FWIW- Ordered a set of wheels from Wiggle, evening of 8/01. Delivered here in TN early afternoon today 8/08. Impressive, considering it was free shipping. Huge box, well packed.

It's a strange thing that I can receive components from the other side of the globe more quickly than if I order them from my LBS.

Many shops here outspokenly hate the idea of Internet purchases, yet have no inventory in their stores. When asked to order parts, the products are often limited in terms of size etc or just plain unavailable.

It is frustrating at times that the LBS wants twice as much for a product that is the wrong color or size, while only having the virtue of availability.

I got my package from Wiggle in about 5 days IIRC. I was shocked at the quickness. Free shipping, huge box, but not well packed. I ordered a drop bar, stem, and bar tape...the box is about 3ft long lol. I can't understand why they would use such a box, and more so why they didn't fill it so things wouldn't slide around.

I've bought stuff from Ribble and Probikekit, both places shipped faster than Nashbar and Performance.

I ordered from CRC and Niagara on the same day, CRC showed up about a week sooner. No complaints from Wiggle either. Small bit of extra time compared to a Nashbar, but worth it for the often lower prices and different inventory.
[MENTION=423363]Hardrock23[/MENTION] - my order from Wiggle was a pair of Sealskinz gloves, it came in a comically oversized box too!

Even for gloves? So odd.
Wonder if they have a reason for using more than what's needed.

Niagara can take a week or so to pull the parts and ship them. They always show a gazillion parts in inventory, but apparently some are either not in an on-site warehouse, or are being supplied by a wholesaler, and must be acquired, re-packaged and shipped.

Ribble, Wiggle, Merlin, & etc all seem to have a more limited selection of inventory (on their internet site), but what they advertise, they generally have in stock, and it gets shipped out the next day.

CRC has a box making machine--you can tell from the strange folds in their shipping boxes--that has a minimum box size, and once products are entered into the packaging system, it is automated. Small producys receive the smallest possible box.

I think one of my Ribble orders came in a sealed opaque plastic bag. Chains + cheap steel cassettes. Not much to bang up. Chains were probably in plastic bags, and maybe the cassettes in bubble wrap.

I've gotten handlebar tape from China also in the sealed plastic bags. Although, occasionally a Chinese order will come as if it is gift wrapped.

I would think companies that offer "free" shipping would make an effort to minimize costs (and, of course, also minimize damage). Something like gloves could almost be shipped in a manila envelope at letter rates.

The plastic bags don't stack, but they probably pack very well in a bin.

Agreed 100%. Soft things like gloves are perfect for bags. Still, that presupposes humans being involved with the packaging. At CRC at least, I believe that humans collect orders in trays which a machine packs and labels.

A packing robot would be interesting. But, it wouldn't take much to revise the packing robot to use a little logic.

Crushable? Potential for damage claims? Dump in vacuum sealed bag, slap on a label and toss in bin.

It then depends a bit on how the post office deals with shipping costs. And, cost of packing materials. How much does a box cost? 50 cents? A bag? 1 cent?

Send out a million of those bags, and one has saved a half million on packing materials alone (assuming, of course, similar damage and loss rates).

I think them and Tree Fort operate off of the same system. Tree Fort is local to me, the actual shop is tiny and has almost nothing in it. They have a small local warehouse, but most of the more oddball stuff has to be shipped in. Generally, the items they have "in stock" at each are the exact same, leading me to believe their storefronts just plug into some larger distribution system.

When I ordered from CRC, I got two wire bead tires, pedals, a light set, and maybe a couple other little trinkets. They twisted up the tires in the normal shipping manner, tossed all the rest in the hole in the center of the tires, and stuck it in a plastic envelope. Odd but efficient, I imagine the soft side packaging incurs a lower shipping rate.

I find this very funny. As someone who lives in the UK I've been used to the fact that some parts needed to be ordered from the USA as you just such a greater range of options than we have. Obviously things are changing. I still think you probably have a greater range but the situation is vastly improved since internet shopping really took off. Cat-Ears AirStreamz is one example - I would have had to order from the US not so long ago but someone is now selling them through Amazon UK.

I heard one of the Wiggle bosses on the radio a few years back. Interestingly they were just a small LBS who got together with a web designer to make an online shop - a case of being in the right place at the right time. Others such as Ribble have been around for long before the interweb but seem to have made the transition successfully. Another old favourite, Parker International, seems to have gone the way of the dodo.

Thinking TN is air hub of UPS freight..

+1 for Wiggle. I usually receive packages from them in about a week. They've been my source for tires, and I'm becoming a fan of the DHB kit. I think I'm done with Pro Bike Kit - every order from them has taken 3-4 weeks to arrive.

Strangely enough, my Wiggle boxes have usually been comically small - and look as though someone dumped them in the ocean and sent them over. The stuff inside is okay, though. Amazon, on the other hand: I'll get something half the size of my living room for an SD card and a pair of sunglasses.

I ordered a Shimano crankset from LBS, and I had to cancel the order after two months waiting. Then, I ordered it from Ribbles for $250 less and received it in 8 days. BTW, it came wrapped in plastic in a box (OEM) without fancy Dura Ace packaging which I didn't care for.

You did, however, save time and money. Ordering online is a trade off and you will sometimes get OEM parts in plastic bags.

I occasionally get stuff like that from CRC, but it is also occasionally delivered to South Korea from the UK within 3 days using DHL Priority at no extra cost.

My last CRC order was shipped on a Monday and received in Iowa on Wednesday the same week. Amazed me.

Yep, always gotten stuff within like a week from Merlin or Ribble. ProBikeKit in my experience has usually been much longer. There stuff seems to get stuck in Customs in my case and one set of wheels was lost for months than finally showed up in totally mangled packaging. They did reimburse me. Maybe I've just been unlucky with them.

Stateside I've found Niagra to be ridiculously show and try to avoid them now days.

Ribble, CRC, Merlin, Wiggle, Total Cycling.. I've purchased almost everything road cycling related from these UK/EU based online retailers for the last 7-8 years. On avg, about 3-4 business days from the UK/EU to NYC and never an issue with shipping and haven been spoiled by the quick turnaround.