What is OEM?

OEM stands for Original Equipment Manufacturer. An OEM supplier is a company that builds products or parts that are used in the products of another company. For instance, Shimano manufactures shifting systems that are used by Trek on their bikes. In the bicycle industry many suppliers are both OEM and aftermarket suppliers. Think of Shimano or Sram shifting systems, Schwalbe or Continental tyres, and so on. Bicycle manufacturers order OEM products to assemble their bikes. Beforehand the bicycle manufacturers try to estimate as closely as possible how many parts they need for their production. However, this calculation is never 100% correct. It can occur that there are some parts left at the end of a production cycle. We as Mantel try to buy these. They are original parts, but supplied in a bulk packaging instead of an aftermarket packaging. The downside of this is that we supply the product in a non-original packaging. The upside, however, is that we can often supply OEM products at a more affordable price.

What are the differences between aftermarket packaged products and OEM products?

Apart from the packaging there is no difference. An OEM Ultegra cassette is exactly the same as an aftermarket Ultegra cassette. The only difference is that an aftermarket product, unlike an OEM product, is supplied in a slick box.

What are the advantages of OEM products?

The main advantage is the more affordable purchase price. Because of this we can continue to offer you, as a consumer, products at a competitive price.

Are OEM products B products?

In general they are not. If this is the case, we’ll always mention this on our website. However, a cassette that is supplied in a plastic bag is not a B product. Only the packaging is different.

Are OEM products used products?

No, they are not. OEM products are always new. We don’t supply used products. The product can be packaged differently than you’re used to, but it’s just a new product in an OEM packaging.

Does an OEM product contain a manual?

Generally, we always provide OEM products with a manual. If this is not the case, you can contact our customer service. They can refer you to the technical documentation of the specific product, which is usually easy to find online.

You can find a few examples of an original product package versus an OEM product package below.

OEM Ketting OEM Ketting OEM Ketting
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