super super cheap Specialized epic

[Zaskar09]

yip, just remember alibaba wasn't one of the forty thieves!

[Caerus]

yip, just remember alibaba wasn't one of the forty thieves!

 

Comeback quote of the weekend

[King_Crispy]

Fake, I e-mailed them and got a whole long story back from an Amy. I did a bit of scratching and found that the company used to trade under a different name, but have been banned from Alibaba. Only a matter of time till the new company will be banned also.

[Zaskar09]

Fake, I e-mailed them and got a whole long story back from an Amy. I did a bit of scratching and found that the company used to trade under a different name, but have been banned from Alibaba. Only a matter of time till the new company will be banned also.

 

Who? The Dominic Robin guy?

[Redbaobab]

Slightly off topic but I used a site similar to this when I bought my wifes wedding dress, the site claimed to be the mass production factory for all the designer dresses you find in the boutique shops, it turned out that all they do is copy the dress as accurately as possible (Think of the Hong Kong Rolex knock offs). In our case we didn't really care the dress was still exactly what we were looking for at a fraction of the price but in the case of a bike you'll probably look like a bit of a fool on an 'almost' specialized or maybe that's a completely specialised bike - maybe they could correct the spelling while they are at it

[Aggies]

Looking at this topic and the complete history, it seems like a lot of people is searching for cheap bikes or components, then find it, but don't trust the source as it might be a scam.

 

On this note have anyone ever visited the site http://www.mtbikeonline.com/

 

If you look at the prices, it is waaaaayyyyy lower than what you would pay in SA (even with the 15% import duties and 14% Vat)

 

Once again - can you trust the source?????

[intern]

Sing along to the tune of that Montypython song 'spam, spam, spam, spam': scam, scam, scam, scam, scam, scam....the syntax of that reply email has all the hallmarks of west african 'heckas'. Caveat emptor, ekse.

[chris_w_65]

Anything too good to be true is exactly that, TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE

 

I responded to a Gumtree ad just for fun, the deal was too good to be true. Below is the responce I received. It is the same responce (word for word) that I received 3 weeks ago on a different ad. I am pretty sure that the seller will be providing the account details for the Escrow account

 

Hi,

I received an e-mail from you regarding my bike. Are you still interested?

I put the bike on sale last week, but do not know what happened with gumtree and it appeared late on the site. I moved with my son in Italy because he went to study here and he have a locomotory problem and i can not leave him alone. I didn't tried to sell the bike here yet, because is very difficult with my language.

If you're a serious buyer, I am willing to send the bike to you, so that you can check it, but only if you agree to use an escrow company. In this way we are both protected and we have some guarantees. We pay for shipping from 50-50. It is about 10-12 pounds per person.

The bike is in excellent condition, has not been used very much, because after I bought it my son had health problems and I could not use it anymore. No scratches or other problems. I will try to find the receipt from it, but in this house is a total mess with all this lagguage.

I tried to buy a phone number for Italy, but is a very weak signal area so I prefer to use the internet for communication until i solves the problem. You can try to call me on number: 003956821579 but I do not know if it works.

Please respond if you're interested, because I really need the money in this moments.

 

Thank you

[chris_w_65]

With Escrow, the payment gets held by a third party untill the buyer receives the goods. If he doesn't receive it, escrow returns the money to the buyer. Relatively safe i think?

 

I bet you R50.00 the seller will supply the Escrow details

[Weight Weenie]

Aggies that site has been suspended....

[chris_w_65]

Check out this link and reply, tell him you are interested in the bike and see what response you get

 

http://www.gumtree.com/london/10/67892110.html

[George Nel]

I'll take a S Works ,seriously!

[javadude]

I'll take a S Works ,seriously!

 

You're going to lose your money, seriously!

[George Nel]

i KNOW,SERIOUSLY!

[chris_w_65]

I'll take a S Works ,seriously!

 

I will save you 50% of your cash. Pay half the money into my account

[Don1]

Guys dont even consider this - you will lose your money. Specialized S -works epic 29er frame 2011 for USD 1500, delivered via UPS. I have been investigating this for the last month. I currently import parts from Shangai for other business (non cycling stuff) . I have a relationship with a long standing exporter and i trust them completely . I have liased with all the guys in China / Indonesia with regards to the s-works epic 29er frame. They all quote Escrow on thier sites, yet when it comes down to the nitty gritty, they all say "sorry we dont accept escrow currently". I then ask my contact to check out these companies on his side, I also advise the "sellers" that I am sending a local contact to verify my purchase before I make the transfer. The supplier goes dead, simply stops communicating and my contact gets back to me everytime saying the same thing " Dear Value customer an friend , I suggest you will take beeg risk and lose money, but I keep looking for you". Nothing. Apparantly a) you will be scammed and lose your money or b ) they will ship a frame and it will be a poor rip off of the s-works, it wont weigh the same, it wont have the stiffness you think your getting for an s-works and obviously the carbon used is not the same. So you will get something that looks like an s-works (nice paint job) - but you will only impress the untrained eye, you will know its fake, and end up tossing it in the back of the garage.

 

Having said that - the only reason I started looking on Alibaba etc was because specialised SA service sucks!, The local (Pretoria) specialized stockers dont have stock...ever, and the ones that do have are 2010 Large only for like R36 000 (normal epic s-works, not even the 29er). So I contact Specialised South Africa to ask them if they can source me a small 2011 frame from else where. They dont even respond to my e-mails, they dont have telephone numers to contact them, its as if they are non existent. I currently ride an epic comp carbon (2010) and would like to upgrade. Perhaps I should upgrade to to another brand totally.