Where do you shop?
 

The recent LBS vs. eBay thread got me curious. Where do you shop for cycling stuff?

Combination of both. I try my LBS first, but if they can't come within a reasonable range of pricing, I order online. For example, I wanted a Veloce cassette ($60 online) and all they had was a Record cassette for $350, or would take 2 weeks to get the Veloce one for $89. No thanks. Also, for hard to find or older items, I search ebay. As for new stuff, I prefer a bike shop or online retailer though.

pro-deal - there are some bennifits from working very PT at a large nationwide outdoor retailer.

Usually the local Performance shop cause their prices are much cheaper than any of the other shops around. If not,then the shop where I bought my bike or the other shop where I can go for hard to find parts. Last resort is buying online where I'll check nashbar or amazon.

Mostly online for me - depending on the part.

For example: I purchased some Vittoria Rubino Pro tires off ebay for $50. My LBS wanted $50 per tire!!!

Another example: I purchased some DEDA Newton bars and Bontrager X Lite seatpost from my LBS because if something went wrong or didn't fit right, I had a better chance of returning it. I could have saved myself at leat $60 buy purchasing them both online.

It all depends for me, but I will typically favor saving money rather than shopping LBS

I generally like my LBS. They do a pretty good job on service, and service prices are reasonable.

Parts, not so much.

Kinetic Systems
70 S. Main
Clarkston, MI

For all your cycling desires.

Mail order in the 80s and the internet now. Most shops just can't afford to stock more than a representative selection of components.

I voted for LBS and mail order including e-bay. However, I'll be ordering a lot more on-line as my favorite LBS closed recently:cry:

Almost all my bike parts shopping is online. My LBS is too small and has very little in the road bike area. :(

Depends on need. If I need it now, LBS. If i just want it, but want a value, Ebay or online with lots of searching. Do not mind buying jerseys online, but shorts, glove and helemts I almost always feel, examnine, try on first, so LBS only. Shoes only at LBS. I am probably a 50/50 balance of online/ebay versus LBS.

almost entirly at my local lbs as in the one less than 3 miles from me.

Url for his site
http://www.rdbike.com/
Hes got one of the nicest buidings in the area and its old as they get on the street.

Whats funny is the old bike parkign rack is the same one he used when i first started going to his shop that was back in the mid 80s. Id rather give him my money than performance or other big company with big company concerns. If it costs me 10 15 20% more then so be it.

I think bike related stuff ive bought maybe 3 or 4 items (other than used parts from friends and yardsales etc) fro places other than his shop. My topeak came from bens cycle and fitness off his ebay shop. Bohgt a set of tubes for my bike when i was out one day as well i couldnt pass up a set of tubes for 1.99 each. Those tubes have lasted me 3 months last year and over 100 miles this year so say 900 miles so far. Bought my tires including the flawed pana racer wich he replaed with out question other than asking where the flaw was so he could chop the section out to send back to panaracer.

I prefer local shops as its just easyer to get the replacement should something fail. I think of any extra cash i spend as buying a insurance policy on the item.

It may depend on whether one does their own service or not. I can't remember the last time I set foot in an LBS.

However, I did recently expand my online shopping to include European retailers. Very good experience.

I use eBay as well. Basically, whoever has it cheaper gets the business. I have a few bikes and I keep an inventory of normal maintenance stuff (tires, cables, cassettes, chains, etc) so I never really need anything quickly.

my LBS

if they don't have it, they can order it.
yeah, i may pay slightly more, but my $$ stays in town, helps put someone else's kids through school, and the shop continues to get better.

sometimes i buy online, for something odd... or something i need to do research on, but mostly its the LBS. if my local economy sucks, i have no-one to blame but the people who live here... (including me)

Does everyone who buys mostly on the internet do their own servicing? If you buy a new complete bike on the internet, how much assembly/mechanical work is required? Would somebody with no prior experiance working on bikes need a bike mechanic?

If you had an LBS less than 5 minutes walk from your home, would you still mostly buy on the internet?

I buy almost everything on the internet except clothes, furniture and cars. With cars, I buy from the same dealer I intend to service the car at. I am looking to buy a bike and have not had one since college (I used it for basic transportation) which was quite some time ago. I am leaning towards treating it like a car purchase and buying the bike at the closest LBS which is less than 5 minutes walk away.

90% of the stuff I buy is used. I'm a cheapskate with a moderate case of retro grouchiness. There are two shops in town that deal in a lot of used parts. I buy there instead of ebay whenever possible because shipping is a killer and I get the hookup from some of the employees.

Most of the stuff I buy new at the LBS is the little necessities (brake pads, tubes, tires, bar tape). The rest of the money I spend there is on labor. I do a lot of work on my bikes, but there's some stuff I don't mess with (wheelbuilding, headset installation, bottom brackets). I'd much rather pay someone with the expertise and tools to do the job right.

I want to buy at my LBS, I really do. However, I can't justify shelling out an extra 25-40% for damn near every part I need for my bikes. Why should I pay $110 for an Ultegra rear derailleur, when I can order one online for ~$50? If there's a small part I need in a hurry, or when I need advice I can't get online, then I definitely go to the LBS.

Nobrainer440:

You have dedided to contiue the firestorm. Good for you. Maybe your poll should have been set up with choices as follows:

1. Hate all LBS will never shop there
2. Hate all LBS will only shop there in an emergency
3. Hate all LBS will only shop there with a gun pointed at my head
4. Hate all LBS due to lack of inventory due to my online shopping
5. Hate all LBS because they try to make a profit to stay in business
6. Hate all LBS because they won't work on my online purchased bike

Good luck. Add your own to the above list.

When I lived in Winnipeg, my LBSs consisted of about 10 bicycle shops and the local MEC. I bought most of my accessories at the MEC, and bought my bicycles, and a few other things at the LBSs. I also used Nashbar to supplement what I couldn't get at my LBS or MEC.

Now I haven't got much in the way of LBSs at all, and the "local" MEC is 100 miles away, so I find myself purchasing stuff from bicycle shops when I travel, or ordering online.


HOWEVER, I refuse to buy anything from E-Bay! I can't understand how people can use that, or why they would want to! I've gone in and looked at things, but to me, it looks like the biggest scam I've ever laid eyes on! Maybe I don't understand the whole thing, but to me it looks like anyone could take a picture of anything they happen to see somewhere, post it with a bit of a description, then people bid on it, one unlucky person hands over a bunch of cash with paypal (another scam, IMO), and the person who took the photo has scored a whole pile of cash all for the price of a photograph.

I'll stick to real stores, thank you.

Almost always online. NYC prices are nuts!