My trusty Focus Cayo frame died a death in the spring, and I needed to get something in quick to keep riding. Rather than rush a very expensive decision, I got something cheap in from China to tide me over the summer. Flet like a bit of a risk, but I'm not road racing anymore (only track) so I figured it was worth a bit of an experiment.
Was riding around on this all summer and autumn... £350 frame/fork/seatpost set from China, wheels were already mine, all the other bits transfered over from the old bike
Expected to hate it, but it actually rides a lot better than I expected. A few issues with seatpost slip, but other than that it's bee pretty great. Got me round some sportives, Ride London, and a trip over to the Belgium cobbles.
So much so, I havn't gotten round to even thinking about replacing it with something... more branded. I still get some shifty side eye looks from club mates about it, but it's not like it's pretending to be anything other than what it is, and the thought of dropping £1k or more on a branded frame seems ridiculous now.
Anyone else rocking a "grey" Chinese import, or thought about it in the past?