Yeah, let's see. I'm already considering TanTanCycling as Plan B....
I like to keep my ear to the ground, and I’ve been chatting with a few sellers lately. It seems Chinese authorities have started cracking down on sellers pushing poor-quality products—apparently in response to legal action from (I’m assuming) Chinese nationals. What’s interesting is that these shutdowns don’t seem to be about counterfeiting, which you’d normally expect, and that in itself is a bit surprising.
Obviously, you’ve got to take this kind of info with a pinch of salt, but I’ve had a few sellers say similar things. Just last week, Tan Tan pulled the X68 from sale for a few days, but it’s already back up. YOHO Bike also disappeared for a week and has now returned. I’d genuinely love to know what’s going on behind the curtain.
I’m trying to educate myself and gather as much information as I can to better understand how things work when buying from these kinds of sellers—just so I can properly assess the risk. For me, the risk feels higher when buying from places like Taiwan Eisen, YOHO, Champion Bikes, or Airwolf. They all claim to be manufacturers, but let’s be honest—that’s mostly BS. Most of them are traders. Tan Tan, on the other hand, appears to be a legitimate factory (though whether they actually manufacture this specific frame is still unclear). They do have a reasonably good reputation, even if communication isn’t their strong suit. That said, I emailed Vivian about a custom paint request—I'd selected UD Raw Carbon Glossy—but apparently my order had already progressed to the point where they couldn’t change it. If they were just out for my money, they probably would’ve said yes anyway just to take more from me. So that gives me a bit more confidence.
As for the whole "how can they even make this frame?" question—well, I’ve looked through a bunch of patent info, and I haven’t found anything from Specialized in the US Patent Office that directly covers this frame design or anything close. So if there is any issue, it’s likely to fall more under trademark infringement than an actual patent violation.
I fully accept the risk I’ve taken with my purchases. But unfortunately, a lot of buyers don’t realize what they’re getting into. And I’m not really sure how dependable AliExpress is when it comes to refund claims—it’s definitely not eBay. So yeah, I hope you get your money back.
