Track Talk
Dean Ellison talks buying cheap
Gone are the days when everything you bought ‘Made in China’ just broke first time out. China is the world’s factory and produces an incredible amount of products, goods and garments to a really high standard. However, I still see the odd poorly manufactured aftermarket product that can seem like it’s saving you money initially, but will likely disappoint you just when you need it… and you’ll have to buy the same item again but from a more recognised manufacturer.
I run a little clothing and accessory shop in Leicester and we stock some of the highest specification biking kit available. A large percentage of the stock is clearly stamped ‘Made in China’ and we very rarely see them back because of failure or defects; this includes electronics, textile gear and general aftermarket parts. So how do you decide what’s okay and what to avoid?
Mass production in China is the only way for some brands to produce goods at a competitive price. Everybody knows that production costs in China for most goods are lower than they are in other countries. There’s a number of factors contributing to these low production costs and so much more than my little brain can appreciate, but I’m not an economist, I’m a trackday instructor. I guess, in a nutshell, it’s probably owing to the combination of a one-billion-plus population, all competing for
jobs, an endless resource of component manufacturers and suppliers, and potentially differing takes on things like quality control, health and safety, and copyright laws. Whatever the score, my comments on poor-quality products are based on my own experience, they are my own opinion and without any real proof because I’ve never actually been to a factory in China and most importantly, it relates to just a handful of products I have seen fail at a trackday, because some of the best kit I own is made in China. That being the case, here’s my top five list of what to avoid buying, regardless of how attractive the pricing might be, and why…
1. Plastic brake lever guards for £16.99 with FREE next-day delivery from Amazon. I recently met someone on a trackday who had fitted one of these £16.99 brake lever protectors to meet the new requirements for attending a No Limits trackday. They looked fine and allowed the rider to get on track; however he caught it with his leg as he brushed past the bike and it snapped, which left him without a brake lever guard and he missed a full session. Consider the number of companies involved in producing this potentially lifesaving piece of safety equipment: material supplier, engineering company, assembly plant or person, export and shipping costs, import and distribution costs, then finally
the retail outlet profit margin and the VAT to be paid once sold in the UK. The reality of buying this cheap part is that it wasn’t actually fit for purpose. If that same rider had brushed the rear seat unit of another bike while out on track, it would’ve snapped immediately and potentially allowed the front brake to be forced on.
2. Paddock stands for under £30. If you just want a rear paddock stand for lubricating your chain every few months, then this kind of stand would be bearable, but if you’re racing or doing regular trackday riding it’s another one to avoid. Cheap rear paddock stands can get you by, I have bought and used the cheaper hook-type stands and they’ve done a job, although I have experienced them buckle and twist completely, scratch the swingarm, lose their wheels and in a short timeframe, they just look tatty. My biggest concern is the universal front stands though, especially the under fork leg type with the rubber protected pins designed to sit under the fork bottoms. I had just collected two Yamaha R1s for my coaching days and dropped into my local bike shop to grab two sets of ‘cheap’ paddock stands for their first outings. Everything seemed fine with the rear stands but as I lifted the front end up, the stand buckled and sent one of the bikes off the rear stand and over sideways. That was another reminder for buying cheap and buying twice.
3. Unbranded drive chains can really cost you. The difference between a genuine DID chain and rip-off copy is probably 10,000 extra miles, fewer chain adjustments and much less chance of smashing your engine cases or locking the rear wheel up. Again, I have experienced this, but I hadn’t bought the cheap chain intentionally. My Yamaha R1 was based over in Spain for the winter Euro trackdays with No Limits and I needed a few service items from a local dealer, including a new chain and sprocket set. The chain was branded DID and I paid the DID price, but after the first trackday it had stretched further than normal and at barely 500 miles it was already junk, it was stretched, it had tight spots, it sounded noisy and looked like it had done 20,000 miles without a clean or lube, it was clearly a copy DID chain.
4. Tyre warmers are a difficult one to filter out. I’ve actually had some expensive brands let me down and I’ve had to send them back too often. If you’re racing or at the front of the fast group at a trackday, then do your research and even do some of your own testing. Cheap tyre warmers can be great for the first few outings and then the performance just falls off a cliff – this can be dangerous when riding cold trackdays in February-March.
Secondly, I’ve seen tyre warmer elements burn into the rubber and wreck a brand new tyre, so that’s a good few hundred pounds wasted. So, spend as much as you can stretch to and even buy a temp gauge so that you can compare and monitor the performance of your own tyre warmers because having tyres at the right operating temperature is safer and faster.
5. Action cameras for £39.99 is another one to avoid. I know that technology moves fast and that makes not-so-old technology cheap, but the low cost and unbranded action cameras just don’t cut it. It’s good to film your sessions because you can analyse so much from the footage, but you don’t have to accept poor-quality footage in this day and age; you should have high-definition footage with anti-shake and an easy-to-use editing suite with technical support if needed. I have only ever used GoPro and Drift, but now stick with GoPro because of the quality of the raw footage and the easy-to-use editing app, especially on the Max 360 degree camera. If you have all this to hand, you will start to make better quality and more entertaining videos for your social media.