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Imagine this: you’ve just received these brand-new Pro Team bib shorts, 92% off the official Castelli model. You’re ecstatic. Except it’s not a bargain. It’s a chemically dangerous counterfeit that will spend four hours glued to your private parts on every bike ride. Welcome to the Wild West of Chinese e-commerce, where fake and low-cost aren’t just about a logo: it’s a wide-open door to the massive import of toxic products that should never have crossed European borders. And many cyclists love these cheap products, direct cousins of fast-fashion.
By Guillaume Judas – Photo: All rights reserved
You’ve just received your bib shorts for €19.90. They look exactly like the Q36.5 Dottore Clima (€290) or the Assos Tudor Pro Replica (€275). You think: “I’ve gamed the system.” In reality, the system is gaming you: 69% of products tested on Shein and Temu are dangerous for health. I’m not saying it, UFC-Que Choisir is, having analyzed 160 products in October 2025.
For clothing, the German consumer protection magazine Öko-Test focused particularly on products sold by Shein, and found heavy metals and chemicals dangerous for the environment in two-thirds of cases.
As for AliExpress, the cyclists’ favorite platform – which claims to sell products “of the same quality as the originals or direct from the factory without intermediaries” (sic) – it is under threat of a heavy fine from the European Commission for having “breached its obligation to assess and mitigate risks related to the dissemination of illegal products.”
AliExpress also seems to suffer from the same problems as Temu, as shown by an investigation by Korean authorities into toxic substances found in children’s clothing.
So, still want to “game the system”?
The standards in question
When you buy a real Castelli or Rapha jersey, you also pay for – and above all – compliance with REACH standards. No phthalates, no carcinogenic aromatic amines, no heavy metals in dyes, no nonylphenol ethoxylate. On AliExpress, many sellers offer more or less perfect copies that circumvent all these rules. How? By declaring their packages as free samples or bicycle spare parts to customs. The result: no systematic control, no traceability.
And what about the famous SGS certificates or REACH compliant proudly displayed on product sheets? Most are crude fakes. Come on, do you seriously think a crooked manufacturer who makes counterfeits wouldn’t also Photoshop a fake PDF? Please…
On these platforms, there are still non-counterfeit products — therefore more legal, as they come directly from Chinese factories and unknown brands here. There is obviously less risk than buying a fake Castelli. But the too-low price alone should alert you. Shein and Temu are not known for selling counterfeits, but that doesn’t stop them from not complying with standards.
Do you really want to gamble with your health?
The health risks
The scandal doesn’t stop there. A jersey, socks, shoes that don’t meet standards… okay, we see what that means. What Shein or Temu customer hasn’t seen a T-shirt shrink on the first wash or bleed color onto their neck skin? But things become much more serious with cycling helmets and glasses. There, it’s a direct safety issue. Nothing guarantees that your €10 Oakley imitations truly protect you from UV rays. And in case of a fall, the lens will be far from unbreakable. If you then want to wear Captain Hook’s eye patch, that’s up to you.
And to get back to your famous bib shorts: know that the skin of the perineum absorbs up to ten times more substances than that of the arm. You pedal, you sweat, you open the door wide to endocrine disruptors if they are present in your counterfeit bib shorts.
So yes, you will pay €250 for Assos or Rapha bib shorts. Or maybe €70 for Van Rysel bib shorts, probably also made in China, but compliant with European standards. And you will no longer play chemical roulette with your testicles. Because prostate cancer doesn’t offer an 85% discount.
Want to ride safe? Pay the price or switch to organic cotton. But stop treating your body like Shenzhen’s chemical dump.
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