Clone/fake POC Aspire review

 Assalamualaikum,

I'd been having problem with my Muddyfox cycling glasses lately. The nose pads were rubbing against my skin and made a small red wound on sides of my nose. There were instances when I started to bleed. I am noticing that the nose pads which were made out of rubber were starting to harden. I had the Muddyfox cycling glasses for years. I guess, it is time to move away from it.

I'd been spending some time on Shopee and Lazada, trying hard to get bargains for a brand new cycling glasses. Two designs caught my eyes. The first was POC DO and the other POC Aspire. Original POCs will be in hundred of ringgits in term of pricing. Those on Shopee and Lazada, you can get them for less than RM60, some as low as RM40. Yup, you guessed right, those were fake (or clone). No way you could get an original POC with that kind of pricing. I bought one recently, and here is my review.

First impression

I bought myself a fake POC Aspire from a shop in Shopee. You can go to that shop from the link that I'm sharing below.

POC Aspire shop in Shopee

 It had plenty of positive reviews from fellow cyclists. That somewhat eased me on the decision to buy from that particular shop. Why the the Aspire and not DO? I kind of liked the overall Aspire design, especially the large lens. The DO somewhat similar in design to my current Muddyfox. Trying to break away from the norm, that was when I decided to pursue the Aspire.

The Aspire that I bought from that shop came with 4 lenses (clear, black, yellow and blue). There were option for different frame colours as well. I opted for black. I was thinking about going with 2 tones option (black front frame and white temples), but decided not to proceed since all black frame will hide dirt and mud better.

I was given 2 types of pouches. One with a hard shell, and the other was just a normal string pouch.

Overall build quality was good. It did not feel flimsy at all. All hinges felt tight and robust. I dropped the clear lens onto the floor, and it survived the drop well. No chipping, no crack and basically no damage at all. I was thinking about to do a 1kg ball drop test, but that something for later.

I had a feeling that the silkscreened POC wording on the temples will fade away with time. Let see how long it will last.




As for the nose pad, it was made out of soft rubber. I felt comfortable while wearing it. No issue at all for now.





In term of size, the Aspire was huge. Putting it side by side with my current Muddyfox, you will see the massive size different. It was good in a way that it provided a large protection area against stones, bugs or anything flying/coming towards you during cycling. Style wise, I liked the overall look of it.

One thing that I'm still getting used to was the nearly full frame of the Aspire. When I'm glancing to my rear while cycling, the frame somewhat hinder my line of sight. I need to turn my head more when I'm wearing the Aspire compared to my Muddyfox. But, given time, I will get used to it. Not a big problem, just a minor hindrance. 



I initially worried how I might look wearing the Aspire, especially with those very large lens. Grasshopper or those aliens with large eyes came to mind. But, after trying it out I guessed it was fine. The large lens did not bother me at all.



I made a short video of how the Aspire looked on me. Hope that it can be a good gauge for anyone that plan to buy it.


Final verdict

Overall, the fake/clone POC Aspire is a good product considering the price. Hopefully it can survives the test of time well. If I come across any red flag or major potential issue(s) with it, I will update this post accordingly.

That's all folks. Thank you for stopping by this blog.

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