Modern Vespa

I'm thinking of doing a brake upgrade on my 2021 vespa gts 300.
But after looking at the prices.
I stil got to save up a little bit.
I was thinking about brembo and frando callipers.
But then i was thinking how everything these days comes from China. And had a quick look on aliexpress and saw plenty of brakecalipers for around the €50 mark.
But i can't find any reviews on them. Anybody here already tested these or others from aliexpress.

[url]Ik heb net dit geweldige item op AliExpress gevonden. Bekijk het nu! €38.59 42%OFF | 40Mm Montage Motorfiets Schijfrem Calipè 4 Zuiger Voor Yamaha Kawasaki Suzuki Crossmotor Wijzigen Hf6 Frando Adelin
https://a.aliexpress.com/_EzR0BTF

Because i think these could do the job and save a lot of money. But not sure if it is the way to go.
Thanks for anny input.
(Sorry if my englisch is not always correct but i'm from Belgium)

Don't make any compromises with your life! Keep your hands off this life-threatening shit. If you want an upgrade, then spend money and do it properly or leave everything as it is.

I understand wat you mean. But the original brakes are also chinese hengtong or something like that.
And i think even brembo's are now made in China. And i think also the other brands are all manufactored in China. Most things we buy from sip and other shops are rebranded chinese or made there. Thats why i am asking. And then you have Taiwan also and there are better parts. Kymco,Sym are from Taiwan. But i dont know if aliexpress is all chinese or also Taiwan stuff.

Don't buy anything from aliexpress that might require the later assistance of a dentist or firefighter.

I know that many of the parts come from Asia. On the one hand, this is not bad per se, but it's NOT a quality criterion either.

The original Heng Tong at least have a type test and regular quality assurance from Piaggio.

If you want to buy from the accessories, look for a "Allgemeine Betriebserlaubnis" (ABE) by German KBA, for example. I have no idea whether there are similar requirements/testing for safety-relevant parts in road traffic in Belgium.

I have a theory (that I've pulled out of thin air and can't back up) that most of the Chinese bike parts on AliExpress and other sites are identical to the authentic parts. As mentioned, most parts are made in China. I can't see how a Chinese company could develop or even copy authentic brands' merchandise, manufacture it and sell the small amounts that they do and make much profit. My guess (and it's just a guess) is that the Chinese parts are made on the same machinery as the authentic brands and they just make extra that they sneakily sell on. I bought brake and clutch levers for my motorcycle from China that I couldn't distinguish from Pazo levers that cost six times as much.

I upgraded the calipers on both my 2015 and 2018 GTSs. The first got Brembo on the front and Frando rear, and the other Frando back and front, all purchased from SIP.

In both cases the upgrade was a big improvement, giving me a lot more confidence riding. Powerful braking with just fingertip pressure. I felt the Brembo calipers had a bit more "feel", but the difference was minimal. The Frandos certainly look a lot nicer than the Brembos.

The new 2023 model comes with Brembo master cylinders and Nisin calipers. They are an improvement, but not quite as good as the calipers I fitted. But I have bought some sintered pads for my new scoot, haven't fitted them yet.

There is a difference between a brand like Brembo setting up manufacturing operations in China and a Chinese factory spitting out inexpensive brakes to be sold on aliexpress.

What is wrong with your OEM brakes that a cheap aliexpress option would be an upgrade?

This is true, in many cases minus the rigorous QC checks. A few extra unbranded Callaway golf clubs or Air Jordans coming off the production line are not responsible for stopping 400lbs going 65mph.

We, I mean the company I work for, have several manufacturing operations in China. All of which work according to our parts and processes specifications and quality systems.
The products produced there are with respect to quality and performance fully equal to the same products we produce, or did produce, in Europe or in the US.

But many of our products are copied and offered through channels we don't do business with. And there we meet the whole scala of products that are indeed genuine to absolute bullshit, mostly with markings and logo's and all to make it look genuine. Sometimes we inform channels that they should stop offering these products. Much more than using infringment of our company name and logo we mostly cannot do. The fact is that it is not possible to stop the trade in fake products. Maybe one channel stops but then another one will take over.

My point is that if you do buy anything that looks like, or is presented as, a genuine product through suspect channels, you have absolutely no idea what you are buying. And don't think these guys have a conscience and will not sell you dangerous stuff.

When it is an innocent product, like a sticker or so, you can try your luck, but when it is brake parts, or tyres, things like that, then no way.

nope

The OEM brakes are Brembo designed and developed for Piaggio. This was done way back when the GT200 came to the market.

yet everyone else I've seen on this forum says the GTS brakes were by Grimeca* and/or Heng Tong until the GTS '2023'

GTS '2023' has Nissin on the front and ByBre (Brembo) on the rear

* was that gts or other vespa models?

Piaggio used Brembo to advise and consult and essentially help develop the braking system for the GT200. The brakes then get made by whoever gets the contract.

Piaggio was using the same Grimeca caliper in the early 1990s and started the switch to Heng Tong calipers around 1996. The Vespa Granturismo came to market in 2003. We used to switch the OEM Vespa front caliper for the one from the Runner, which is identical in every way except that it is red.
There is a surprising amount of interchangeability between early Brembo and Grimeca calipers, but this is likely because of competition for contracts with Italian motorcycle manufacturers during production runs of particular models, and reliance on shared suppliers for some of the same components.

In addition to Vespa, Aprilia, Benelli, Beta, CPI, Derbi, Factory, Fantic, GasGas, Gilera, Honda HM, Malaguti, MBK (Yamaha), Peugeot, Piaggio, Rieju and Yamaha have used the same caliper in production models. Aprilia used this caliper in the early 1990s, about ten years before Piaggio bought Aprilia.

Piaggio has bought and installed Brembo calipers and master cylinders on some of their production vehicles, but asking Brembo to design a caliper and then having their biggest competitor make it is like asking your wife where to take your girlfriend for dinner.

A few years back, I traveled a number of times in the Russian Far East. In the towns near the Chinese border, you could browse through large outdoor markets. You would see a fair amount of name brand clothing from China at very low prices. Now this may have been from periodic unsold overproduction intended for American or European buyers - or it could have been factory seconds - or it could have been deceptive copies. I'd guess it could be the same with parts sold by AliExpress. Could be any of the above, and you wouldn't know unless something went wrong. I might take the chance with jeans, but not with brake parts.