
So, while I think many readers might think journalists are easily swooned by the allure of a paycheck, keep in mind it is a pittance. Now, if the aforementioned Chinese no-namer brand bought me a Tesla, I’d rave about it. LOL. For what amounts to a phone bill payment? Ha. No.
I will say, being a bike journalist has given me a very cool look into how brands big and small make bikes. And it is incredibly fascinating, and largely unreported. Also why I wouldn’t buy a no-name bike to save a few bucks.
But…that is a fine point you bring up, Mr. Devil’s Advocate. 
I like how the story of frames made from paper changes from one telling to another. One person says it was newspaper. The next says it was rice paper. Eventually people will be claiming it was pages from Mao’s little red book. Yet there are thousands of thousands of buyers active in forums in the U.S. and Europe without rampant failure and no tales of reading the Beijing funnies in a head tube.
I also enjoy building/working on bikes, so there’s that too.
Yeah I’m keen to source all the parts and build a bike, but I can’t find cheap frames in Australia. The cheapest I can find is PlanetX, but I would have to pay shipping. I wouldn’t have a problem buying Chinese, but the resale is crap in Australia. People won’t touch 2nd hand Chinese frames and wheels and I’d want to sell it at some point. There are companies like Caden Wheels (Australia) appearing now who source parts from China, but build their wheels in Australia, to a very high standard. So shipping is quick and cheap, you get a warranty and warranty returns aren’t an issue. When I bought my wheels from Light Bicycle in China it was a nightmare. 3 weeks to ship, 4 weeks to return as the front was damaged, 1 week to inspect, 3 weeks to ship back, so almost 3 months.
So what you’re saying (your words) is you have your price when it comes to honest unbiased journalism? Is that right? You put it at a Tesla?
I hear the argument about resale being a problem, but here’s my perspective.
A generic frame that costs $500 could likely sell for $250-$350 on the used market (at least in my area, $350 would sell reasonably fast and it would sell in the same day for $250). That’s upwards of a 50% depreciation and a $250 hit.
Now, compare this will a used brand name frame that costs $1500. If you go to sell it, I’d wager that you are going to lose more that $250 on that frame when you sell it new. Maybe you’d get $1000 (just a guess).
So, a generic frame loses a bigger % of original cost, but in terms of actual $, the name brand frame nets a greater loss of $.
So what you’re saying (your words) is you have your price when it comes to honest unbiased journalism? Is that right? You put it at a Tesla?Ah, come on, Rocky. It was a joke. I did offer some pretty honest inside scoop on how the journalism world really works, though. There isn’t nearly the bias people think, because there’s no real payoff. As a writer I get no more or less compensation for what I write. I do risk not getting more work if my review seems inaccurate or fawning. And I’ve written reviews that pionted out shortcomings and had bike designers just shrug and say, “Mmmkay.” There’s more thick skin in the bike world than you think. (Maybe not here, LOL)
There’s another layer. I’ve reviewed countless hundreds of products over the years and like many product engineers themselves have said, there are not many genuinely bad products out there. Some with quirks, but that’s about it. The real junk just isn’t worth the time to review or write about.
That said, there are certainly products not many people know much about. That somewhat rings true of these bikes of unknown origins.
From my own perspective I wouldn’t buy one of these bikes simply because I’d worry about the integrity of key pieces like steerer tubes, etc. But, not trying to foist my opinion on anyone. Tons of people have great luck with these bikes.
I like how the story of frames made from paper changes from one telling to another. One person says it was newspaper. The next says it was rice paper. Eventually people will be claiming it was pages from Mao’s little red book. Yet there are thousands of thousands of buyers active in forums in the U.S. and Europe without rampant failure and no tales of reading the Beijing funnies in a head tube.Well, to be fair, I think it was a newspaper, and I think it was rice paper. It was hard to tell with all the resin. But to your point, even the big brands have rampant failures and recalls.
At any rate, I took the long way to get to my point. As I was originally saying, the way bike parts are manufacturered, these frames could either be near clones of a top-tier frame, or they could be akin to a Rollex.
Take for example the newest carbon bikes on the uber top end. Some are made of 350-500 individual pieces of carbon. It’s possible for a factory to make a bike that looks pretty darn cool and similar with 75-100 plies joined with cheap-o resin. Pretty comon practice, actually. The question is, does it matter to the buyer. If not, who cares.
My point is, the provenance, China, Taiwan, whateves, doesn’t really matter. It’s what happens on the factory floor that matters. And that’s hard to know with these bikes.
Stick with a few of the better known brands. Flyxii, Deng-Fu, Hong-Fu and Workswell are the ones I’m familiar with.
Flyxii is going to be the cheapest (once you include shipping) but they are the slowest to ship - Plan on 3-4 weeks+ after ordering to get your frame. The others are about $75-100 more expensive, but you’ll probably have the frame in 1-2 weeks.
Personally, I went the Flyxii route for both of my road builds. My first one lasted me over 6 years before I crashed it. My most recent one is the Flyxii FR-322 and cost me about $375 shipped including the headset, seatpost, frame and fork.
Does Flyxii provide any type of paint job? I was looking on the site but couldn’t find it.