foldingbike

I've been thinking about ordering Dahon Curve online.

But I realized the shipping charge is just too much and many of online stores only ship their item via UPS which charges outrageous broker fees on top of shipping fees.

Would it be better to buy the bike in Canada or does anybody know a online store offers USPS shipping to Canada at a reasonable cost?

4cmd3

It is probably always better to buy the bike from your local bike store (LBS) when you have the option.
Sometimes online prices are tempting, but shipping (& duties for cross-border) can cost a lot.

If you buy at your LBS they should have a professional mechanicable do the initial tuning/setup
(required for the Dahon lifetime warranty on the frame/handlepost/fork)
otherwise that would be an additional cost if you ordered online.

https://www.dahon.com/support/warranty.htm

You can probably get some assistance setting up the bike for a proper fit as well.

Many LBS' throw an additional check-up say one month down the road, some even offer lifetime adjustments on bicycles they sell.

Plus you'll have a place you can take the bike back to if you do run into any significant problems.

Obviously this all depends on having a Dahon-knowledgeable dealer somewhere close by.

Where (approx.) do you live in Canada? What city are you in or near?

What is your skill level with bicycle mechanics/maintenance?

jakub.ner

I bought my Dahons from The Urbane Cyclist in Toronto: www.ucycle.com.

cooker

There's likely going to be hefty import duties too. Buy in Canada.

4cmd3

Yes Urbane has a very nice selection of Dahon's and other folders on display.

We got our Dahon's at Duke's Cycle last year.
https://www.dukesonqueen.com/
They don't have as many Dahon's on the floor, but I was pleased with the service and the price might have been a little more competitive at the time.

There's also Racer Sportif in Toronto, though I'm not sure if they are a new Dahon dealer because when I was in the market last year, I don't recall them being on Dahon's authorized dealers list.

Here's the full Canadian dealers list:
https://www.dahon.com/locator/results...untrysearch=Go

Hopefully there is someone near you...

cooker

Just checked. There is a 13% import tax on bicycles from developed nations and at least 8% on bikes from non developed nations. Add that to shipping costs and it gets very high.

https://www.casbi.ca/

foldingbike

I'm currently living in Vancouver but moving to Ottawa on June 1st.
I know there's one bike shop in Vancouver offering Curve @ CAN $480 but since I'm going to live in Ottawa, it won't be easy to check my bike there in the future.

pxboii

I second that. DON"T BUY ANYTHING THAT SHIPS WITH UPS UNLESS IS FEDEX!!! I got a dahon last year from a US web site thinking I can save some money. Boy, was I ever wrong. UPS will charge you a broker's fee which is about 200.00 CDN while Fedex only charges 50.00.

So at the end what I paid for the bike and UPS broker's fee was almost the same buying from LBS.
DON"T DO IT.

psykoocycle

T.O. --- Didn't know Jakub was in London!

I've learned my lesson in importing bikes, it would be my last resort. There's just too many things that can burn you, double taxes, shipping, UPS monkeys.

I usually just wait until a road trip to the US comes up and have it shipped to a friend.

Or I pick it up myself. I've looked for online retailers that ship via USPS, but there isn't too many out there.

Apex Carver

Are there any Canadian retailers for Montague bikes?

wfin2004

Eeh?

Dynocoaster 

I live 10 minutes from the Aldergrove crossing in BC in the US, have it shipped here and pick it up, PM me if you are interested.

psykoocycle

Not that I am aware off, however I've seen a few sold on craigslist.

dmnobrien

I'm going to be Toronto next week, looking to pick up a Strida or Curve when I'm there.

If anyone has a Downtube Mini in Toronto, I'd love to try it out, eh?