On the one hand this is flattering – AutoSock work so well that the copiers reckon they can make more profit than the fines and legal costs they’ll receive, and there’s an argument that “the more people who see how well tyre socks work, the more people will want a set”. But on the other hand it’s doing the whole sector no favours, because the copies don’t work anything like as well as AutoSock, or last as long.
You may also see copy products for tyre sizes which don’t yet have AutoSock. Why is this? The simple answer is that AutoSock behave differently on certain wheel profiles, requiring different designs and, in some cases, different materials to cope with a wide range of snow conditions. If it was just a question of making the same sock bigger, to fit all tyre sizes, you can be sure that AutoSock would have done this. So, caveat emptor, and don’t blame the AutoSock idea if you buy a cheaper product which fills up with snow and comes off the wheel when you really need it!
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