Off-brand mountain bike forks from eBay?

[ChpBstrd]

Does anyone have experience with off brand mountain bike forks, which are being sold for what seem to be ridiculously low prices, given the published specs, on eBay and Amazon?

Any good, or turn and run away? I’m fixing up an old but quality hard tail from the 90’s that has a horrible 63mm elastomer fork that’s practically collapsed and frozen up. The money might be worth the gamble, but I’ve also been burned by eBay crap before. Also, I‘ve not been following these products for the last 15 years or so. Any experiences would be helpful.

Example brands:

Bolany
Redland
Lutu
Krsec

Example product links:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mountain-Bike-Air-Suspension-Fork-120mm-Travel-Disc-Brake-26-27-5-29-Ultralight/223815194719?_trkparms=aid%3D555018%26algo%3DPL.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D40741%26meid%3D2adf627727504af3bebc9d13e7f30553%26pid%3D100935%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D12%26mehot%3Dpf%26sd%3D293040996693%26itm%3D223815194719%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2332490&_trksid=p2332490.c100935.m2460

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mountain-Bike-Suspension-Fork-Disc-Brake-Straight-Tapered-26-27-5-29-Ultralight/174136931538?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item288b5eb4d2:m:ma8guwpyiI8zQepQsqkHkyg

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mountain-Bike-Suspension-Fork-Disc-Brake-Bicycle-MTB-26-27-5-29er-Ultralight/293393554357?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item444f9e5bb5:m:mPFX2pzx2ZIY8o1fyv35f6Q

https://www.ebay.com/itm/REDLAND-OS-26-100MM-100-2-1-Ultralight-Mountain-Bike-Oil-Spring-Front-Fork-T4M3/202861336326?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item2f3b7a5706:m:mHLML5zDGtmQ6dtmGkkWyEw

[GuitarStv]

No!


I'm a cheap guy.  Last year I bought a cheap Chinese stem from ebay to play around with my bike position.  Got it, looked fine.  Used it on my indoor bike trainer, worked fine.  Took it on a couple hour bike ride.  Seemed fine.  Second bike ride my handlebars moved a little bit when I went over a bump, so I snugged up the bolts and went home.  Where I found that the metal in the stem had stretched almost four mm, causing the looseness.  Would not have been a good situation if it had snapped off while I was descending.  You know who's doing safety and quality control on Chinese made stuff?  Nobody.

Chinese jersey?  Sure.  Chinese bottle cage?  Sure.  Chinese anything that might impact my safety?  Never again.  No stem, bars, helmets, bolts, frame, forks, wheel, spokes, nothing of the sort.  It's not worth saving a few bucks to end up unable to ride your bike or dead because of a bad accident.

[ChpBstrd]

No!


I'm a cheap guy.  Last year I bought a cheap Chinese stem from ebay to play around with my bike position.  Got it, looked fine.  Used it on my indoor bike trainer, worked fine.  Took it on a couple hour bike ride.  Seemed fine.  Second bike ride my handlebars moved a little bit when I went over a bump, so I snugged up the bolts and went home.  Where I found that the metal in the stem had stretched almost four mm, causing the looseness.  Would not have been a good situation if it had snapped off while I was descending.  You know who's doing safety and quality control on Chinese made stuff?  Nobody.

Chinese jersey?  Sure.  Chinese bottle cage?  Sure.  Chinese anything that might impact my safety?  Never again.  No stem, bars, helmets, bolts, frame, forks, wheel, spokes, nothing of the sort.  It's not worth saving a few bucks to end up unable to ride your bike or dead because of a bad accident.

Many name brands now manufacture in China, e.g. RockShox, Shimano
Your car’s seat belt may have been made in China.
That said, having a valuable name brand that people are willing to pay hundreds of dollars extra for is a big incentive to maintain the reputation of that brand and not tolerate quality or design problems. These brands lack that incentive and aren’t even held to account by retailers or OEM manufacturers as far as I can tell.

Then again, sometimes newcomers from developing countries unseat the complacent quality leaders. In the early 1970s everyone though Japanese cars would have horrible quality, but it was Ford that was devising the Pinto.

[GuitarStv]

No!


I'm a cheap guy.  Last year I bought a cheap Chinese stem from ebay to play around with my bike position.  Got it, looked fine.  Used it on my indoor bike trainer, worked fine.  Took it on a couple hour bike ride.  Seemed fine.  Second bike ride my handlebars moved a little bit when I went over a bump, so I snugged up the bolts and went home.  Where I found that the metal in the stem had stretched almost four mm, causing the looseness.  Would not have been a good situation if it had snapped off while I was descending.  You know who's doing safety and quality control on Chinese made stuff?  Nobody.

Chinese jersey?  Sure.  Chinese bottle cage?  Sure.  Chinese anything that might impact my safety?  Never again.  No stem, bars, helmets, bolts, frame, forks, wheel, spokes, nothing of the sort.  It's not worth saving a few bucks to end up unable to ride your bike or dead because of a bad accident.

Many name brands now manufacture in China, e.g. RockShox, Shimano
Your car’s seat belt may have been made in China.
That said, having a valuable name brand that people are willing to pay hundreds of dollars extra for is a big incentive to maintain the reputation of that brand and not tolerate quality or design problems. These brands lack that incentive and aren’t even held to account by retailers or OEM manufacturers as far as I can tell.

I agree completely.  No problems with stuff made in China when there's a name brand company with a reason to do their best to prevent your front fork from failing as you're bombing down a hill at 70 kph.  I have problems with stuff made in china that's cheaply sold on ebay.  It's cheap for a reason . . . cheaper quality materials, no safety testing.

Then again, sometimes newcomers from developing countries unseat the complacent quality leaders. In the early 1970s everyone though Japanese cars would have horrible quality, but it was Ford that was devising the Pinto.

Cars are very different though.  There's a licensing, safety testing, and minimum standards for every car sold.  That doesn't exist for bike parts.  Would you buy discount condoms from ebay that cost a twentieth of what the brand name ones do, but aren't tested?

The savings aren't worth the risk.

[STEMorbust]

+1 to the above. Not worth it!

If it was me, I’d find a cheap secondhand steel fork to run while I kept an eye for a discounted, reputable sus fork. More likely scenario is I’d stick to rigid steel and never look back. Get something with large clearance and run a 26+ tire at low PSI for a plush ride.