Buying bike online - what are your experiences?

[vickster]

Op wants 105

 

[VamP]

That Centaur Ribble is a fabulous deal. I'm a Canyon fanboy but if I was in the market for 1k road old then Ribble would get my money.

 

[park1]

This is exactly my dilemma, there is a lot of choice online, but is all online and not at a lbs!
I'm definitely going to take a look at the Boardman, then it's a case of taking the plunge I suppose.
I gave plant x a call and the 35mm quoted tyres is a typo, should be 25.
They guy I spoke to was very honest when asked about returns if there was a problem.

 

[Fasta Asloth]

I do like the look of the Rose bikes, but they are full price for the 105 (the Apex set up has about £100 off at present). As you can tell i'm after as much as I can get for the money

True, but full price is still less than a grand, you also get full shimano 105 groupset (not so with the boardman in halfords as far as I recall) you also get better customisation of the bike during ordering (rear cassette sizing, stem length, saddle, seat post, handle-bars, wheels, bar tape etc etc...) which I at least found very useful if, in the shop, they sell it as it comes and you end up having to change a few things...

 

[park1]

True but the fine adjustments of do I need a 100 or 110 stem I won't know until I have the bike. This is exactly the sort of thing I'd expect a lbs (maybe not halfords) to do for free if I bought the bike from them - it's one of the big advantages they have over online. When I've asked about this at my lbs they said they would swap a stem over, but I'd have pay Rrp for the new stem! What the hell use is a stem that is too big or too small for me - I'm 36 it's not like I'm going to grow/shrink! I know I could eBay it but I really don't want the hassle.

Am I being unreasonable expecting this?

 

[youngoldbloke]

True but the fine adjustments of do I need a 100 or 110 stem I won't know until I have the bike. This is exactly the sort of thing I'd expect a lbs (maybe not halfords) to do for free if I bought the bike from them - it's one of the big advantages they have over online. When I've asked about this at my lbs they said they would swap a stem over, but I'd have pay Rrp for the new stem! What the hell use is a stem that is too big or too small for me - I'm 36 it's not like I'm going to grow/shrink! I know I could eBay it but I really don't want the hassle.

Am I being unreasonable expecting this?

No, I don't think so. I would also expect the lbs to change the saddle FOC - OK, pay the difference maybe. Re the stem - you can specify with Ribble, Rose, Canyon etc, but you aren't really going to know until you have ridden the bike for some miles. Rose and esp Canyon have quite comprehensive sizing advice.

 

[Ben M]

EDIT: The Planet-X bike is being "creative" saying it's ultegra. The chain isn't, the cassette isn't, the chainset isn't, the brakes aren't. The only things that are are the front/rear mechs and shifters.

Both the chain and cassette are listed as being Ultegra.

 

[VamP]

Both the chain and cassette are listed as being Ultegra.

Chain is neither here nor there, but the chainset is a major let down, as is the wheelset. Going mano a mano with the Ribble £999 offering, it is a complete walkover I am afraid.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Was wondering if anyone had any experiences of buying online, good or bad.

Visualises the bike shed at home...

SS-MTB bought off ebay in bits
fist fixed gear (since sold) bought sight unseen mail order from Edinburgh Bike Coop
second fixed gear (currently for sale) bought sight unseen from Wiggle
current fixed gear frame bought off here (CC) from someone who I've met in real life and trust; bits bought off interwebs, inc wheels built via email
hardtail MTB (Boardman HT Pro) bought sight unseen off web but collected from store in Guildford
touring bike bought sight unseen from EBC
best bike specc'd by email and bought sight unseen via email from a shop in Oldham. I've never been to Oldham
full boinger bought second hand via the singletrack forum
Brompton, ordered via email from Brixton Cycles and collected in person form the shop
TLH's bike bought off someone in here (CC) who I've met in real life and trust

Maybe I've been lucky and am an easy sizer but I've never had a problem buying online. Other than it is somewhat addictive.

 

[Sittingduck]

Dont discount Apex. Lighter than Ultegra and shifts precisely. At 1k I would be seriously looking at Canyon. Probably Rose too and Giant.

 

[VamP]

Visualises the bike shed at home...

SS-MTB bought off ebay in bits
fist fixed gear (since sold) bought sight unseen mail order from Edinburgh Bike Coop
second fixed gear (currently for sale) bought sight unseen from Wiggle
current fixed gear frame bought off here (CC) from someone who I've met in real life and trust; bits bought off interwebs, inc wheels built via email
hardtail MTB (Boardman HT Pro) bought sight unseen off web but collected from store in Guildford
touring bike bought sight unseen from EBC
best bike specc'd by email and bought sight unseen via email from a shop in Oldham. I've never been to Oldham
full boinger bought second hand via the singletrack forum
Brompton, ordered via email from Brixton Cycles and collected in person form the shop
TLH's bike bought off someone in here (CC) who I've met in real life and trust

Maybe I've been lucky and am an easy sizer but I've never had a problem buying online. Other than it is somewhat addictive.

Ooooh this is fun, let me have a go...

Steel Specialized MTB bought from a Specialized Store, measured and miss-sized by the donkeys working there.
Alu road bike bought and sized correctly from Evans on R2W
Alu cross bike bought off the interweb, sized correctly
Carbon cross bike frame bought off the interweb, self-built and sized correctly
Alu MTB bought off same sized friend in bits and rebuilt to own spec
Carbon road bike (Omega Pharma Lotto ex-team Canyon) bought as a frame from Canyon and self built
Carbon TT bike bought from China and in process of building (sized correctly)

So out of seven, only two bought in LBS(ish), and only one the wrong size. From the LBS.

 

[youngoldbloke]

Yes - the only one of my 3 bikes that is really the wrong size is the one from the LBS - I didn't know any better then and I realised some years after buying it. I suspect it was probably the only size of that model left in their stock at the time, and they were very happy to see me leave with it. (I did get a discount!) I remember the shop changing the seat post as the OE one didn't allow the saddle to be lowered sufficently.

 

[park1]

Just to finish the thread off, I ended up getting an Avanti cadent 2.0 from my local bike shop, Cogs in plymouth. Their service was excellent, they swapped the stem out at no extra cost (rrp on the one they put on was £45!), and included a pair of folding conti gator skins for £44.
I've nothing against buying online, but I wanted to be able to sit on the bike and check sizing before I bought, and I like that I can drop it back no hassles ,if there are any issues.
I was very tempted by a giant defy composite. Winstanleys in Wigan have 25% all their giant bikes at moment. Certini here stock them and do a price promise. Great, I thought, I can get one through them. However when I called up the best they could do was 15% off - so much for price matching!
Anyway, looking forward to picking up my shiny new bike on Wednesday, can't wait!

 

[outlash]

Isn't the point about having the full groupset a bit pointless becasue AFAIK, certain bikes wouldn't come with a 'full' shimano groupset anyway because Shimano don't make the cranksets to fit every size of BB. As an example Cannondale using BB30, Shimano don't do BB30....


Tony..