Overseas online shops-comparison.

[stackie]

So... I needed to get some replacement bits after a crash. Amazing differences in service.

TotalCycling: Buy Deda Deep bars ( kind of hard to find these days) and SLR saddle in white. Add on a pair of campy skewers also since they have a nice price. Email back no saddle in stock. Entire order holds or ship without and saddle sends later with another shipping fee. Grrr. Skip the saddle. Get order. Shallow bars. Grrr. Customer service says to send back economically with tracking. I go to post office. $54 to send tracked. $22 untracked. For $62 handlebars. I do the right thing and go home. Email them. They say to send untracked then. I ask them to ship new handlebars now and wait for return. They say will not ship replacements until they receive incorrect pair. But I can order and pay shipping again. Seriously? I ask them if they really mean this. They repent and say they will refund shipping on new bars. I start to order and now realize I can now get the bars at better price from Wiggle with free shipping. Done. Tell total cycling to forget it.

Pushy's: Order Sidi shoes. Don’t show. Get request for feedback from Pushys. I track package and it’s stuck in LA. I email them. They apologize profusely and institute query with Australia and US post office. I get note that they are stuck in customs. OK. Cool. You guys do the legwork, treat me with respect. I’ll wait a bit. I’m happy with them.

ProBikeKitUSA: order SLR saddle in white with free shipping. I get daily emails from them telling me they are working on it until it ships three days later. You guys are doing well.

The kicker of it al? I finally get an email from TotalCycling saying they’ve received bars and will process refund. Ten minutes later I get automated email from Wiggle saying they are processing my refund. What? I guess TotalCycling and Wiggle are related somehow. TotalCycling must be for people who are dumb enough to pay shipping so they figure are also dumb enough to be treated like dirt.

Jon

[sales guy]

A ton of online shops post things from the standard catalogs and place orders as needed. Merlin and Chain Reaction are two exceptions.

If you ever need anything, let me know.

[AngryScientist]

never even heard of pushy's. i will have to peruse...

[stackie]

Pushys is Australian. Found them on eBay. Good feedback so I went for it. I always pay with credit card and I’ve never had an issue getting credit card company involved if needed. I’ll follow up when I actually get the shoes.

Jon

[rousseau]

Isn't Ribble the gold standard for British online retailers when it comes to price and selection? My orders from Wiggle, Probikekit and Chain Reaction have gone fine, no complaints, but Ribble always seems to have the best prices, so I mainly go with them.

I should do a shout out for Prendas Ciclismo, too. They've got a groovy clothing selection.

https://www.prendas.co.uk/

[fignon's barber]

Originally Posted by rousseau

Isn't Ribble the gold standard for British online retailers when it comes to price and selection? My orders from Wiggle, Probikekit and Chain Reaction have gone fine, no complaints, but Ribble always seems to have the best prices, so I mainly go with them.

I should do a shout out for Prendas Ciclismo, too. They've got a groovy clothing selection.

https://www.prendas.co.uk/

Prendas rules. A small operation that has fairly priced stuff and great service.
I've had good results with those other UK retailers as well, but lately Wiggle and Ribble have begun to engage in price fixing with some of their suppliers. Sidi, for example,won't ship to US anymore. I guess Sidi thinks it's OK for US cyclists to pay $500 for their shoes while Europeans pay $300, as long as Sidi makes their buck.

[Kirk007]

Starbike, Bike-Discount DE, Ciclicorsa


I always double check the UK dealers against at least Starbike. Good service, price etc.

[seanile]

Originally Posted by sales guy

A ton of online shops post things from the standard catalogs and place orders as needed. Merlin and Chain Reaction are two exceptions.

If you ever need anything, let me know.

Chain Reaction is also owned by Wiggle

[sales guy]

Originally Posted by seanile

Chain Reaction is also owned by Wiggle

Yep. And they are buying bike24 also.

[SoCalSteve]

Originally Posted by sales guy

A ton of online shops post things from the standard catalogs and place orders as needed. Merlin and Chain Reaction are two exceptions.

If you ever need anything, let me know.

Can you and /or will you be competitive on pricing in comparison with UK online shops?

Thanks!

[PaMtbRider]

Ribble is still good but not the gold standard anymore as far as pricing. I’ve had better pricing and good customer service from Merlin Cycles lately.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[StephenCL]

Ribble has gone way down market...stopped carrying high end campagnolo, stopped offering a large selection of saddles, stems and bars, and the prices are up about 20% over the last 18 months, or since the redesign of their website.

They used to be the go to, but I don't use them much anymore.

Stephen

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by PaMtbRider

Ribble is still good but not the gold standard anymore as far as pricing. I’ve had better pricing and good customer service from Merlin Cycles lately.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Seems hit and miss. I just had a quick look and found prices like these (CA$):

Time Xpresso 10 Carbon pedals
Ribble: $134.51
Merlin: $115.66

3T Arx II Team stem
Ribble: $78.07
Merlin: $98.32

Campagnolo Veloce 10 speed cassette 12-25
Ribble: $42.53
Merlin: $57.83

But I just noticed that Ribble has totally gutted its Campagnolo offerings, while Merlin seems to have a full range. Merlin also has a better selection of saddles than Ribble. Hmm...

[BdaGhisallo]

Starbike.com

[fogrider]

Jensonusa.com has pretty good pricing and fast shipping. also biketiresdirect.com is not bad.