Consensus on replica frames ??

[Sakizashi]

No they're not? Velobuild for instance sells pretty much all their frames at the exact same price point, open molds, replicas, half replicas like the VB168 and so on. You're implying a lot of things here that again go back to my point exactly: It depends who you're buying from. Sure, the more money is involved, the better the knowledge of the people behind the product and therefore its quality. Hopefully anyway. But saying that open mold designers in general "have a good understanding" of the intricacies of frame design is a generalization you cannot really make IMO. There's probably a lot of sellers out there that did not design the frame or they might not even have produced it. And they might not be transparent about it. So there's more to the story IMO.

I take you point though that making something work that you did not design yourself might pose a few traps that these companies do not necessarily see coming. The question then again is how they handle it. I chose VB for this reason and luckily was not disappointed by their customer service when I needed it. Would I have bought a Pinarello badged frame from whatever seller on Aliexpress? Hell no. Would I buy another VB268? In a heartbeat. But just because it's a really nice riding bike and I like the looks of it. I couldn't care less how it compares to the real thing.

I agree with nearly all of this. The most important thing is that you love riding your bike. I do think Velobuild is an exception in terms of both price and service but my comment around pricing "generally" holds true if you are shopping on Aliexpress vs. sourcing an open mold frame.

I had left sellers out of my comment and focused on the factories and designers because I was trying to focus my rambling answer on why an open mold is inherently different than a replica. Its also complicated. Some sellers are just sellers. Some sellers are affiliated with factories. Some designers are sellers, but not factories. There are certainly factories that are not designers or sellers. Honestly, it hurts my head trying to figure out both what I want to buy and who to buy it from.

[radfactor]

If you're not confident buying from velo/replica/fakes/factory and etc, better buy second hand bike from reputable brand.
As for me, I'm willing to take the risk to buy the replica Factor O2. After countless mileage, I have zero issues, and I love it unconditionally.

[Wildh24]

I bought a workswell open mold about 7 yrs ago. Sweet looking bike but I was really unimpressed with the quality and layup. The bike was really flexy on the top tube and the headset was complete garbage.

I've been skiddish many open mold frames since. I've had no major issues with rims from most suppliers (and I beat em hard on my MTBs), but just haven't gone back to trying a frame.

[Serge_K]

I bought a workswell open mold about 7 yrs ago. Sweet looking bike but I was really unimpressed with the quality and layup. The bike was really flexy on the top tube and the headset was complete garbage.

I've been skiddish many open mold frames since. I've had no major issues with rims from most suppliers (and I beat em hard on my MTBs), but just haven't gone back to trying a frame.

That's interesting on workswell. I interacted with them a lot trying to buy from them. Ultimately, they're much more expensive than a lot of peers and they claim it's because they use japanese carbon fiber. I'm yet to understand how that makes a measurable difference. Because it's a bit like "it's got electrolytes" to me.
But workswell has a reputation of quality (now whether it's justified or not, idk), so it's interesting that you aren't happy with them.
To be fair, 7 years ago in chinese carbon terms is an eternity ago, but still.
If anyone reads this, workswell seems to have exclusivity arrangements on a country by country basis, and typically will not sell you a single frame. I managed to get quotes for 4-5 frames but it was like pulling teeth. I dont want to buy stuff from a seller that doesnt really want to sell to me.