A few days ago, a series of videos started spreading on Chinese TikTok and various other platforms. The first one showed a cyclist whose brakes failed during a downhill, causing him to crash. He was using the Magene QED groupset, as, being Chinese, he wanted to have complete Chinese components build to support his own domestic brands in China. But is Magene really at fault? Letโs look at the case more closely, from an objective viewpoint. You can also watch or listen to the following video.
The cyclist in the video is Le Dingfei. On August 10, he posted a short video from the hospital. He had gone on a cycling trip out of town and ended up crashing due to brake failure in both calipers. His leg was broken and required surgery. Whilst he was waiting for his ambulance, he recorded his friend testing the brakes on the crashed bike. Even with both brakes fully pressed, the bike did not stop at all.
Dingfei called on Magene to pull the product from the market. For several days, nothing happened. Magene representatives learned about the case quickly. They sent technicians to visit Dingfei in person and, among other things, even bought him a wheelchair (lol). The technicians checked over the braking system. Later, the company released an official statement, which you can see in the original below. And by clicking here, you can read a free translation.
In Mageneโs official statement, they blamed Dingfei for using lightweight brake rotors from Chaser Sports, along with resin brake pads, claiming that his pads were low, with only ยผ braking material left. Magene also blamed Dingfei for not having an authorised Magene tech perform the installation. Dingfei received a lot of criticism and backlash on social media as people called him out for neglecting maintenance and being a heavy rider. Dingfei defended this, and his mechanic turns out to be an authorised reseller and installer of Magene, Shimano, and SRAM components.
Dingโs mechanic did an experiment where he sanded the brake pads down to the bare metal of the pad backing and put them in both Shimano and SRAM calipers. Both systems will allow emergency stopping in case the pads are completely worn out by having the pistons depress the entire way and forcing the worn-out pads to make contact with the QED system from Magene. The problem seems to be not the caliper itself, but the fluid reservoir, which is probably too small, and it visibly doesnโt compress the pads to a point of contact when it is low on pad material. If all this information is true, this is a serious engineering and design flaw that could literally cost you your life.
Dingfei initially received a lot of doxing and social media backlash for speaking out. Since evidence was produced showing the Magene product failure in an objective fashion, the online opinion has shifted to support him calling out Magene publicly.
Chaser Sports (ultra-lightweight disc rotors) also released a video showing rigorous product testing and braking performance even under low pad conditions on non-Magene braking systems. Dingfei points out that the use of metallic pads is a recommendation only and not a must. The disc rotors are compatible with both material types.
At the end of Dingfei’s most recent video, he records his wheelchair in the corner of the hospital room, and he says thanks to Magene. โBuy Magene, get a free wheelchair.โ
Iโm curious to see how this whole thing plays out (and I will update this article accordingly). But in this case, Iโm behind the cyclist. Magene should do a recall until the whole problem is properly investigated and addressed, rather than releasing a statement to shift blame to the consumer and other components.ย
