Is this Specialized jersey a fake?

Fatal Swan

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Bought this jersey recently (from here). It feels really cheap quality to me, it has some tags attached but no Specialized tags anywhere on it. To me it looks like the knock-offs sold on http://www.cheapcyclingjersey.com/, which has the same design.

The seller says he bought it from a bike shop and insists it's genuine. Anyone have any advice for confirming authenticity? Cheers!
 

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the iP logo on there is Pearl Izumi, I don't think they have anything to do with Specialized so it is unlikely their logos would be on the same top as they are effectively competitors.

The original buyer may have bought the top in good faith though. I think it would be fair to ask for a refund and return the top if you haven't used it at all.
 
The Ken":2j5kh1hv said:
The original buyer may have bought the top in good faith though. I think it would be fair to ask for a refund and return the top if you haven't used it at all.

Why? The top was listed as brand new only, which I assume it is.

The right time to question the authenticity of an item is before you buy, regardless of the frenzy around the buying.

£15 posted for a new top seems reasonable to me even if it is a knock-off.

(I'm nothing to do with either the seller or buyer, btw)
 
Cheers guys. To clarify, I just posted this thread to ask for advice on verifying authenticity of the top one way or the other, not on what to do about it. I'm quite happy to take responsibility for my decisions when buying - as always, buying on here is our own risk to take and I'm philosophical about it.
 
I know it doesn't apply to second hand goods but the distance selling regulations were set up purely because a buyer cannot make a full judgement on the good until they have them in their hands. You can't see or feel the quality of a top from a small photo.

This top is emblazoned with Specialized logos so a buyer could rightfully expect a garment that is made to Specialized quality levels whether it is £15 or not. I don't think anyone on here would normally ask if something was a counterfeit before buying.

However we still need to accurately determine whether the top is a fake or substandard. I don't think it is but that is just an opinion - the buyer and sellers also have their opinions.
 
I'm fairly sure Retrobike would frown on counterfeit goods being deliberately sold on the site even though it isn't in the guidelines.
 
Selling counterfeit good is illegal (and poor form) - as such cannot be permitted on the site. We have expressly set this out as a rule in the Non-bike classifieds however guess we may need to add this to the rules. On the odd occasion people have listed fake stuff we've dealt with them by pulling the threads a PM asking not to list fakes again - this has always sufficed so far.

Onto this case. Hard to say if the jersey is fake or not from the pics, having seen some counterfeit pro team kit it's not so easy to tell. If it is fake I'd be asking for a refund, however if the seller claims it to be genuine there could indeed be an issue. Might be worth PMing me the details and we can go from there....
 
Personally, I'm still only seeing a bloke selling a couple of unused jersey's rather than the front to a major counterfeit operation, so as such don't really see why the seller has any real responsibility for a refund.

Fatal Swan":1qghvg02 said:
To clarify, I just posted this thread to ask for advice on verifying authenticity of the top one way or the other

It seems fairly similar to the 2011 Specialised kit made by Pearl Izumi.
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=e...&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi

The design is slightly different, but I'd imagine it's as easy to counterfeight something 100% accurate as it it 98%, that's probably not a concern.

You could go to a Specialized shop and feel the quality then compare - that's probably the only way you'll know for certain. But then you're also comparing a £45 jersey with one a third of the price (regardless of the reason) so you also have to make a decision whether you're happy with that or not. For me, the question you're asking yourself is whether it's value for £15, anything else is a bonus.

I doubt there's an accurate way to do prove it, even comparing labels, etc. As I said, I doubt it's much harder to counterfeit something accurately than almost doing the proper job.
 
I think you are missing the point Dave, I don't think Pearl Izumi makes cycling wear for Specialized - all those images are fake goods mostly sold directly from China.

Pearl izumi does do custom tops for teams so someone could commission one like this...

73040_1565873799396_1611931963_1298250_3855265_n.jpg


But I would imagine Specialized would have something to say if the top directly completed with their own products and was sold from shops.

I think this was the 2011 team jersey Specialized sold
spec_jersey_team_auth_red_11ss_m.jpg


this is the 2011 Pearl range...
http://shop.pearlizumi.com/shop.php?pc_ ... ts&outlet=
 
The Ken":2mb6ih3d said:
I think you are missing the point Dave, I don't think Pearl Izumi makes cycling wear for Specialized

I don't think I am, unless all of these shops are selling counterfeit goods?

http://hw-outdoor.com/2011-speciali...leece-long-jersey-pants-cycling-clothing.html
http://www.newecyclingjersey.net/20...izumi-cycling-short-sleeve-jersey-p-3286.html
http://www.ecyclejerseys.com/2011-specialized-pearl-izumi-cycling-short-sleeve-jersey.html
http://www.cyclinggo.com/shop-by-te...izumi-team-cycling-jersey-and-shorts-set.html

None of this is helping Fatal Swan, of course.
 
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