Q for those with trade experience - how is a bike supplied from the wholesaler and what happens before it's sold?

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wafter

I like steel bikes and I cannot lie..
Location
Oxford
Please, for the sake of my OCD..

I'm on the cusp of spending what for me is a lot of money on a new bike. No disrespect to those in the trade, but my experience of LBS' in the area has been almost universally pitiful; having had a lot of stuff that I value damaged in the past when in for straightforward jobs that (had I had the tools myself) I could easily have done without incident.

Lesson learned re. servicing, but I'm aware that bikes require some degree of assembly when they arrive which is something I'd rather do myself / avoid having the supplying shop do. I feel especially resolute about this having witnessed first-hand a significant amount of damage caused to a fairly pricey bike pre-test ride in an LBS recently, while the shop assistant battled with the complex, hurculean task of adjusting the saddle position :blink:

So... in an effort to ease my anxiety about the capacity for damage when my bike is assembled I'd be interested to hear from anyone with experience. From boxed bikes I've seen I'm guessing they arrive at the shop mostly assembled and all that takes place in store is removal from the box, removal of the protective packaging (hopefully with careful attention to where those scissors are being brandished around the frame :ohmy:), then fitment of the wheels, bars and saddle before a final check that everything works and is tight. Is this correct or is there more to it?

Tbh I'd rather just get the bike in a box, take it home and build it myself; however I'm also aware (especially having been told so in a pretty pointed manner by one shop) that if this were to happen any subsequent issues would all be on me (so grand if I unpack it and find a problem from the supplier before I even start to put it together).

I've asked a local place about allowing me to unpack and build the bike in the shop and am awaiting a response, however past that it's looking like mail-order only, with all the additional pleasure in the returns process if I find anything wrong.

Unfortunately it seems that my OCD combined with seemingly very few people in bike retail who are willing / able to do their jobs to a decent standard has turned this potentially joyous process of buying a new bike into an anxiety-fuelled burden of "should I even bother..?"
 
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All uphill

Still rolling along
Location
Somerset
I understand your concerns and share them.

Have you considered buying from a bike builder such as St John St Cycles or Spa?

That might give you the assurance you need that every stage is completed by someone who is a professional, rather than the Saturday boy or girl.
 

All uphill

Still rolling along
Location
Somerset
I am fortunate in having a couple of LBSs I trust and wonder if I was in your position if I could buy an unopened box of bike from, say, Halfords, and have it assembled by the LBS for a fee.

On reflection I can see this might result in difficulties with the guarantee that you might not want to face.
 
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wafter

wafter

I like steel bikes and I cannot lie..
Location
Oxford
Thanks guys - I really appreciate your sympathy and knowing that I'm not alone in this. I was expecting a slew of "man up, you'll only wreck it in use anyway so who cares if someone gives you a head-start" type posts - I'm very grateful for their absence (thus far at least :tongue:).

I'd like to build the bike myself although unfortunately the frame spec I want is only available on the built bike, so that's out.

The mail-order source would be SPA cycles and I know they have a pretty decent rep.. however I also appreciate that they're probably very busy, most likely look to spend minimal time on their builds (given their very competitive pricing), that every member of staff has a different level of ability and botheration, and everyone has their off-days. I'd rather just avoid all of that if possible by just doing it myself.

In addition to this, if buying mail-order the ante is raised as any issue means return, long-distance haggling and additional complications of packing etc.

I really wish this wasn't the case, but rarely in life am I entirely satisfied with goods or services I've paid money for.. and bike shops appear to be amongs the worst offenders sadly. I suppose on the flip-side I rarely get any complaints about my own standard of work, even if this usually comes as a certain discrepency between my hours spent and hours charged..
 

vickster

Squire
Thanks guys - I really appreciate your sympathy and knowing that I'm not alone in this. I was expecting a slew of "man up, you'll only wreck it in use anyway so who cares if someone gives you a head-start" type posts - I'm very grateful for their absence (thus far at least :tongue:).

I'd like to build the bike myself although unfortunately the frame spec I want is only available on on built bike, so that's out.

The mail-order source would be SPA cycles and I know they have a pretty decent rep.. however I also appreciate that they're probably very busy, probably look to spend minimal time on their builds (given their very competitive pricing), that every member of staff has a different level of ability and botheration, while everyone has their off-days. I'd rather just avoid all of that if possible by just doing it myself.

In addition to this buying mail-order the ante is raised as any issue means return, long-distance haggling and additional complications of packing etc.

I really wish this wasn't the case, but rarely in life am I entirely satisfied by goods or services I've paid money for.. and bike shops appear to be amongs the worst offenders sadly. I suppose on the flip-side I rarely get any complaints about my own standard of work, even if this usually comes as a certain discrepency between my hours spent and hours charged..
My Spa Ti was perfect. Well other than a dodgy seat collar which led to a slipping post and then scratched Ti seatpost both of which were rapidly replaced without issue. That said I have no OCD
 
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wafter

wafter

I like steel bikes and I cannot lie..
Location
Oxford
My Spa Ti was perfect. Well other than a dodgy seat collar which led to a slipping post and then scratched Ti seatpost both of which were rapidly replaced without issue. That said I have no OCD
Thanks - that at least gives me some faith in the willingness to set things straight in the event of any problems :smile:
 

vickster

Squire
If Spa are building from frameset, can’t they just send you that and all the parts and you can build? Phone and ask them?
 
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wafter

wafter

I like steel bikes and I cannot lie..
Location
Oxford
One other option I guess is take the bike as is supplied by the lbs, get it home, strip it down and rebuild yourself.
Yeah, the thing is I don't really care about anything "reversible" / "adjustable" and have no problem whatsoever with taking my time to tweak / optimise brake and gear setup etc. What I do care about is irreversible damage; chipped paint and scratches from slipped / carelessly used tools or rough handling, missing paint on the dropouts from carelessly dropping the frame onto the axles or worse onto the floor.. chewed and over-tightened fixings (although of course these can be replaced so are less of an issue).

Granted it was Halfords, but my Boardman came from new with a range of additional "features" including a broken piece of trim on one of the shifters, a buckled and scratched rear wheel, scratches all over the stem, chipped paint on front and rear dropouts, one or two light marks on the frame elsewhere. In addition the brakes and gears were set up very poorly.. Got replacement parts for all the damaged stuff under warranty (apart from the frame which I pretty much had to suck up) then did all the fitting and setup myself.
 

Dogtrousers

Kilometre nibbler
Do you actually suffer from OCD? I know, from having a friend who did, that it can be an extremely distressing condition. If you do, you have my sympathy.

As to the fact that you don't trust bike shops - the complete, if extreme, solution is, as @Vantage suggests, to build it yourself.

No problems with my Spa built bike. They even built it with wheels I supplied. Wasn't mail order, I picked it up at the shop.
 

Vantage

Carbon fibre... LMAO!!!
Granted it was Halfords,

And on that note, almost every cyclist in the history of cycling does the following...
504715


Halfords, legendary for its cycle 'mechanics'.
 
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wafter

wafter

I like steel bikes and I cannot lie..
Location
Oxford
It’s a Genesis I think?
It is. I'm after the built CdF 30; other than the colour (which I also prefer) it has the 12mm through-axles that the current (equivalent) 725 frameset lacks, while going for the nicer 853 frameset would get me the 12mm axles but most likely push the build well over-budget; however it's not a route I've actually explored so I'll do a bit of homework. Thanks to both you and @Vantage for bringing this up; however I won't be happy if it makes financial sense as I don't like the colour of the frame as much as on the built bike :laugh:
 
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