BulkyRider

I'm living suburban and I don't have good bike shop around. And then, I sometimes need to buy from e-shop. However, many cyclists suggest that you should find good shop and use there regularly. (Though I agree that, still, some need to use e-shops, I guess)

I wonder how many of you guys buy from e-shop.

1. Do you buy from e-shops?
2. What are the advantages/disadvantages of using e-shops you think?
3. What e-shop do you use/recommend the most?
4. Any bad story of using e-shops?

Regards

RonH

Online shopping is great if you know your size for whatever product you're considering.
1. Even though I live in a large city with many, many bike shops, I sometimes shop online.
2. I see a real bargain or I see something I want that I can't find locally. The only disadvantage is I have to wait until the UPS guy delivers it.
3. www.velowear.com
https://www.sierratradingpost.com/
4. Never had a problem. Most if not all have a great return or exchange policy.

PaulRivers

Yeah to the first one.

Yeah, but after walking into shops and it seems like 50% of the time they're out of stock of whatever I want, I prefer to simply order it online - saves me some aggravation about driving around to 3 different stores and such. :-)

wahoonc

1. Yes
2. Availability of odd parts, price is usually a wash by the time you allow for shipping.
3. Depends on what I need...
4. Nashbar had a security breach a while back and was damned slow in acknowledging it. Compromised two of my credit cards.

Aaron

wrafl

I order at e shops. They are usually cheaper than buying and going store to
store. Usually they have no sales tax unless the e shop is in your state and
they also ship free and when you are not in a hurry, you get your order in 2-
3 days. I have never had a bad experience with purchasing on line and never
have to return anything as long as you know what you are ordering.

BulkyRider

Thanks for your opinion, guys. I also never had problem with e-shops. (Has anyone tried eBay frame?)

Machka 

I've done most of my cycling shopping online ... or in the old days by catalogue and phone. I wouldn't have 75% of the cycling stuff I currently own if I had to depend on bicycle shops.

BulkyRider

I totally agree. There's huge price differences between actual shops and online shops. High-level people suggest importance of professional tuning and care, but you know I don't belong to that level :S

Retro Grouch 

I like to do bike builds and modifications. No local shop ever has the parts in stock that I'm looking for. If I buy from a local shop I have to special order and wait for the part to come in. Then I have to make another trip to the bike shop and pay sales tax.

Frankly, other than the pleasure of my scintillating conversation, the bike shop isn't making out either. By the time that they have to deal with me twice, handle the special order, and give me a discount, they aren't making any money at all.

PaulRivers

Yeah, me to. Sometimes it's not actually cheaper to buy online (and sometimes it is), but often it's such a pita to get it from a local shop it's just easier to order it.

DX-MAN

I do almost all of my bike parts buying online; even WITH shipping, the small handful of LBS's here can't match what I pay. Plus, there are a few (like eBay!) where I can get really obscure stuff that nobody else seems to have. (Example: stem spacers and bar-ends made of 'white' carbon fiber -- have a set myself on my HT, and my daughter's bike has a pair. Got 'em on eBay....)

I appreciate the LBS, as I get gels and bars on impulse more than by plan. And, it's a little tough to yak bike stuff with an online store, you can BS with the sales clerks!

Machka 

One of the issues we have right now is proximity to an LBS. For a year, up till 3 weeks ago, we lived way out in the middle of nowhere, but even now that we've moved into town, we're not really any closer to a bicycle shop. The town we're in has a sporting goods shop, and we could get a few items there if we were really desperate (i.e. expensive tubes), but the place doesn't stock the kind of things we usually need or want. The next closest shop is probably about 75 km away.

We have done a shop run ... visiting a whole selection of shops in the Melbourne area ... but that's not something we want to do too often. It is just quicker and easier to order online and have the item delivered ... even if there happens to be shipping charges. By the time we've driven or taken the train to the Melbourne shops, we've paid out what we would have done for shipping, and we're not guaranteed to get what we want in the shops anyway. They may or may not have what we're looking for. Most of them will offer to order it for us, but then we'd have to go back to their shop to pick it up.

A shop run can be a interesting diversion for a rainy Saturday or something, and we did pick up quite a few things the last time we did that, but we weren't hanging our hopes on getting what we wanted.