There is nothing wrong with outsourcing to China if the quality control is right, almost every major automotive manufacturer has at least some manufacturing capability there......There is a lot of good kit made there when it's monitored and manufactured properly - the problem comes if the quality control is not right.
There is always a reason why something is cheap, all you have to do is figure out what that reason is. I have seen too many far eastern manufactured levers go wrong to fit them on my bike.
Sometimes they break, sometimes they bind, sometimes they are OK.
The pattern levers may look OK, and for a while they may be work OK, but past experience has taught me it's not until you go for that big handful of brake lever in a serious situation though that you can find out there is a manufacturing flaw and the lever blade can part company with the lever pivot.
Maybe Pazzo/Titax/ASV/CRG are over priced, but personally I will either pay that price or run genuine levers.
Maybe Arai/Shoei/AGV/Nolan helmets are also overpriced - but I will also wear those in preference to Nitro/Takachi/Nankai. They all meet the same EC standard, but we all know there is more than just a price difference in the way they are made.
I don't use Chinese brake pads either - I stick with the more expensive but proven products.
We all do what we do...sometimes we get away with cutting corners and sometimes we don't. I gamble enough with my riding skills as it is lol - I am not going to up the odds anymore ....
I have sold cheap shit over the years and I have sold quality stuff - I know what I prefer to sell and I know what is easiest to sell....and it's not the shit ...and that isn't down to price.
There is product liability insurance on all reputably manufactured product, it is a UK legal requirement so if the worst happens there is some come back.
I would be very surprised if some back street sweatshop in Hong Kong has that sort of cover in place - if he doesn't (and he almost certainly wont) he has no need nor reason to closely monitor quality control. At teh end of the day - you get what you pay for, deep down guys - you all know that
Ride safe out there
