Totoboa

Found some on Ebay, but nothing for SRAM or Campagnolo on the regular US websites. And, the SRAM Apex group cost (edit) from the UK was 1/2 that of the same set on Flea Bay.

Why the US aversion to selling sets ?

Why, how is it logical that a Taiwan set from Taiwan costs more than the same set from England ?

Totoboa scratches his mind at these things.

jimc101

And it will cost even less if you buy from Germany.

It's all volume, who can buy the most, for the least, then sell it on the grey market.

You may want to look at the model year as anything older than 2013 should be discounted now.

fietsbob

Business Practices, You need to study International Trade & Economics.

Item 1: Ebay is an Auction site , the bidders compete against each other, until only 1 is remaining willing to bid higher.

If you want a whole groupset, see what your bike shop can put together.

Distributors wont sell directly to the retail customer.
and manufacturers only sell to large OEM bike Manufacturers or Distributors.

& you are the retail customer.. tail end of the chain.

HillRider

If you want to stay with a US seller try Colorado Cyclist. They sell complete groups and build kits but only for the upper levels of Shimano (DA and Ultegra) Campy (SR, Record and Chorus) and SRAM (Red and Force) and their prices aren't the lowest. If you want 105, Centaur or Apex, they aren't for you.

As noted, UK and German sellers typically are priced much lower and some offer free shipping with a minimum order amount. All will quote in $US.

Totoboa

Thanks Hill and above posters. Yeah, I see the trend.

My question simply remains why ?

Especially the "lower" end Campy, SRAM and Shimmy. Apex, Xenon/Centaur/Tiagra. Only people in Europe build their own bikes up with groupsets ???

My best bet looks like Microshift from Fleabay and Apex for a crankset from overseas or a rare Flea Bite offering that may come out on an evening rise. Brakes from Planet X no doubt.

Looigi

I've bought from Ribble, Wiggle, PBK, in the UK. What are similar retailers in the DE (Germany)?

hartsu

Here are some shops that I have used:

https://www.roseversand.com/?nogeo=1
https://www.bike24.com/
https://www.bike-components.de/shop/language/en
https://www.bike-discount.de/

HillRider

I've used Wiggle with great satisfaction and my-son-in-law has used PBK and Ribble also with equally good results. I've never used any German sellers and was just quoting jimc101's recommendation. Hartsu has provided several German sources but I have no experience with them.

BTW, UK sellers have low prices and are reliable but don't order anything you need in a hurry. Sometimes delivery is extremely fast, three or four days, but sometimes thing get hung up in US customs and delivery can be weeks. It's unpredictable.

mconlonx

US distributors and retailers are limited by agreements with parts companies with what they can do on pricing. Sell too low, and they lose their ability to buy SRAM or Shimano. Generally, on current year stuff, they have to sell around MSRP, not exactly sure, but I imagine they could sell close-out and obsolete parts cheaper.

Other countries have different policies, so if you want deals on new parts, you will be looking at sourcing abroad. If you can live with that, go for it.

jimc101

I use Rose about every 6 months, for parts like olives, brake pads and chain rings, which are much cheaper than in the UK, postage has to be accounted for, so for regular orders, CRC, Wiggle, Ribble, and mainly my LBS are the main places I get parts from. The others which hartsu links to are also good.

A lot depends on the brand, a Euro brand, like B&M lights are significantly cheaper from Germany than the UK, things like shifters, chains, wheels, the UK can be as cheap.

There is a lot of competition for bike parts here, as mentioned Wiggle, CRC, Ribble and PBK who ship the the US, there are also Evans, Planet X (who have a small US operation), Merlin Cycles, Winstanley and many other smaller resellers who drive down prices in the UK.

HillRider

Wouldn't they be even cheaper form Italy or Spain?