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Chinese Rip-Off Rundown

I've decided to do a little run down of the knock-off SLCs out there, as a comparison. Some do it better than others, it seems.

Just for a comparison, we have El Condor, what's known to be the roughest Vekoma SLC out there.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnerotGoH2s[/youtube]

Next up, we have Hanging Roller Coaster, at Crab Island. A Beijing Shibaolai creation. There's currently ten of these around, with one under construction. The layout is similar in terms of elements, but different to the standard Vekoma layout. The inversions are the same, except instead of there being a rollover, there's a loop in it's place and some incredibly... uh, odd looking transitions, as well as a complete lack of speed towards the end of the ride.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lnFt1stI4k[/youtube]

Here's "Suspended Coaster", at Hangzhou Paradise, which stalled before the final brake run due to a complete lack of momentum.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt9aRfvvNeo[/youtube]

Beijing Jiuhua also make a SLC, which is essentially a copy of the Shibaolai layout, only the transitions seemed to have been re-worked, and they have removed the final helix before the brakes. No POV, as of yet, however it does seem to look better than the Shibaolai coaster. The only known model from BJA, is Dragon Rider, at Floraland.

7.jpg


Hebei Zhongye have taken Shibaolai's layout, and seemed to make it generally worse. Weird kinks in the track, the train juddering violently as it executes any element, really makes me think that these are definitely the worst SLCs around. If this is what their SLCs are like, then I genuinely have no idea what their 11 inversion coaster is going to be like.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltcl2Vc2GmI[/youtube]

Golden Horse definitely seem to be the best, out of the Chinese SLC producers, creating a mirror image of the "Shenlin" model by Vekoma. You can clearly see how the train maintains momentum through the layout, and the transitions don't appear to be as bad as those on the other Chinese creations. Their mine trains, as well as their spinners aren't bad either, by the looks of it.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A_9Te21up8[/youtube]

I think that's all of the imitation SLCs out there. Let me know if any more companies decide to give it a go.

Edit: It seems that I can only embed two Youtube videos. So the rest are links for now.
 
Hey, don't knock the knock-offs too hard. Some look decent, even. I mean, the better ones can't be as bad as certain Arrow rides. GASM, for instance, remains the worst ride I've ever been on by miles.
 
IntaminToWin said:
Hey, don't knock the knock-offs too hard. Some look decent, even. I mean, the better ones can't be as bad as certain Arrow rides. GASM, for instance, remains the worst ride I've ever been on by miles.
Click to expand...

You obviously haven't ridden Viper, that thing made GASM look like a B&M.
 
Bunny5252 said:
Ben said:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20079534/ns/us_news-life/t/thought-dead-minneapolis-bridge-collapses/

If we're playing that game, I guess you think this makes American rides unsafe?
Click to expand...
It's the company. URS are idiots. They built another bridge in Minneapolis that also failed.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't blame the company, America's infrastructure is slowly failing and there isn't enough money being spent to fix that problem. Right now almost 25% of our bridges are in the same condition as that bridge before it collapsed.

Still you cant compare bridges and roller coasters, on average most bridges have been around longer than most roller coasters.
 
In the past, China has had a number of issues with sub-standard construction techniques, mainly due to the speed of unchecked urbanisation. In 2010 it released updated construction codes, mainly to stop the use of thinned rebar, which was often the cause of weak buildings and a cost-cutting exercise (there were factories dedicated to taking rebar and streatching it to reduce the diameter!). New buildings must follow these new codes, and the country is quickly pulling down old buildings which do not meet new standards - however, there are still going to be problems for a long time to come.

Here are some more interesting photos of that particular building and someone's ideas on how it collapsed:
http://www.hoax-slayer.com/13-story-bul ... hina.shtml


Getting back to coasters...I've been on a number of knock-off rides in China, although no 'large-size' knock-offs I guess. While it's true that not all are unsafe, I would say that I've had some scary experiences. Most Golden Horse spinners use a chain as part of the restraint which never fills you with confidence. The worst rides are probably those with no locking OTSRs - they look like old Arrow horseshoe affairs, but you have to wind your seatbelt through the restraint in order to hold it in place. I think it's HZMEM that often do that!

I never got the Beijing Shibaolai Amusement Equipment knock-off SLC I meant to this year as some bloke was climbing over it with a spanner when I arrived. Still, I thought that looked quite well kept - certainly more looked after than some real ones I've been on - although obviously I can't vouch for how it rides.

Anything I've ridden by MCCE also looks pretty decent.

The trouble is that China has no real copyright enforcement - so Western companies, even large ones, can flap their arms and threaten to sue, but there's not really much they can do about it (India, by comparison is nowhere near as bad as they have strict copyright laws). I don't know if it's because of the socialist tradition or what, but plagiarism is still rife in China. My company refuse to sell there because we've had so many bad experiences (we sell reports and if one company buys one copy, they will then copy/translate and distribute it to the whole industry! People have even approached me before to ask questions about a copy they have obtained illegally - they just don't realise it's an issue ).

Anyway, I think things will slowly improve - the more China trades with the West, the more it will encourage change - we've already seen B&M come into big names like Happy Valley, and this will surely increase. Many companies within the industry I work in allow components to be made in China, but assemble the products elsewhere to ensure the knowledge isn't leaked - this is changing however. The HUGE number of Chinese in higher and professional education means that the country is developing its own products and its own patents, without infringement. I don't see why this won't also be applied to coaster manufacturing in future
 
Sorry to bump such an old topic, but I wanted to point out the Immelmann on the HZM. Note the awkward, unsafe straight section at the peak. Also, look at the jostling on the train!

It's clear that there will eventually be a catastrophe that will, unfortunately, go without being widely recognized, meaning that these rides will still operate.
 
While I disagree that guaranteed catastrophe it is an awful transition.

Since this topic has been bumped anyway. SBL have just opened a new modified version of their SLC model. What are the differences I hear you shout... Well they made the drop more gradual, tightened the loop and the rolls now go the otherway. That offending Immelmann is still there though.

5tigers1.jpg


5tigers2.jpg


Not that it's easy to notice any of those changes.

Source http://vhcoasters.com/
 
I didn't mean solely because of the horrid transition that all of China will burn a fiery death, I'm saying that because of the inevitably poor engineering, it seems that sooner or later, one of these things is going to fly off the tracks.
 
I found this. Thought you guys might find it interesting, or shocking. :wink:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGbH_m0EYnE[/youtube]

This is the imaginatively named "Suspended Coaster" at Hangzhou Paradise, a Beijing Shibaolai knock off.
 
As long as this topic exists I'll bump it again...

So the ever-inspiring Hebei Zhongye Metallurgical Equipment Manufacturing has come up with a solution to the valleying problems on that offensive Immelmann shaping...

jD5fXqT.png


lolwut

And here are the restraints...

1378586243-2uoja5q7b8nuav40lkg.jpg


Just... what?! How does this thing exist?

Another picture for your viewing and neck-breaking pleasure...

mZ3KPsx.png
 
Oh dear. I'm sure the apparent padding on the restraints is merely a wrap, but that immelman...also, note how the up-stop wheels on the bottom of the chassis are not actually in contact with the track. Guaranteed roughness even before they commence ageing...
 
I'd love to know what they were thinking (and smoking) when they designed that. Has anyone here ridden this?
 
^Best of luck. ;)

Honestly, Hebei couldn't have looked at this and thought they'd done anywhere close to a decent job.
 
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