Howdy everybody. I’m going to be building a bike over the winter, and don’t have access to a local bike shop with much selection. I’ll be ordering parts online, and I’m wondering who your favorite online retailers are. I’ll be buying the bike from from my bike shop, but I’ll be needing everything else.
Thanks!
I like Universal Cycles, Excel Sports, and used to buy a lot from Art’s Cyclery but it looks like there webstore is history. Universal offers 15% orders over $300 with a code if you sign up for their mailing list, they also price match. You can also get great deals on Ebay on complete groups from reputable shops.
What country do you live in? Edit: I see you’re in Spokane.
I use biketiresdirect.com for a lot of things. Fast delivery and easy returns. They also stock lots of parts. Most of the time though I just search goole for the part or product I’m looking for and use the shopping feature to find the retailer with the cheapest delivered price.
I’m in the US, west coast.
Clever Training, Competitive Cyclist, SteepandCheap
Competitivecyclist.com and backcountry.com (same company) are generally very good with broad selection and quick shipping. An important tip is to set up an account at activejunky.com and then go to competitivecyclist.com or backcountry.com through the links. You will get quarterly cash back checks from activejunky on most items.
Competitivecyclist used to have coupons that applied to pretty much everything on their site and I used these to buy several bikes in years past. However they have slowly added more and more exclusions to these “site-wide” coupon codes. However they still have some fantastic sales like the recent 12 Days of Christmas sale and the annual Tour de France Sale.
Another great site is Westernbikeworks.com. I discovered them in the past year and got some really nice deals on tires, a Garmin Fenix 5 Plus, and numerous other items. Their shipping is also super quick.
For mountain bike stuff, Worldwidecyclery.com is great. They often have coupon codes but have been a little harder to get as of late. If you go to their site through the mtbpodcast.com site, some money kicks back to Jonathan’s MTB biking podcast and supports it.
Bikebling.com has some great specials but sometimes the shipping is slow. I got a great deal on a Fox fork from them but it took about 10 days to ship after I ordered. I’ve heard they don’t always have inventory and stuff has to come from the manufacturer first. But if you are patient, there can be some really good deals.
JensonUSA.com is worth checking out as is Chainreactioncycles.com
More and more manufacturers are selling direct now too. Enve.com, Trek and Specialized are all examples.
Artscyclery used to be great but they have essentially gone out of business.
I’ve found that JensonUSA usually has the best price on most parts for me (Shimano components are usually under what a shop can get them for). They also have 1-day shipping to a few different areas out of their UT warehouse, which is insane.
I’ve seen the best selection and price from these guys so far. One day shipping is wild!
This is great, thank you!
I’m assuming you mean that you are buying the frame+fork from the LBS, not a whole bike. Very rarely is it worth buying a bike and then upgrading it right away.
I used them a lot to build my XC bike. A few times they offered a good discount to write reviews for products I had purchased for publication on their blog.
You are correct, just frame and fork then I’m doing the rest.
eBay.
Sometimes backcountry/competitivecyclist
Sad to see Art’s no longer has a web store… I visit the SLO store a couple times a year and buy stuff.
Give my LBS the business unless the price gap is large. My go to online retailers are Excel Sports and BikeTiresDirect. BikeTires in particular has fast shipping to CA. Bought a couple things from CompetitveCyclist, they work hard for biz and good return policies.
I’m in Australia and use Pushys. Fast and pretty cheap with good range.
For the UK I always use Wiggle - good selection ( although it does appear to be reducing) however their sales are discounts are generally good too.
I’m in the UK as well and Wiggle do a 365 day free return policy which is nice.
Plus I use Bike24 which is in Germany and ships real quick to the UK. Good prices especially on lighting.
I include amazon because it’s surprising how often they are competitive on consumable items such as chains and tires - I don’t always buy from them but I always check
Wiggle, Chainreaction, Ribble. Strangely enough the UK based retailers are able to offer free shipping to Canada across the ocean while retailers in the US who we are attached to, cannot. Shipping prices from US → Canada are often exorbitant.
This is what I find as well. I almost always order from Chainreaction because of their duties-included shipping which typically arrives in 2 days and costs less than no duties included shipping from the US.