Best online shop
 

First hello to all . Long time lurker here. Can anyone recommend a online shop with the best variety of commuter gear?thanks

Oh, goody! I was hoping someone would ask, 'cuz I'm curious too. I only know of: Nashbar, Performance, REI, JensonUSA, PricePoint, Bike Island. And let's not forget Amazon, Sierra Trading Post, or Ebay.

www.velo-orange.com
www.rivbike.com
www.sheldonbrown.com/harris
www.performancebike.com
www.benscycle.com

Those are some of my favs.

I've had lots of luck with Cambria: http://www.cambriabike.com/

Harris always has that oddball part nobody else has: http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/

Excel Sports is my hometown bike shop. Great products, great prices but they're primarily a road racing shop and don't have much/any commuting gear. But if you want road racing stuff, they're fantastic. Nice guys, great service: http://www.excelsports.com

edit: "shop" implies they do service, repairs, etc. They don't. They're just a mail-order/online place that happens to have a little showroom in the front of their warehouse.

tree fort - http://www.treefortbikes.com/
Alfred E Bike - http://aebike.com/
Touring Store (for racks and panniers) - http://www.thetouringstore.com/

I'll add www.jensonusa.com, www.universalcycles.com, and www.lickbike.com. I've had good experiences with them all.

Fixed that for you.


I use:

www.aebike.com for QBP purchases
www.speedgoat.com because I like their store
www.jensonusa.com
www.benscycle.net
www.peterwhitecycles.com (not really a web store... I make all my purchases via email with them)
www.treefortbikes.com

and various other stores when I'm price-shopping items with froogle. Typically, I'll stay with a store I know unless the price is significantly cheaper elsewhere.

These guys have a lot of cheap stuff...

http://www.niagaracycle.com/

Though I have yet to purchase from them.

My top 5:

1) Harris Cyclery
2) Universal Cycles
3) Velo Orange
4) Tree Fort Bikes
5) Jenson USA

I also occasionally order from Competitive Cyclist and Colorado Cyclist.

The ones mentioned above are great depending on what you need. Here's how they break out:

Lowest cost very commonly available stuff: Performance and Nashbar

Hard to find stuff: Harris

Traditional English Roadster, Dutch bike, Touring stuff: Velo Orange and Rivendell

Campy stuff: Lick Bike

Racing Stuff: Excel Sports

Wheel stuff: Wheebuilder.com and Neuvations

I've had good experiences with all these guys.

Can't beat the price-matching and service at http://www.universalcycles.com/ although they just added a MN distribution center so it adds a step to the checkout (need to choose MN or OR). I should say, can't beat them on the west coast, they ship fast, I guess the MN thing will help them ship faster to other places. Also, purely in terms of rapid delivery, big fan of http://www.biketiresdirect.com if they have what I want and I order it in the am, I will have it that same pm from my 6pm UPS delivery.

And I just have to look whenever I see their link, they are open again!!!

I like their prices and service as well.

I just got a Surly Crosscheck frame and King headset from WebCyclery out of Bend Oregon. I did not ask, but they emailed me to see if I'd like the headset put on the frame before they shipped it. Pretty cool!
I picked 2 day shipping and they changed it to ground because they said (in another email) it would take the same amount of time.

Frame will be here today!!

I'll buy more stuff from them for this bike build.

Nice. Do they ream/face all the various orifices too?

On a related note, is there any online mail-order for bikes in Canada?

Two I know of are:

http://www.canadabicycleparts.com
http://www.bikecanada.com

I've only used canadabicycleparts, and found them to be pretty helpful. Although their catalog is limited compared to some of the bigger US sites.

I'll add http://www.bikepartsusa.com
http://www.campmor.com
http://www.brandcycle.com
http://www.bikeisland.com (No shipping...great service)

BPUSA has a lot of stuff cheap, but can rock you on the shipping...the best thing is to get stuff in bulk from them.

Campmor has stuff cheaper than most places and alot of 'bike specific' or 'bike adaptable' stuff.

Brandscycle has a no shipping price line...75.00, I think.

Bikeisland has a 'tools' section that can't be beat online for the DIY cyclist/mechanic. Good prices, too.

A new site I just discovered from a recent thread is http://www.bicycleclothing.com Going to buy the WP/breathable jacket, pants and helmet cover in a couple of weeks.

I've dealt w/most of the other stores on other posts and can say that any of them are tried and true.

Every place I have used is listed on one of my webpages along with my personal review of each good and bad that I have dealed with. http://www.jtgraphics.net/cyclist_bicycles.htm

Just found these guys the other day looking for some chainrings:

www.branfordbike.com. Interesting selection of bike parts and good service.
I always check www.rei.com for closeout deals.
Great service on tires from www.biketiresdirect.com.

Am surprised that no one has mentioned Wallingford Bike yet -- famous for their 6-month return policy on Brooks saddles, plus racks, bags, etc. I have never bought from them (they always appear to have a lot of out-of-stocks) but I know lots of BF people seem to like them.

I have bought alot of stuff through them. Comparing prices with AEBIKe, they tend to be less expensive. The order was correct, price was great, but shipping was a bit slow (2plus weeks)

Highly recomended.

Nashbar, on the other hand.....

http://www.bikeman.com/ is reliable.

I have ordered from them when some of the slightly cheaper alternatives above have been out of stock and I am impatient.

This place has great prices, BUT, they will not exchange anything. If you have any problems with anything you buy you have to go through the manufacture for warranty adjustment.

I bought a SKS mini pump a month ago from them and when I first used it it worked great, but the second time something happened to it and it no longer pumps above 35psi. I e-mailed BikeSomeWhere about the problem and here's what they said:

Dear, Thank you for ordering from BikeSomeWhere.com! Unfortunately, this issue is outside of our return and exchange policy. I would recommend contacting the manufacturer, as this would be a warranty issue. As far as the Topeak items, we have almost universal satisfaction with all Topeak pumps. Please feel free to contact us if you have any additional questions. Ellie The BikeSomeWhere.com Team

I contacted my LBS and asked them what they would have done and they said they would have exchanged it for whatever brand I wanted or even refunded my money.

http://www.modernbike.com

I've only ordered from them once but they shipped quickly.

+1

Not only is bikeman a great Online shop, he is a great brick and mortar shop as well. The real-life store is called Bath Cycle & Ski in Woolwich Maine. I love those guys!

http://www.grannygear.com/Assets/Ima...ikeman_com.jpg