My experience in Canada has been that courier companies always charge the customs due, whereas Canada post only "sometimes" do. I'd say you'll pay customs if your using a courier.

thanks my experience is similar for things from PBK and Wiggle but it also depends on the item. Wheels often may be in another category than other bike parts?

I would suspect there's not much experience yet with shipping to or from the UK post-brexit. If you go ahead, let us know how it went.

I'd expect there will be (or should be).
There's no Canada-UK trade deal.
So it's under WTO rules for tariffs. Then add what ever Canadian VAT / sales tax exists on top.

(I've been following this topic from 'the other way around' between UK and EU and overseas products, and my work involves lots of work with technical regulations into the EU, and working with non-EU manufacturers.).
Eg a taiwan frame imported into the UK then sold on either as or full bike into the EU.
The full bike gets a 14.7% tariff when entering the EU as it's not a sufficient UK-added-value content to fall within the UK-EU trade deal rules.
The benefits of Brexit, eh ?


It can be slightly muddied by the fact the wheels (or at least rims) are Taiwan made. But as they pass into the UK the out again I think its the same end effect.

I'm in Canada also. I've purchased Hunt wheels and had to pay duty on them when they were delivered via courier. Other large items that I've purchased from PBK (Vector 3's, 4iiii full crank power meters, wheels etc) often come without any duty owing and are shipped through the postal service.

thanks sorelegs that is what I suspected. I went to the CBSA site and they estimate 13% duty, what is your recollection of duty you had to pay?

Up until the last 12 days, orders from UK were coming from the EU. For the last 12 days they are not. That has a huge effect for those within the EU placing orders in the UK, but may well also effect customers in other countries who have standing trade agreements with the EU but no longer have them with the UK post Brexit. Personally I'll only be avoiding the UK for most orders from now on, or at least until things settle down.

I think my total order was about 1800 CAD and I paid about 220 total in duty/taxes upon delivery. That was in Spring 2020 so I'd need to check to be sure.

I ordered a number of bike parts from Merlin cycles on Dec 28. They shipped from the UK on Dec 29 and went through Spain on Dec 31. The two packages arrived yesterday on my doorstep through Canada Post with no duties. I was surprised I didn’t get any duty since one package was just over $1000 CAD and the other was $850 CAD.

I always try to make sure my orders are not shipped with a courier and will come through Canada post.

Brexit made it more expensive to buy from UK for Canadians.

You can get better wheels at a better price through Light Bicycle.

Yes. Completed wheels are slapped tax (obviously) and tariffs. Note that the only thing exempt from tariffs are bike parts, with the exclusion of the following

Completed wheels (with hubs)
Frames (the physical frame)
Completed bikes

Note that you can get the wheel rim and the hubs and the spokes all placed in a box and NOT assembled and this would classify it as bike parts. However, if it is shipped assembled, it will be judged as wheels and NOT bike parts. Same with the complete bike, if you ship it without assembly (and perhaps separately), you would only get dinged on the frame itself and the wheels if assembled. Note the tariffs on the complete bike are much higher than parting it out, so it might be cheaper actually rebuilding the wheel and disassembling it and shipping it in 2 packages.

Any courier will slap your peepee with extra shit in Canada. A "processing fee" for doing the "paperwork" and upfronting the money is typically done on all of them except UPS World expidited I believe, but you ened to research this. If duties are paid, you can argue with the courier and/or call them before hand to give them the customs information, but Canada Post is always the best option if you can wait. They do have a 20$ fee I believe but its way lower than the like $140 "paperwork fee" ontop of ALL custom charges they slap on (they will find them all, trust me)

If you can buy a wheelset locally or in Canada, it may be much, much cheaper or even break even once you factor everything in. One of the shitty things of living here, although we get free healthcare so eeeh

I always tell Americans our healthcare isn't free, it's just universal and paid through taxes, and overall we pay less in taxes that go to healthcare than Americans pay in insurance premiums.

I mean it's also not all free, the US system has somewhat leaked up here as well, but in general if you are having a heart attack you can at least know you will not be in debt for the rest of your life and can focus on recovery etc.

But agreed, we do pay for it in taxes, and I am personally okay with that.

thanks for the suggestion. I have seen the Light Bicycle wheels but was a bit cautious about them. maybe we need a thread on these? have you experience with them?

I've paid duties (in addition to taxes) on wheelsets from Probikekit (UK). I forget what the percentage was, probably around 15-20% in addition to HST. Some may get through customs without inspection (and therefore no duty), but that will depend on the carrier that is used. Canapost may let some slip through, whereas UPS makes it their mission to collect $$ from you whenever possible. Looks like Hunt ships with UPS, so get prepared for DUTY, HST, + high 'Administration fees'.

I have ordered several wheelsets from China and never paid any tax or duties on delivery. Most recently, I bought two carbon tubeless wheelsets, both with DTswiss 350 hubs, for ~$600 and ~$800 (cad).

Just ordered my first set after confirmation from knowledgeable people that they are the real deal.
I loved being able to pick my own hubs, hub body, spokes, nipples, decals.
Sales support emailed me and says they mark the import price at $150 USD to avoid getting gouged.

For reference I ordered:
WR50 disc - 25mm internal, 32mm external. No rim holes, so no tubeless tape required.
DTSwiss 240 Exp hubs. Shimano 11s. Centre lock.
Pillar X-TRA Aero 1420 spokes
$1184 USD.

I ordered a Zipp Super 9 from the UK last month and thought for sure I'd be paying duty on it, but nothing. Ordered it from ProBikeKit

Isn't that because last month the UK was in the EU. And there was (is) an EU-Canada trade deal.
The problem now is the UK is out of the EU. So no trade deal. In turn it's what ever the WTO tariffs are for bike wheels.

My brother is a pro mechanic and wheelbuilder who has worked for world tour teams.
He built me a pair of wheels with Light Bicycle rims for my gravel bike.

I´ve hammered them for 10.000 kms and they are still good as new.

A member of one of the top national mens teams rode a pair of my brothers wheels with Light bicycle rims at the world champs road race.

Very cool, I wonder what the Light Bicycle Co. builds are like.

There's a huge thread on Weight Weenies. They're legit.
I like how they have a budget option (Falcon vs Falcon Pro) so you can a bit less if you don't care about the finish.

thanks for the info much appreciated!

Just to clarify....when importing goods into Canada from basically anywhere else, you will -possibly- face the following charges:

Via courier (UPS, etc):
1. Brokerage fee (handling fee of courier). I forget how much this is, can prob find online.
2. Import tax on declared value - the tax is basically your provincial sales tax.
3. Duty - this is separate from import tax, and I have rarely had to pay it. It is mostly due on items like alcohol, tobacco, and clothing. But it is possible that full bikes, and maybe certain bike parts can qualify for duty charges (again, amounts online), but it is pretty rare that you get charged this.

Via Postal (USPS or Royal Mail, etc, which both hand off to Canada Post:
1. Handling fee, I think a fixed rate, can't remember.
2. Same as courier
3. Same as courier.

But with postal, there is a better chance of small packs making it through un-inspected and thus no charges. And if you are -really- lucky, larger packs can make it through without being inspected as well, though rare. My buddy bought a $2k bike frame from R&A in the US, showed up at his doorstep here in NS, nothing owing...