It’s the year of 2023! In the past decade, carbon fiber bicycle products have become more available to and accepted by the market. As the manufacturing processes mature, carbon fiber has out-shined its metal counterparts in every performance aspect.
Along with the technological improvement, comes the emergence of many Chinese carbon fiber brands. Many brands have gained a significant following because of their affordability and quality. Many reviewers on YouTube such as Trace Velo, or bloggers such as CyclistsHub have gained their following by testing and reviewing Chinese carbon wheels.
As one of the leaders in this field, we want to share with you on our perspectives on what factors you should consider when choosing Chinese carbon products.
1. Choose a trustworthy brand
We all know you can purchase unbranded ‘open-mold’ Chinese carbon wheels for cheap. However, it is no different from purchasing food from a street vendor and hope the food will not make you sick. A brand such as FARSPORTS that has an established history of producing high quality carbon products and great customer service is going to give you a lot of confidence. Especially many of our products have received UCI approval and have competed in the highest-level competitions. FARSPORTS wheels were the natural support wheels at 2019 Paris Roubaix and our F1 handlebar has helped Anna Kiesenhofer won 2021 Tokyo Olympic Gold Medal.
2. Paying attention to engineering not marketing
Bicycle industry is full of marketing claims and very few of them could be backed up with engineering. We are glad to see more consumers are becoming more conscious before making the purchase. Reviewers such as Hambini and Peak Torque are great resources to discuss the engineering principles behind bicycle products. We encourage you to give their content a watch and judge products based on the engineering, not simply by country of origin. FARSPORTS has been invested heavily into R&D and rolling out upgraded products every year since 2015. All our current offerings are all well-tested and well-received by the market and we are continuing adding products to complete/upgrade our product lines.
3. Availability
Covid has greatly disrupted the bicycle supply chain. In the past year, we have seen so many traditional bicycle brands suffering limited inventory or long lead time. Many brands that choose to outsource every part of the products tend to suffer more than brands that decide to do internal development. FARSPORTS has been developing our own rims, hubs, and spokes for the past decades. That is why we still have good control over our production capabilities and quality control process during this trying time.
In conclusion, Chinese carbon brands are worth considering. They offer great competitions to the traditional brands. More competition in the market is always a good thing for the consumer. Just like Japanese cars that have proven themselves in the market, Chinese bicycle brands are here to stay.
