Road Cycling - cbike wheels?

Anyone buy custom wheels from cbike.com (Chicagoland Bicycles)? They have some good prices, butI don't know how good their wheelbulders are.

Why not get the wheels from your LBS? Sure you might pay slightly more for the wheels themselves, but you'll likely make up the difference in shipping, particularly now that UPS considers most wheel boxes oversized. I would imagine there are many quality LBS in your area. Besides that, you'll get good follow-up service and maybe some other perks if it's any sort of decent shop.

Custom wheels? Buy them local. Most all shops will do a final set in after you ride them.

Mail order companies cannot do that. They simply build them and once they settle you have to true them again and this will cost you around $15+ at any shop.

But it is your call. I run a mail order company and no longer buid custom wheels for various reasons. Mainly customers tend to want free service and freight forever. Not even shops can offer this.

Good points, but I won't get a deal close to the one I can get through them. The difference is more than $50. Besides, I'm not thrilled with my LBS.

So why not find a different LBS? I would imagine there are a few in your area. That $50 difference isn't going to be nearly as significant after shipping. Why not try to find another shop, get a feel for how they work, have some work done there, and if you like them, have them build your wheels? Seems a heck of a lot better than taking a chance on mail order.

In that case mail order may not be a bad option, but take in consideration the shipping/handling costs.

Just call around mail order firms willing to custom build wheels and get a real final quote.

Manymay quote you lower prices with cheaper spokes and such. So make sure you specified what you want. After all they are custom.

Do not be fooled by many mail order firms that offer custom wheels bu tdo not give you many choices. They simply buy them pre built and sell them to you at a higher cost.

Not that it matters, I think machined built wheels are excellent and tensioned right. Handmade wheels usuallay always ned to be re-trued.

The difference is more than $50; as a matter of fact, it's more than $100. The shops around here can't touch that price. There are only a couple of shops near me that I would even consider buying wheels from, one of which is a rip-off joint. And I don't even know how good their wheelbuilders are. I'd like to get wheels now; it doesn't make sense to wait and buy stuff I really don't need just to get a feel for a new place.

I guess I'll just have to take a chance.

I have very strong opinions on the issues presented in this thread. The partisans of the LBS seem to think that it is a pleasant experience to go to there. Hardly. I don't look forward to going to the shops in my area. While some employees are cheerful, most of the time I encounter attitude, ineptitude and defensiveness. Then there's the incredible sticker shock. Last, but not least, there is the inevitable "We can look at it in about three weeks."

That's why I had my wheels built by Colorado Cyclist. After 5,000 miles, my wheels are as true as the day they arrived. No need for service because the job was done right. In addition to the parts and labor being a lot cheaper than any LBS here, the shipping cost me $17 which is only a buck more than the tax I would have had to pay in CA which I didn't have to pay by ordering from CO. So for me, that was a wash.

Rich

Originally posted by Stinger9oh
While some employees are cheerful, most of the time I encounter attitude, ineptitude and defensiveness. Then there's the incredible sticker shock. Last, but not least, there is the inevitable "We can look at it in about three weeks."

First of all, I'm sorry you haven't found an LBS to your liking in your area. I guess I just take it for granted that everyone has at least one available to them.
The incredible sticker shock you refer to-you must realize that most items you see online and through mail-order are selling at (and often below) our cost as an LBS. There's nothing that can be done to help your sticker shock if you are used to pricing things online. Is some of the defensiveness you speak of due to your expecting a LBS to meet or beat online pricing? There's nothing more unpleasant than someone who takes me away from other customers and tries out items I have in stock only to mail order them. These are assumptions on my part and I apologize if I am incorrect, but I'm just trying to offer up possible explanations.
It all comes back to one thing-if you establish a relationship with your LBS-ride with the guys and purchase items from them occasionally-you will get deals eventually and other perks. Repair time usually goes down as well, often considerably. If they know you're just shopping them before mail ordering something, they're not going to go out of their way to provide you with great service.
I'll get off my soapbox now. Thanks for being here while I vented.

Waldo, I appreciate what you are saying. Usually, I want to support local businesses. In fact, I've spent a lot of money in various LBS--much more than I have spent on line. In the shop where I bought my bike a little over two years ago, I have also bought a new saddle, two pairs of shoes, new pedals, some clothing, a floor pump, computer, and tools among the things I can remember. It is a large shop with a good selection. The salesman who sold me my bike is still there and despite the many times I have been in the shop and all the money I have spent, he always acts as though he has never seen me before and questions I have about the products are an imposition on his time. That happens even if the shop is almost empty. There is one salesman who is there sometimes who was very helpful getting me a good saddle. I am very happy with my Selle Italia Flite Titanium which I paid $100 for. In the catalogs, I have seen the exact same saddle for $50-$75. Obviously, I was new to buying saddles, so I needed help. I also feel that I was really had at that price. Twenty-five to 50 bucks is a little steep for getting some service. BTW, despite all the money I have spent at that shop, I have never been able to get any service in a timely manner. Basically, I have been learning to do it myself. I know that if something goes wrong, I'm not going to be able to get any help.

I have to admit that because of my experience with this shop, I am intimidated by the other shops. When I am able to get to shops in San Jose, at most of them salespeople and wrenches are happy to chat with you. They seem more interested in my being happy with the goods than just selling them to me. It might be a matter of age also. I am 57 years old and somewhat a novice at cycling. At the shops where I go in San Jose, the employees/owners are closer to my age than in my LBS. I just think that some of the younger guys just don't like talking to older people. Anyhow, San Jose is 50 miles away, so forget about that.

It would be nice if there was a LBS in my area where I could have a personal relationship, but for right now I am happier with the telephone. I will only support a shop if it deserves to be supported. I am intensely loyal to a local surf shop (BTW, there are only local surf shops, no chains, no catalogs) where they always have time to make sure that a new wetsuit fits just right, that you are getting what you want. They will chat with you about boards at length even though you have said that you are still in the dreaming stage. This is the kind of attitude I'd like to see in a LBS: then I'd be willing to be loyal . But loyalty and support need to be earned.

Rich

Rich, I hear you. Sorry if I came off a little lousy in the last post-we get a fair amount of people shopping online that just come by to verify that they really want what they are about to order. That gets to me and sometimes I vent.
Sorry to hear of your experiences. With you being somewhere in Cali I would definitely take it for granted that you would have a plethora of quality LBS's in your area. Maybe instead of thinking of opening a new shop around my area I should pack up-must be warmer out there. We strive to create the type of relationships you are describing at our stores-it's good to hear that that is something that is appreciated.
In any event, thanks for the feedback. Hope you are able to find a more suitable LBS in your immediate vicinity.

I've got the greatest respect for the guys in my LBS. They flat-out told me, "go online, you'll get a much better deal". But, I'll still use them for clothing and what-not. Plus, they're always doing a rapid business anyway, with all of the 40-something's plumping out and desperately looking for a new way to attempt to shed some pounds. That's why they keep all of those Cannondales in stock! The butts in Central Park can barely stay on their gel-padded seats this time of year.

Steve

PS: Cbike is a very respectable outlet. I've only chatted with them via email, but, I will use them at some point.