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.

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!

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.

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.

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

Good to know Joey. Thanks!

Thanks

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

Gold thanks!!

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.

Merci!

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

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.

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

Do they perform differently???

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.

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.