Prologo made in China?

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antprok
Posts: 24
Joined: Sun Jan 24, 2016 11:22 am

by antprok

Its my first topic here. The last weeks I notice a lot of listings for Prologo saddles at the chinese shops.
What's the story with them?
Are they real Prologo? Are they fake Prologo? Any comparison to the real thing?

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PSM
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by PSM

Probably fake. People don't like fakes here.

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antprok
Posts: 24
Joined: Sun Jan 24, 2016 11:22 am

by antprok

Deal but why especially prologo and not Fizik, San Marco, Selle Italia etc etc?


ipenguinking
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Location: Sunny So Cal

by ipenguinking

Those are fake. But FYI Prologo is a division of Velo who is based in Taiwan.

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F45
Posts: 1077
Joined: Wed Jun 08, 2011 6:08 am

by F45

There is one Asian factory that makes 95% of the saddles in the world.

Fiery
Posts: 420
Joined: Sat Mar 16, 2013 9:21 am

by Fiery

And that factory is Velo, the parent company of Prologo. But the various China direct Prologo-branded saddles are knockoffs; very well often it will be a copy of San Marco Aspide or Selle SMP with Prologo branding. It is definitely a popular brand there for some reason, but I see a lot of fake Time and Colnago saddles as well.

antprok
Posts: 24
Joined: Sun Jan 24, 2016 11:22 am

by antprok

I am talking specifically on the prologo navo zero ii pas, not the carbon oem saddles.
Its the version with chromium rails about 260g and they sell at around 46 usd

antprok
Posts: 24
Joined: Sun Jan 24, 2016 11:22 am

by antprok

my mistake kapa evo pas actually although they mention zero ii its the kapa evo

trailflow1
Posts: 20
Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2015 8:30 am

by trailflow1

Heres my Prologo Zero Pas II i got from Aliexpress. It didnt come with any original packaging. Weight is 254 grams. It has the logo imprinted underneath and feels and looks properly made. There are no tell tale signs of a fake and it is as well constructed as any other saddle ive bought. The padding felt abit firm at first but has softened up. The only problem i got after some riding, some of the red colour dye has seeped into the white area and gone a pinkish colour. Apart from that its been problem free.

If it is counterfeit, they put alot of effort into it. Why bother ? When there are much more desirable/profitable saddles to copy.

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PSM
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Location: Stockholm, The Arctic...

by PSM

Looks like a cheap original Prologo to me...

CeeJayCee
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Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2016 1:59 pm

by CeeJayCee

I own an original Prologo Kappa PAS (bought from CRC) and a fake bought from Taiwan through an eBay seller. I had both side by side and they are absolutely 100% identical, down to the moulded stamps on the underside. The padding was identical in feel as was the saddle cover. The rails were identical in length and markings. There was absolutely no difference that I could find and I examined them thoroughly...however the fake was 28g heavier and the only place that the weight could be coming from was the rails. Perhaps they were solid on the fake saddle and hollow on the genuine article, I don't know. I still have both and both have been used regularly over the last two years on my two bikes. Both are wearing the same and wearing very well. Both are the same colour (black with red & white detailing) and the red at the nose of the saddle has started to wear off on both saddles in the exact same place (both my bikes are set up identically and so I sit in the same position on both saddles)

I am absolutely convinced that the 'fake' saddle is the real deal however made with cheaper rails. I cannot see how a 'counterfeiter' can come up with something so positively identical to the real article. They simply have to be made in the same factory from the same materials (with exception to the rails possibly)

Marin
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Location: Vienna Austria

by Marin

Or they just used rails from another bin in the "night shift" :)

mattr
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by mattr

Or it's an OE version of the saddle. With solid rails.

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2lo8
Posts: 551
Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2016 10:32 am

by 2lo8

There's always the chance that either a factory is selling OEM meant for production bikes, or they sell a line for the domestic Chinese market. There's a lot on Taobao, so that may very well be the case.
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