General Cycling Discussion - anybody heard of bicycleblowout.com

they claim to ship for free and don't charge tax...

anybody have any experience here? i have a great repair and mod-oriented LBS that has a very small selection of new bikes. i'm sure they can help me out on maintenance...

but this place has some good deals. any testimony to their trustworthiness?

I have heard nothing good OR bad about them, so they may be fine...

But be aware that it is the policy of most of the companies listed that ANY of thier models must be delivered to the customer fully assembled and ready to ride. That means that when you get a bike mail order in a box, the bike company will not honor the warranty. If the mail order company backs it up, then there is no problem. But you would not get the warranty coverage from the original company.

The companies are started to really become strict in thier adhearance to the policy.

As fate would have it, I've been shopping their site also. They are affiliated with a retail store called Bicycle Bananas, see http://www.bicyclebananas.com/.

I know nothing about this store, but I've had good experience buying bikes online. If your LBS doesn't carry the bike you want, it makes a lot more sense for you to order it from someone who has it in hand than for the LBS to order it for you from the manufacturer. It's quicker and cheaper, and the bike comes to your house instead of the LBS. This is especially true if you are competent to assemble the bike yourself.

Some manufacturers relax their no-online rules for bikes that are not current-year. I've recently seen websites that say that 2005 bikes are for in-store sales only, but 2004 and 2003 bikes can be shipped.

Frankly, I don't feel that the ban on online sales benefits the consumer in any way.

Usually a blowout on a bicycle is a BAD thing. ;)

But be aware that it is the policy of most of the companies listed that ANY of thier models must be delivered to the customer fully assembled and ready to ride. That means that when you get a bike mail order in a box, the bike company will not honor the warranty. If the mail order company backs it up, then there is no problem. But you would not get the warranty coverage from the original company.

The companies are started to really become strict in thier adhearance to the policy.

Many companies also sell framesets too. How do they handle those bikes? Or does a company like Specialized only honours the warranty if the customer buys the frameset through an authorised dealer and has that authorised retailler build it up for them?