Buy a bike over the internet?
04-29-09, 08:06 PM
#1
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Buy a bike over the internet?
I've been looking for a specific Specialized bike for a while now and i finally found it at a dealer on the west coast. The dealer won't ship it to me if I buy it over the phone/internet. I could get a friend to go pick it up and ship it to me but then I'm gonna be out of luck if I need any warranty repairs/service right? Does anyone think that there's a way that I could convince the Specialized dealer to ship to a dealer near me? Or do you think I should just avoid this altogether?
04-29-09, 08:08 PM
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If your friend picks up the bike from the LBS you still get a warranty. All the dealer needs is a face and a credit card at the same time.
04-29-09, 08:51 PM
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Have the friend buy the bike under your name so it is registered to you for warranty purpose.
04-29-09, 08:54 PM
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That's a good idea. Is there anything else you'd worry about doing it this way? Besides having an unhappy LBS but they only have 2009s and they are like 75% more money! I was hoping there'd be a way for them to ship to the LBS and have the LBS sell it to me for a small profit but seems unlikely.
04-29-09, 08:56 PM
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It sounds like the OP is concerned with the 1 year of free maintenance that most shops offer. It's not that big of a deal if you ask me, especially if you learn to do your own maintenance and repairs.
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04-29-09, 09:01 PM
#6
stole your bike
Most of the maintenance is pretty easy to do yourself, even if you take it to a shop you're not looking at a lot to spend. In one year you're probably just looking at brake and derailleur adjustments.
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04-29-09, 09:03 PM
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That's a good idea. Is there anything else you'd worry about doing it this way? Besides having an unhappy LBS but they only have 2009s and they are like 75% more money! I was hoping there'd be a way for them to ship to the LBS and have the LBS sell it to me for a small profit but seems unlikely.
The only other caution I would give you is to have your friend ship you the bike insured in case it gets damaged en route.
04-30-09, 01:46 AM
#8
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Dude, you are not just buying a lawn-mower or a micro-wave oven. It's a bicycle that has your name written all over it. It comes with the right frame size, the right handlebar width, the right stem length, etc. You can't buy one of these through the mail service and get what you need without beeing incredibly lucky.
