Angles90 and copycats
Written by: Angles90
A Chinese company is illegally copying our main product. They’re using the same grip shape and even the same colour for a fraction of our price, just with another brand name! What a great deal and alternative!
...or not?
Opting for copied products instead of the original one does not only open up a discussion about morals. It's about plain numbers and quality also.
Especially people outside the business world, sadly, often don't see that simply everything has its price - and so do copied Angles90 versions from China. Those price differences not alone only stem from a clearly superior quality (we talk about it soon). Research, patent application, product development and especially client-education costs play an extensive part on the end price tag of every innovative product.
Back to quality: We tested all so far (and partly not anymore) existent copycats. We came up with six characteristics that expose how the product looks, tastes and especially feels inferior:
- More slippery
Their surface material is much more slippery. Honestly speaking, this won't make your workout unsafe, but it extremely decreases your grip- and thus pull power. The heavier you go in your pull workouts, the more this becomes an issue.
- Strap getting longer over time
Only a few strap materials on the market keep their original size and length the same after extensive usage. The copycat doesn't use them. After only a few workout sessions, its strap got noticeably longer, which makes certain exercises no longer implementable. Moreover, it decreases the product's loading capacity.
- The strap was already longer!
It is longer than ours by approximately 5cm (2 inches). This decreases your range of motion on main Angles90 exercises, namely lat pulldowns, deadlifts and barbell rows.
- Security issue 1: The sewn part
It's getting a bit technical now. As you can see in the picture, they made the sewn part of the strap too long. This pushes the stitching directly into the thin strap slits when you pull the strap from the other side. The extra stress on the sewing as the weakest strap-part results in decreased longevity, and thus security of the athlete.
- Security issue 2: Max. weight?! It sounded very suspicious to us that the company states the exact same max resistance as we do (400 lb / 180 kg per grip). Why? Not only do we use other materials as stated above, but there are also reviews stating the straps of the fake Angles90 grips snapped.
- Overall bad manufacturing The first picture says it all ...
Last but not least....
Apart from copying our product, they even copy our texts and - no, we are not joking - our pictures displaying our models together with our own products. Here just two examples.
Angles90 Official Website
Mostgrip Listing
Angles90 Official Website
Mostgrip Listing
"If you have the patent, why don't you stop them?"
Well, we do by blocking new listings on Alibaba, Amzon & co. on a weekly basis. However, since they don't really hurt us, we’re taking our time with suing them. After all, the more they sell, the more we will win back later in court.
Finally, please don't get fooled by the countless fake reviews (luckily they are easily recognizable). Also, don't get fooled by "fake clients" who post the copycat product, but then tag Angles90 on social media.
A little hint: If there is (white) lettering on the strap, it's a fake Angles90 grip. If it has another colour, it's a fake grip too. If it's not sold on our website or on one of our very few selected resellers, it's fake too.
"If you copy such a "simple" product, why is the outcome clearly inferior?"
In short, we have strong indicators that those companies are far away from being conscious about what they sell and to whom they do. How the grips feel in your hands is actually everything! So it's a way more important criterion compared to most other plastic sports goods. Most likely that's the reason why those companies didn't invest in high-tier production machines- and manpower that makes our quality premise possible ... or because they wanted to keep investments low because, in turn, they are aware that once we find them, they will get blocked soon.
To conclude, there are a hundred problems we care more about than those copycats, but maybe you care next time when deciding between an original or fake product.