Seraph Bikes Superlight X68.
I made this post this morning on the Chinertown forums in regards to counterfeit bikes:
Long time lurker, but long story short; my Dad was Chinese, and passed away when I was a teenager. In homage to him I’d really love to build a full Chinese build where every single component is not only made in China, but sold by Chinese brands. Up until now the groupset and the tyres were the only thing stopping me, but it’s looking like some performance tyres are now coming out of China, so I feel like my project can finally begin.
On the topic of replicas; I’ve been a graphic designer for most of my career. I put a LOT of blood, sweat and tears to get to the top of my game, and having individuals and companies rip off my work really pissed me off, so much so that I spent countless hours trying to take them down (IE: a lot of energy, time and stress fighting them). When I quit graphic design I started shooting photography full time, and again. I’ve had countless people rip off my photography with no credits, or worse yet taking credit (not to mention a lot of AI “artwork” using my photography as the source).
Morgan Freeman the actor said something interesting in an interview once, when asked about how do we end racism he simply stated that we stop talking about it. Whilst I’m aggressively against replicas and counterfeits I value discussion a lot.
Do I think any less of my friends who buy counterfeit goods? Maybe, but not enough to unfriend them! I live with it by telling myself it’s their problem, not mine. And as I’ve said elsewhere, am I at all tempted to buy a replica SL8 frame? Yes I am because I’m curious to see how it compares to my genuine SL8. I’ve never been one to read other people’s reviews, but instead would prefer to try things out myself. That said I struggle in this case with knowing the end result before even starting (IE: that the fake SL8 will be fine, but not as good as the real thing).
On a technical point; I do think I would be more impressed if genuine OEM SL8 parts fit the counterfeit frame. Why? Well it would show a greater level of care and craftmanship, and most of all it would allow me to put aftermarket SL8 components onto my replica frame, which is crazy important to me as I love tinkering with bikes and trying out new components as they come out.
