Here's something unbelievable. I ordered some bike parts from chain reaction cycles in Belfast Northern Ireland. The order was Dispatched on Monday morning and I got a text saying it would be delivered on Wednesday. Even crazier is I got the parts at a 47% discount from what they cost here in America and the shipping was FREE. If I really do get it on Wednesday and the order is correct, I'll probably never buy from anyone else. WOW.

It's all great until you need to return it. Then you'll pay shipping out the wazoo.

that would be quite something, if and when it shows up. i'll ask later for what was ordered and prices...

I ordered a garden sprayer for cleaning my bike off. $9 for a perfectly functioning 1 Gal sprayer, and it arrived on my doorsptep 15 hours after I hit "Order" with free shipping. The world is getting really scary.

I have ordered many times from ChainReaction and from Merlin in the UK. I live in SoCal. They both deliver as fast as they say. OTOH it can take two weeks to get something from Niagara Cycle in NY, not that Niagara is not a good store, it is a great store.

I figure stuff from the UK flies directly to the West Coast and does not have to travel by ground across the US.

I got a front and rear set of Shimano Zee four piston hydraulic MTB disc brakes for half of what they cost in the US. Shipping was free, no sales tax, and they arrived in less than 5 business days.

Bike stuff is cheaper in the UK. It could be a currency exchange thing or that the pricing structure takes into account disposible income, the US having more than the UK.

I have never had to return bike components that I have purchased online. I do my research and know exactly what I want and if it's going to work. Clothing might be a different issue though.

it's possible that they have warehouses in the U.S.

or maybe some kind of mutual assistance contract(s) with another vendor(s) , possibly in the same state as the customer. if that's even legal .

and maybe, say shimano, let's their clients (bike shops) order directly from them and THEY ship the item to their client's customer from the U.S. based warehouse.

I believe it. My last order with Chain Reaction was placed on Sunday night at 9:30pm and I received the parts on Tuesday! I'm located in CT and the parts shipped via DHS. Shipped air into NYC then via truck to CT. This was the fastest order I've ever received from the UK, other orders took up to a week or more. Still better than many US suppliers.
Once I ordered a wheel set from them that was back ordered, that took 2 months but I was willing to wait.

The rapidness of the change can be unnerving. I was in a Sam's Club the other day and they had a 3d printer for $800. Right on the shelf. I could have brought it home and went to work.

I order electronic specialty parts directly from China. They take a while to get here (3-4 weeks). But it is the only way to get them. The world has gotten tiny.

No, I don't think so. The packages always arrive by US mail, not UPS or FedEx. They're put in the US mail after they've gone through US customs. ChainReaction calls themselves the world's largest online bike retailer. I don't think they would be running an illegal operation.

I have bought front and rear hydraulic disc brake sets twice from the UK. On both set the longer hose was on the left side, the shorter hose on the right side. In other words, right hand front brake, left hand rear brake, opposite of the US. Those brakes were for the UK market. All I had to do is swap the hoses, no big deal.

I know it sounds too good to be true but it is true. It's cheaper and gets here fast from the UK.

I took an interest in a Pashley Speed Guv'nor 3-Speed bike. $1043 from Evans Cycles in the UK, $1695 in the US. The Speed 5 is $1243 from Evans and is not available in the US.

The Speed 5 would be a sweet bike for an Eroica.

I commented before that I ordered a lot of stuff over the years from UK, Germany and France. I am not surprised.

My last order included some Shimano A530 pedals, I paid about $35 (USD), free shipping, but I did pay 3 percent currency conversion fee on my credit card. (That order included other stuff to be a big enough order to get free shipping.) Those same pedals here retail at $65, although some discounters have them closer to a bit over $40 with shipping.

But, the problem is that most of the stuff you can easily buy that way is the stuff that they sell a lot of. Odd sizes of tires or odd tools or unusual parts are very hard to find that way. So, you are often shopping in a USA store for some of those odd parts.

And, some European companies have exclusive distributor arrangements here in USA where they do not allow retailers in other countries to ship their products to USA. Those USA distributors tack on a lot of markup which drives the prices so high here.

When the package was shipped originally by Royal Mail and is covered with stickers like you have never seen before, it is pretty obvious where it came from.

Several times when I ordered from Niagara, they had to wait for the item to come in from another supplier to them, then they shipped it out. I like Niagara and will use them again, but I factor in additional delay with them.

That's just sexy. Its funny that generally the only new bikes I want are based on the vintage stuff I have!

Niagara takes a long time but the selection and prices are fantastic. Their cables, housings, and related bits is unrivaled. If I want something fast I don't order from them.

Other bikes like this are modern bike frames with vintagey parts slapped on but this is the real deal, 100 year old geometry.

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Pfft. In '05 I ordered an iMac and got it in three days--from China. Three days from date of order, not date of dispatch. It was neat to track the package. Shipped the same day I ordered it. Overnight to Alaska, thence to Indiana then to a local FedEx distribution center and out on the truck for delivery.

I wanted some disc brakes fast so I ordered from Jenson USA. We are both located in SoCal. I ordered yesterday afternoon and they will arrive this afternoon. I think it's going to be less than 24hrs!

i think vendors are getting the message that their customers are, in general, an impatient lot.