5 Quick And Easy Ways To Tell If Your Shimano Chain Is A Counterfeit Before You Install It

[@cliffmcleroy8168]

The thing that alerted me to an issue is that the chain hangs on the jockey wheel pulley, and sure enough, the links are narrower than other 11 speed shimano chains I have. I had put this chain on my Amazon wish list and received it as an xmas present. Live and learn.

[@Phonamana]

Thanks for the video. I ended up with the fake one too. I went to go order another chain from Amazon recently and I clicked on where I bought it from and of course the link was taken down...thank goodness. I had paid about $35 on Amazon for the fake chain that I got before so, it wasn't like I was saving money. The local shop near me sold me one for $4 less and it was a 126 instead of 116 link chain so, it was a bonus to get some extra chain to toss in my bike bag to use in case of emergency. I just happened to have held onto my old box and the bag that came with it. All of the things you mentioned in the video was the same that I found. The check on the fake one was printed and the real one had a blue marker for the check in the box. On both front and back there was different fonts. What they told me at the shop about the fake chains is someone told them the plastic packaging bag was different. My fake one was a thicker plastic and it felt kind of like plastic from a shower curtain. On the back and even in your video at 1:13 where it starts to say Not Reusable, the text font is so much larger on the fake one. I've bought other parts that I could not tell if I got legit bike parts or counterfit like tires or lube. I am never buying expensive bike parts from Amazon again unless it's the actual company selling on there. The same for stuff like tires or lube too because we don't know if we are getting the real stuff or counterfeit stuff. The fake chains being sold on Amazon give Amazon a black eye! I will recommend to people to buy from the local shop or direct from a company. We want real parts on our bikes that help it run more effeciently and not cause as much damage as a counterfeit parts can. For the record, I am not saying all bike shops are good either. Everyone needs to be careful where we buy bike parts from. Thank you Joey Mesa for making a video about this to help bring this to people's attention!

[@energyideas]

Thanks for the video. In my opinion, my new chain is counterfeit. Packaging says Shimano American Corporation, not like it should say Shimano North American Bicycle, Inc. Three parallelograms on front of packaging should all be silver, one isn't. But mostly this chain almost destroyed my wheel which is worth $1k. On first ride was chunky operating. Chain jumped off cassette and lodged in-between spokes and cassette and twisted to point of no longer usable. Ebay purchase, should have known better. Thanks for the video.

[@Toob41]

That's a much better comparison than your previous video. Thanks.

[@JoeyMesa]

Glad you think so!

[@bikemike488]

From Bicycle Retailer (September 26, 2017) "Effective immediately, Shimano American Corporation has had its name changed to Shimano North America Holding, Inc. Under its umbrella will be Shimano North America Bicycle, Inc. and Shimano North America Fishing, Inc." So the writing on the back of the box is not a surefire way to distinguish real from fake. Just that if it has "Shimano American Corporation" it's older stock.

[@sam8m8]

Hey Joey, I received a hg701 chain (FAKE) that had the short & long machining on the rear side. It seemed like a good fake apart from the packaging differences which were the giveaway. Thank you for your help

[@JoeyMesa]

You're very welcome!

[@AK-qo6tx]

I bought Shimano parts (cassette, shift cables, chain, pedals, shoes, front and rear derailleur) from both Jenson USA, Performance bike and Chain Reaction back in 2015-2018 and all the boxes I have say Shimano American corporation". Does that mean they are all fake? The only box that have Shimano North America Inc is my Ultegra crankset from Backcountry.

[@mytoyota80]

The chance of us getting fake Shimano are through ebay and Amazon. Less likely to happen at big bike name parts store.... well that's my assumption. Chainreaction has a lot of OEM parts that are in a plain brown and plastic bags back in the day before they quit selling Shimano to USA.

[@denis_roy_7]

Good to know Joey. Thanks!

[@JoeyMesa]

You're welcome sir!!!

[@fred7921]

Thanks

[@Emtbtoday]

Quick links on the real are inside the bag with the chain fakes are separate on 12 speed so watch out for this and real will have a blue Tick and not balck tick printed on bottom right corner at 12s

[@bekahride]

Not true mate. Quick links are also in a seperate bag with 12s chains.

[@Avram1919]

Thats messed up that those counterfeit parts are soo widely sold. You would think Shimano would be all over that stuff... Thanks for the video

[@JoeyMesa]

Tell me about it! I got another one today. It's out of control!!!

[@TonyFernandezjkdjedi]

Gold thanks!!

[@JoeyMesa]

Happy to help!

[@denis_roy_7]

Merci!

[@JoeyMesa]

Thanks Denis!!! I really appreciate your support, it means a lot to me!!!

[@denis_roy_7]

@@JoeyMesa You deserve it Joey. I did not know you were fluent in Spanish. Hence your name?

[@jimmie999999999]

mine is a CN-HG701-11 AND THE FRONT HAS ONLY 2 SILVER STRIPES BUT THE BACK SAYS SHIMANO NORTH AMERICA BICYCLE, INC. Is it fake? it has attributes of both and i got it from a bike shop for 70 bucks

[@littlewing1208]

I think the two silver one white is found on authentic 701 Shimano chains. I think only the 901 has 3 silver

[@samtingwong8627]

Arrest the fake manufacturers

[@bobstigler]

Do they perform differently???

[@floydwilliams8595]

Yes...cheaper metal.

[@JoeyMesa]

Yes. Noisier, poorer shifting, plus they wear out much quicker, and will eat up your cassette/chainrings much quicker as well.

[@Eileen-i3h]

I bought one not sold as a name brand so I new it was a cheap Chinese chain. I have ridden and done maintenance for many years so I know my equipment. I was shocked at how good it worked at the start but it very quickly got bad and started making noise and all the normal symptoms of a worn out chain. I would say I got a month out of it which is under 500 miles.

[@kkaarrllooss01]

Yes I have the fake one and genuine one, both waxed. The fake wears the wax after 100km, whilst the original around 600km. The wax just don't stick to it well, even with all the needed preparations. It's a lot noisier, and has slacker pins. The weight is the same as I checked. Recently got to a bike camp and took 2 chains with me, after 500 kms, switched to the fake one that was freshly waxed, it got noisy and squeaky after one big ride, needed to get back to original one.

[@agustinvaltierra6135]

Vaya, quién iba a imaginarse que una marca tan prestigiosa pudiera permitir que los piratas explotaran su buen nombre y le dieran “gato por liebre” al incauto e indefenso consumidor cuando bastaría, no única medida, desde luego, pero sí muy alertadora, conque en las etiquetas, empaques e instructivos anexos de cada uno de sus productos, en este caso la Cadena, advirtiera a los consumidores con la leyenda: Asegúrese de que esta Cadena traiga el correspondiente grabado que enseguida se ilustra, impreso a presión en cada eslabón, de no ser así tenga la seguridad de que se trata de una falsificación. Y alguna adicional como: Nuestros productos Shimano únicamente los podrá obtener en establecimientos registrados y de prestigio. En sí no tengo nada contra lo barato ni el procurar ahorrarse en lo posible algunos pesos, de hecho alguna vez he logrado eso y no me ha dado tan mal servicio lo adquirido, lo que sí repudio es el engaño, la estafa, el pretender dar gato por liebre y cobrarlo como si fuera algo de alta Calidad cuando te están vendiendo puras corrienturas que además darán un pésimo servicio.

[@JoeyMesa]

Sí, definitivamente es muy engañoso fabricar un producto que es una copia de baja calidad de una pieza genuina. Siento que parte de la culpa debería ser de Shimano por 1, no mantenerse al día con la demanda cuando la pandemia estaba en pleno apogeo, y 2, ¡no hacer lo suficiente para eliminar estos productos falsificados! Creo que va a ser necesario que todos ayudemos a educar a las personas que no entienden las diferencias y, con suerte, estas empresas que producen los productos falsos dejarán de existir. ¡Gracias por tomarse el tiempo para dejar un comentario detallado!

[@Colin-nb6iv]

You Tube will not let me view this video stating I have an ad blocker which I do not have. Even if I click allow ads it still will not allow me to view.

[@Trple777]

I think everyone jumps on these “fake” videos too quickly. There has to be another explanation because who is going to copy to the letter a bike chain model, including the printing and the box? No one. It’s much easier to manufacture it under your own brand and sell it cheaper than to pretend to be someone else’s brand. I installed one of these on my ten speed duraace bike and have had zero issues. Even Jenson Bike is selling them so I’m sure they’re legit.

[@JoeyMesa]

That's the thing, they're not "copied to the letter". They're close enough to fool someone who doesn't see them and install them everyday. I have yet to see a counterfeit 10 speed Shimano chain. I've seen several 11 speed versions. Probably because Shimano has had problems keeping up with demand, but mostly some folks just want a really good deal...

[@sinosoul]

They're selling their own branded chains at less than 50% of the fakes. So yah, it's easier to mfg under your own "racerider" brand, but they're making 50% extra margin by producing the take. Multiple it by thousands they sell on temu/ali, etc. There's your reason.