Mountain Biking - "Bikeroom is currently not taking orders"

I noticed bikerooms site was down for the past month or so, and now i check today and it says "Bikeroom is currently not taking orders". :D :D

Hopefully he is shut down for good.

Oooh, its in big red letters that are on fire.

cool. :D

I know, I saw that and was thinking about making a thread. But then I though that no one would care.

I do feel bad for David. I think he is a genuinely good guy, but like most places, tried to run the company lean. To little staff for SOOOO much business. There is still no canadian comparitive to the US pricing online, bikeroom tried to offer that.

I have mixed emotions at this point. But really I feel bad for this market.

I do feel bad for David. I think he is a genuinely good guy, but like most places, tried to run the company lean. To little staff for SOOOO much business. There is still no canadian comparitive to the US pricing online, bikeroom tried to offer that.

I have mixed emotions at this point. But really I feel bad for this market.
i would probably feel bad for him if he kept his promise and told the truth to me, but it was pretty clear that he lied to me.

But yeah, i'll miss his prices, its too bad we cant have more places like that (back when it was a good site) up here.

i would probably feel bad for him if he kept his promise and told the truth to me, but it was pretty clear that he lied to me.

But yeah, i'll miss his prices, its too bad we cant have more places like that (back when it was a good site) up here.

Its unfortunate but a little shop in WA and Jenson get all my money. I would love to feed to local economy in some way, but it just isnt feasible.

It's gotten to the point that I find it so much easier to send an email to Mountain High Cyclery with a parts list. I get a reply with price and then close the deal.

I've been very pleased dealing with Ebay, too. You can get some fantastic deals sometimes. I just bought a compact crankset (Shimano F700) for my road bike for $180 + 20 shipping USD straight from Japan. I wasn't able to find anyone coming close to that price.

ive got a wee list of stuff i need for this season, think im just gonna get it from pricepoint. i'll pay a bit on customs, but it'll still be cheaper than buying locally.

ive got a wee list of stuff i need for this season, think im just gonna get it from pricepoint. i'll pay a bit on customs, but it'll still be cheaper than buying locally.

Do yourself a favour. Send your item list to Larry at MtnHighCyclery.com. You will be very, very surprised at the prices. If he can't beat a price he'll tell you. I had asked for the price of some cranks and he told me to just get them off of one of the discount parts stores as he couldn't beat some of the late season deals floating around.

However what I find is that on an overall price list, he has great prices. He also ships using US Postal Service so no UPS/Fedex brokerage fees.

However what I find is that on an overall price list, he has great prices. He also ships using US Postal Service so no UPS/Fedex brokerage fees.

Agreed (with the shipping aspect) by the time the items get to me it is almost no difference in price to what was advertised. I just make sure to order a lot of items instead of one offs.

Do yourself a favour. Send your item list to Larry at MtnHighCyclery.com. You will be very, very surprised at the prices. If he can't beat a price he'll tell you. I had asked for the price of some cranks and he told me to just get them off of one of the discount parts stores as he couldn't beat some of the late season deals floating around.

However what I find is that on an overall price list, he has great prices. He also ships using US Postal Service so no UPS/Fedex brokerage fees.


Looks like some good prices, but I hate dealing with email etc. I would much rather have a shopping cart and be done with it. But thanks for the ref, I will keep him in mind when I am ordering next.

It is sad to lose a Canadian Online seller like that.

I did have an issue with Bikeroom and an order of mine that was all wrong. After a few unanswered e-mails, I caulked it up to a loss. Strangely enough about 5 months later, they emailed me apologized and refunded my money, and I was told to keep the parts.

I did have an issue with Bikeroom and an order of mine that was all wrong. After a few unanswered e-mails, I caulked it up to a loss. Strangely enough about 5 months later, they emailed me apologized and refunded my money, and I was told to keep the parts.
my issue was different. Un-authorized $475 charge to my credit card, 15-20 unanswered emails, and about 10 un-answered voice mail messages. Finally got through and talked to him, he assured me that my money was refunded and all would be well. It still took another month for the money to appear.

Happened to my friend too.

Well any time money is owed and return Emails don't get answered, there is no excuse and they should be shutdown. I just looked for their site last week because I am looking for a rear wheel and did purchase a Fox RLT 100 from them with no issues when I bought my bike last year. (Used rear wheel would be nice too pm)

my issue was different. Un-authorized $475 charge to my credit card, 15-20 unanswered emails, and about 10 un-answered voice mail messages. Finally got through and talked to him, he assured me that my money was refunded and all would be well. It still took another month for the money to appear.

Happened to my friend too.

That would have sucked, and there is no excuse for that :mad:

I used to order from bikeroom, before I "discovered" that it is just as easy ordering from any other online retailer outside of Canada. In fact now that I've ordered from the UK and Germany (CRC and Starbike) and was amazed by the turnaround time and prices I don't think I'll order from the USA again, except for cheap stuff from Nashbar.

I was pretty jazzed to see a Canuck online store, but really unimpressed with their service. Luckily, they only screwed me for $10. I'd be out for blood if it was $450.00 :eek:

There really should be more Canadian online bike stores - I can't think of why there isn't. Canada Post is surprisingly fast for a reasonable fee. The size of the market may be a concern, but I think an argument could be made that not having to deal with customs might create its own market in Canada.

MtnHighCyclery.com really needs to update their page. 2004 FTW!!!

KrisA: I've found good deals from Europe for road stuff, but what about mountain?

Chainreactioncycles.com has good deals on MTB stuff. I hate looking there, the prices are too cheap! Last week I was almost seduced to buy a set of Crossmax SL V brake wheels from them for $625CDN SHIPPED! Their prices on Shimano components are also very very good.

Chainreactioncycles.com has good deals on MTB stuff. I hate looking there, the prices are too cheap! Last week I was almost seduced to buy a set of Crossmax SL V brake wheels from them for $625CDN SHIPPED! Their prices on Shimano components are also very very good.

How is shipping? What shipping company do they use? How expensive is it to have it shipped from Europe?

my issue was different. Un-authorized $475 charge to my credit card, 15-20 unanswered emails, and about 10 un-answered voice mail messages. Finally got through and talked to him, he assured me that my money was refunded and all would be well. It still took another month for the money to appear.

Happened to my friend too.

Yep. That happened to me too. Over $600. It was the second time I had problems with them like that. First time, ok, fine, mistakes happen. Second time it happened, and like usual, no possible way to get a hold of them, I was pissed. No replies to my e-mails, phone calls etc. I figured screw this and called my CC company to file a dispute to get my money back. Could be a good scam too. How many people don't notice a charge on their card several months later, probably a lot. They had great deals, but it isn't worth being scammed for parts twice, and hundreds of dollars with non existent service. Good riddance.

Hmmm sounds like this canadian seller needs to learn how to run an online business. Meh.. I use jensonusa. Ground shipping get's parts here in two days, because they are based in cali. Great prices. Always get a customer rep when I call. One time when I thought they got my order wrong they sent me another part instantly. I kept both free of charge.

How is shipping? What shipping company do they use? How expensive is it to have it shipped from Europe?

Shipping was fast, less than 2 weeks till the goods were in my hands. Cost? Free if you are over a certain threshold, which I think is around 300 bucks CDN. I think they shipped via "Parcel Force", was delivered in Canada via Canada Post with no fees other than PST And GST.

On my German order from Starbike they shipped via German Post (or whatever it's called) and didn't declare any value on the parts (not a big order, got a Flite saddle, couple of Schwalbe tires, tubes, other odds and ends) so I didn't have to pay any fees or GST and PST!!!

Shipping was fast, less than 2 weeks till the goods were in my hands. Cost? Free if you are over a certain threshold, which I think is around 300 bucks CDN. I think they shipped via "Parcel Force", was delivered in Canada via Canada Post with no fees other than PST And GST.

On my German order from Starbike they shipped via German Post (or whatever it's called) and didn't declare any value on the parts (not a big order, got a Flite saddle, couple of Schwalbe tires, tubes, other odds and ends) so I didn't have to pay any fees or GST and PST!!!

Sweet. I much prefer receiving packages via regular post. You can sometimes get lucky and not have to pay anything. At worst you pay GST/PST and maybe a small handling fee.

Overall I pay tax less than half the time on Canada Post delivered Ebay purchases.

Overall I pay tax less than half the time on Canada Post delivered Ebay purchases.

It works well when sellers claim the value is less than $50, although it could suck if you required an insurance claim.

I buy most of my stuff on Ebay, Probikekit, Totalcyling, biketiresdirect, europarts, and independants like Camppoldy...etc

Even after shipping and taxes, the cash savings is well worth it.



Boy some people here were into Bike Room for big money, luckily for me my order was about $60

Boy some people here were into Bike Room for big money, luckily for me my order was about $60
i only bought 2 things off him (that i can remember)... a $30 casette, and a $199 wheelset. I was very pleased with both transactions.

I bought several times from them, ranging from 100 to 400$. Every transaction went well for me. One time they shipped the wrong pedals, I called and that day they shipped out the right ones.

I'm sad to see them go, but from the problems i'm reading I guess it's not surprising.

Was Bikeroom selling grey market stuff or just working on thin margins?

Was Bikeroom selling grey market stuff or just working on thin margins?

Oem.

And semi grey market. Not illegal but items they weren't "allowed" to sell. Such as evil. They were not an authorized dealer, they would bring it in from the states and sell it cheap.

Oem.

And semi grey market. Not illegal but items they weren't "allowed" to sell. Such as evil. They were not an authorized dealer, they would bring it in from the states and sell it cheap.
I wondered about that - for their "grey market" did they just order from US suppliers? I know that we have to deal with a second layer of distributor [i.e. OGC] who take their pound of flesh and may "pressure" shops to use keystone pricing [100% markup]. If Bikeroom found a way around that, I'd be interested to hear how they did it...

I wondered about that - for their "grey market" did they just order from US suppliers? I know that we have to deal with a second layer of distributor [i.e. OGC] who take their pound of flesh and may "pressure" shops to use keystone pricing [100% markup]. If Bikeroom found a way around that, I'd be interested to hear how they did it...

+1. I've dabbled in importing stuff from Taiwan and Hong Kong and am very curious about this.

I wondered about that - for their "grey market" did they just order from US suppliers? I know that we have to deal with a second layer of distributor [i.e. OGC] who take their pound of flesh and may "pressure" shops to use keystone pricing [100% markup]. If Bikeroom found a way around that, I'd be interested to hear how they did it...

I would have to kill ya if I told ya.

To be honest it isn't rocket science. I am surprised more shops don't do it.They are simply bypassing the canadian middle man (norco etc)

I would have to kill ya if I told ya.

To be honest it isn't rocket science. I am surprised more shops don't do it.They are simply bypassing the canadian middle man (norco etc)

But do they hit the manufacturers or the U.S. distributors? I can understand with the small guys, but how do you approach Shimano or SRAM?

But do they hit the manufacturers or the U.S. distributors? I can understand with the small guys, but how do you approach Shimano or SRAM?

Who says they buy direct from dealers. Ever look at some of the prices on jenson etc?

Better yet, whos to say they dont have an american warehouse or US counterpart, still.

I don't know all their business practices, but I know they got around the canadian system. And more power to them. The Grey market is the only way to buy with our crapass market up here.

Who says they buy direct from dealers. Ever look at some of the prices on jenson etc?

Better yet, whos to say they dont have an american warehouse or US counterpart, still.

I don't know all their business practices, but I know they got around the canadian system. And more power to them. The Grey market is the only way to buy with our crapass market up here.


Not dealers, I meant distributors. I am not a big fan of the Canadian distributor system as it creates an extra, unnecessary mouth to feed.

I did this years ago with spark plugs. I used to race karts. My spark plugs used to cost me $12 each and in my first season I went through them a lot as I tried to figure out how to adjust the jets. I decided to see if and how I can get the spark plugs for cheaper. By the time I was done with my iterations (local wholesalers, regional distributors, national distributors, national wholesalers) I was down to $6 a plug and selling them for profit. The spark plug business still exists today managed under someone else and is still doing well.

So did I :)

That's it! I'm setting up shop in Calgary. PST-free and lovin' it! :lol:

That's it! I'm setting up shop in Calgary. PST-free and lovin' it! :lol:

I'll be your first Customer :)

A set of 07 SL-M970 XTR Trigger Shifts with front & rear Derailleur please :D

I'll be your first Customer :)

A set of 07 SL-M970 XTR Trigger Shifts with front & rear Derailleur please :D
Send your Fat Sax o' Cash to...

:lol:

If/when I get to the point when I can live completely off my wife, I'm starting one of them thar e-biz things. I've got a couple of layabout/ne'erdowell buddies who can live off their wife's money as well, and we'll get a website and some inventory. It might even be worth it to do a clicks-and-mortar operation...

Send your Fat Sax o' Cash to...

:lol:

If/when I get to the point when I can live completely off my wife, I'm starting one of them thar e-biz things. I've got a couple of layabout/ne'erdowell buddies who can live off their wife's money as well, and we'll get a website and some inventory. It might even be worth it to do a clicks-and-mortar operation...

Living the dream.... :beer:

Oh, I would like it at cost as a company promotional exchange ;)

Living the dream.... :beer:

Oh, I would like it at cost as a company promotional exchange ;)
If you were from P.A. I might consider it, but you're too far south - there would be a conflict with the existing sales rep's territory. :D

A quick update - Quality Bike Products [the largest distributor in the US] will deal direct to Canada, but only to places that have an actual retail storefront. I'm not sure if OGC and Norco have the same restriction. I'm going to work up a business plan for a shop [even my dorky hobbies have something to do with biking], so if anyone has insight into the differences between QBP and its Canadian competition, let me know [by PM if it's supposed to be hush-hush].