Btw, I was trying to avoid buying a copy frame when I got the LTK268 / tt-x21 / 099 . Turns out it was a Dolan Ares or Lokka Ranger.
I wonder if there is a true open mold frame out there for people who want to avoid copied / homage frames.
Apologies to Dolan, but I wonder where they source the Ares frameset from.
Here's a Road.CC Bike at Bedtime article from Feb '22. It says the Dolan Ares was released somtime in '21.
https://road.cc/content/feature/bike-bedtime-check-out-dolan-ares-road-bike-289985I bought my X21 in Nov '20, and it had already been out a couple of months at least.
Regardless, I don't think the issue is with "homage" frames. I think the issue with the S5 knockoff is kind of a similar issue with the Trek Madone knockoffs. Could the isospeed decoupler on a Madone really be replicated on a knock-off? Similarly, the S5 knockoff looks the part, if that's what you want. I'm trying to imagine what building a bike from that frame and handlebar set up must be like.
I think with a supplier like VB, you at least have a know quantity with the Chris collective. Just look at all the build issues that have been worked out on this forum.
Whoever does an S5 build is going to be the guinea pig, but I feel like you'll have an audience at least.