$7.25 shipping?!
 

I got a new bike that came with Bontrager select 31mm diameter handlebars. The problem is my old Cateye has the normal mount and now I need one of the lights with a rubber-strap mount.

I was at the Trek store today checking out lights and they had the Cateye EL410. Witout an employee in site I had a plan where I could easily swipe it in my sweatshirt pocket and put the empty package a few back on the rack and they wouldn't have noticed for days but morals got the best of me.

Trek makes enough money as it is, right?

The Cateye EL410 is a good fit and is $25 marked down from $40 on nashbar. I currently have $44.44 in my bank account (poor college kid, living at home, just spent $550 on new bike, $40 on new lock for that nice new bike, and needs a job) so the $7.25 shipping is outrageous.

Finally, my question- Does nashbar or any other biking site ever offer free shipping?

Yes.

I know Performance Bike did the promotional 25 cent shipping for their anniversary,and Nashbar usually has it for orders of $75 or more, but other than that, I'm at a loss.

Also, regarding your comment that Trek makes good money. I was talking to my LBS owner and she was telling me how Trek charged them (meaning all Trek bike dealers) a fee to "compensate" Trek for their commericals and adversiting during the Tour de France seasons, especially during the Lance Armstrong years.

You make me regret my decision.

Honestly I was having a few regrets as I drove away though.

I recently bought some brake pads from nashbar during a free shipping promotion... a good deal.

Which decision?

Perhaps it was the security cameras that got the best of you?

Don't steal. Stealing is wrong.

People that steal are low. Is that store independently owned? If so you may not be taking from Trek but from the store owners pocket. Besides all stealing does is raise the prices for us people actually honest enough to work for what we pay for.

You must have misunderstood. I was just remarking on how you state that "Trek makes enough money as it is, right?" and relating it personal story of mine.

Don't have any regrets about it as either way you'll be paying some sort of additional fee, whether it's tax or shipping. That's how I like to look at it. Also, could you buy a mount for the light you already have? I found this.

Sorry to have caused you any grief or anxiety of the sort.

Bal

Several points:

• Trek doesn't make "enough money" to give you free goodies. They're a business. They have to pay people. Nashbar has to pay people too, including those who work in the shipping department. Run a business first before you make any judgments about what businesses can afford to give away or have stolen.
• While college is supposed to be educational, college students come up with a lot of stupid ideas, and you are not the first so-called "poor" college kid who came up with the stupid idea of a five-finger discount as a way to avoid paying for things. Are you really ready to get hauled off in a cruiser and booked over a $40 light? Come on.
• You're not a "poor". You may be a broke, but that's a very different matter. You're going to college, acquiring an education that will give you the ability to earn far more than those who haven't attended college. You have the college's resources at your disposal, providing you with all kinds of benefits that ordinary citizens must pay for. You live at home -- are you paying room and board? No? Then that's a major life expense that most people have to pay that you're skating on. You are not poor, and you cannot claim poverty as a justification for theft.
• You have a light already, which apparently works. The only thing wrong with it is the mount. You could probably rig up something that would work. It may not look great, but working and saving money for the light seems like it's out of the question for you, and your plans to get a freebie out of somebody either by stealing or by cadging free shipping may not work out as planned. Just use some duct tape, for heaven's sake.

Lighten up, Francis.