This leads to the question, is there a huge quality difference between the Chinese and Comet brand tav30?
I ask because it appears to me there is a difference. I have a comet brand 30 on one bike and noticed that the shifting is smoother and just seems nicer. It’s hard to put my finger on it, but it just seems better.
As a test, I bought some series 30 Comet branded drivers. I’m gonna try putting them on the Chinese knock off kits. So everything will be Chinese except for the driver itself. Be interesting to see if this changes anything.
It seems the driven side is harder to get separately with the comet brand. You can buy the Chinese ones cheaply, but I’ve never seen the comet driven side for a fair price. But my theory is that the driver side gives most of the feel and quality. So I’m betting that may make the Chinese kit seem better. On the driven side, maybe just using a genuine comet spring would change things?
I will report back after my experiment completes.
The Chinese knock off‘s are really a good price point. At $52 including shipping, they are hard to deny. A genuine comet series 30 will cost about three to four times that. But I’m sure there is a quality difference and that’s what I want to determine
There’s some things I like about the Chinese kit’s. For example, I like how they secure the plastic cover. They bolted in place with four bolts. On the original comet brand they just snap in place.