Hi,
I know that a lot of people are interested in carbon products from China so I thought I'd post about my experience. There are loads of threads on loads of forums about the pros and cons of buying direct from China. That's not what this is about. This is for anyone who has already done the research on the products and are looking for real experiences before deciding whether to take plunge.
After doing my research I decided to buy from CarbonZone on ebay. There was plenty of good feedback on various forums and I liked the idea of ebay and paypal protection. I am looking for a new bike and had decided that I would build a chinese frame with chinese wheels and thought I would go for the frame first, and if that was successful, then the wheels. I had emailed echo at carbonzone through ebay asking various questions to which he always replied quickly and accurately.
I left it a couple of days to make I still wanted the frame then I bought and paid for a 52cm RB002 from ebay (fm028 with other manufacturers) only to receive an email from echo advising that they only had 52cm in 12k weave. I had bid on and won a 3k frame and personally don't like the 12k finish. I had transferred $500 and wasn't sure what to do. For some reason carbonzone only list tubular wheelsets on ebay but I had already established that for a direct payment outside of ebay I could have 60mm clinchers for $553 inc. postage. I therefore sent the extra $53 and advised that I wanted black hubs for shimano, and black nipples and spokes. The extra money was transferred on 19th April. I had read about similar problems on other forum posts so wasn't too upset as I always had it in mind that this could happen, and knew that the wheels were a back up.
Then I waited. I had asked echo to send me the tracking number as soon as they shipped so I could make sure someone was in to receive them. It got to the 27th April and I still hadn't heard anything at all and was getting a bit concerned that they hadn't even acknowledged my order. I sent echo an email only for him to reply with a tracking number. Turns out that they had been shipped on the 23rd April and were out for delivery in the UK on the 27th. Therefore there was no one in and they were returned to the parcel force office.
Obviously the lack of communication was frustrating but the wheels were shipped within 4 days and only took another 4 to arrive. Parcelforce screen shot below. They were shipped by EMS who also have a tracking website and the same tracking number was used on both.
It looks as if, like most other people, I have gotten away without paying import duties etc... I had heard that the chinese sellers used clever tactics to get them through but I didn't realise that they just lied! The wheels are noted on the customs sheet as being $80 value and as a sample set with no commercial value.
Anyway, picked the package up from parcelforce this morning:
Luckily I remembered to stop off at work on the way home to use the scales in the post room before adding the cassette, tyres etc. I don't have any claimed weights for the clinchers, only the tubulars, so not sure how these compare.
The wheels themselves
Sorry about the quality of the pics, I only have an iphone.
The finish is great and I am very pleased with the wheels. There were a few niggles (not having the right frame in stock, not sending the tracking number) but I knew this from reading other people's experiences. If you go into the purchase with this in mind before hand you won't be disappointed and I wasn't.
I would definitely buy from China again and I will buy my frame from carbonzone. Echo has recently emailed me to advise that the 52cm frame is now back in stock. It was lucky that they were out of stock anyway as I have been double checking the geometry chart and now think I need a 54cm!!! I don't have any issues with sending the money direct and by cutting out ebay, he has earned my trust. If you do buy anything I would however email them first to make sure that they have what you want sitting ready to ship to avoid disappointment.
I will update once I have ridden on them. It is very windy in Newcastle today so can't use them. Tomorrow I'm on the lash all day and would imagine that riding a bike will be the last thing on my mind on Monday due to the hangover!!!
I know that a lot of people are interested in carbon products from China so I thought I'd post about my experience. There are loads of threads on loads of forums about the pros and cons of buying direct from China. That's not what this is about. This is for anyone who has already done the research on the products and are looking for real experiences before deciding whether to take plunge.
After doing my research I decided to buy from CarbonZone on ebay. There was plenty of good feedback on various forums and I liked the idea of ebay and paypal protection. I am looking for a new bike and had decided that I would build a chinese frame with chinese wheels and thought I would go for the frame first, and if that was successful, then the wheels. I had emailed echo at carbonzone through ebay asking various questions to which he always replied quickly and accurately.
I left it a couple of days to make I still wanted the frame then I bought and paid for a 52cm RB002 from ebay (fm028 with other manufacturers) only to receive an email from echo advising that they only had 52cm in 12k weave. I had bid on and won a 3k frame and personally don't like the 12k finish. I had transferred $500 and wasn't sure what to do. For some reason carbonzone only list tubular wheelsets on ebay but I had already established that for a direct payment outside of ebay I could have 60mm clinchers for $553 inc. postage. I therefore sent the extra $53 and advised that I wanted black hubs for shimano, and black nipples and spokes. The extra money was transferred on 19th April. I had read about similar problems on other forum posts so wasn't too upset as I always had it in mind that this could happen, and knew that the wheels were a back up.
Then I waited. I had asked echo to send me the tracking number as soon as they shipped so I could make sure someone was in to receive them. It got to the 27th April and I still hadn't heard anything at all and was getting a bit concerned that they hadn't even acknowledged my order. I sent echo an email only for him to reply with a tracking number. Turns out that they had been shipped on the 23rd April and were out for delivery in the UK on the 27th. Therefore there was no one in and they were returned to the parcel force office.
Obviously the lack of communication was frustrating but the wheels were shipped within 4 days and only took another 4 to arrive. Parcelforce screen shot below. They were shipped by EMS who also have a tracking website and the same tracking number was used on both.
It looks as if, like most other people, I have gotten away without paying import duties etc... I had heard that the chinese sellers used clever tactics to get them through but I didn't realise that they just lied! The wheels are noted on the customs sheet as being $80 value and as a sample set with no commercial value.
Anyway, picked the package up from parcelforce this morning:
Luckily I remembered to stop off at work on the way home to use the scales in the post room before adding the cassette, tyres etc. I don't have any claimed weights for the clinchers, only the tubulars, so not sure how these compare.
The wheels themselves
Sorry about the quality of the pics, I only have an iphone.
The finish is great and I am very pleased with the wheels. There were a few niggles (not having the right frame in stock, not sending the tracking number) but I knew this from reading other people's experiences. If you go into the purchase with this in mind before hand you won't be disappointed and I wasn't.
I would definitely buy from China again and I will buy my frame from carbonzone. Echo has recently emailed me to advise that the 52cm frame is now back in stock. It was lucky that they were out of stock anyway as I have been double checking the geometry chart and now think I need a 54cm!!! I don't have any issues with sending the money direct and by cutting out ebay, he has earned my trust. If you do buy anything I would however email them first to make sure that they have what you want sitting ready to ship to avoid disappointment.
I will update once I have ridden on them. It is very windy in Newcastle today so can't use them. Tomorrow I'm on the lash all day and would imagine that riding a bike will be the last thing on my mind on Monday due to the hangover!!!
