When shopping online, I’ve always ignored these sites because they were UK based… until earlier this week I was looking for Scicon cases and noticed substantial low prices on their cases versus USA sites… I read reviews that these are legit sites but takes a few weeks to get your product… how are they so cheap? Shouldnt I be buying all my bike and tri gear from them ?
When shopping online, I’ve always ignored these sites because they were UK based… until earlier this week I was looking for Scicon cases and noticed substantial low prices on their cases versus USA sites… I read reviews that these are legit sites but takes a few weeks to get your product… how are they so cheap? Shouldnt I be buying all my bike and tri gear from them ?
The dollar is incredibly strong right now
European and US distributors often have different pricing. That and the exchange rate between the euro/pound and US dollar can sometimes make goods cheaper over there.
PBK free shipping is slow. I have orders that took 2 weeks to get and others that took over a month.
Keep in mind that you may be hit with customs duties when the package gets delivered. Its doesnt happen all the time but it can. I’ve had it happen once out of maybe 10 orders from the UK.
I got my scicon bag from chain reaction cycles in the UK. They had a great price and I had an additional coupon.
UK dealers I have dealt with are PBK, CHain reaction, and Merlin cycles. Other than slow shipping I haven’t had any issues.
Wiggle is the best mail order bike/triathlon site in the world.
Fast, free shipping, great prices.
I always get screwed with PBK so I stopped buying from them.
Just ordered a $290 triathlon skinsuit from Chain Reaction Cycles for $167.
In Canada Wiggle wasn’t the greatest for me. They shipped super fast for sure, but they told me ahead of time they would send Royal mail but ended up with UPS. Royal Mail would have meant no customs (in Canada bike parts get no customs). UPS wanted to charge me customs and a brokerage fee of $30 for a $100 package. It took 2 weeks of back and forth to return the product. If I had wanted it fast the premium may have been worth it, but I wanted the deal and lower price and was willing to wait.
PBK and Merlin use Royal Mail and even show that upon ordering. Wiggle said (in my contact with them) that they use which ever they want and whatever they deem will get me the package faster. Nice and all, but not of much use for me planning on the bill at the end of it. I ended up buying the same package at Merlin for the same initial price and no customs or brokerage fees (it came in 10 days).
Bought lots from:
WIGGLE
CHAIN REACTION (SPONSOR OF ITU)
PRO BIKE KIT
I bought my sons road bike from wiggle… came super fast by DHL
Ribble is the best.
Ribble is the best.
Ribble is awesome FAST shipping to CA. From order to delivery just over a week. They use Royal Mail (gets handed off to USPS) for smaller packages. Larger packages get handed off to DHL I think? Again, fast delievry.
Wiggle is also awesome; pretty quick delivery, usually within 10 days.
PBK was great, but then they started getting packages stopped at customs and the hostage/ ransom custom fees fees started happening where the brokerage entity won’t allow the package to continue the delivery chain without paying customs(understandable) plus THEIR FEE (no fucking way) I won’t order from them again.
I got my Scicon TT bag at a crazy price from a Spanish site. Delivered no issue by DHL, but then I got a customs bill from DHL. I told them no one told me about customs on the order at billing or at delivery thus I’m not paying it. They never contacted me again.
I bought a saddle from wiggle a few weeks ago, no issues and it arrived quickly.
Keep in mind that you may be hit with customs duties when the package gets delivered. Its doesnt happen all the time but it can. I’ve had it happen once out of maybe 10 orders from the UK. .
While it can be assessed on any import item, I’ve read on good authority that the threshold amount is $200. If your order is under this amount you won’t get hit with the duty tax. In truth the tax isn’t really that big of a deal, but what is is annoying is the $15 processing charge on top of it and having delivery held up for days under the best circumstances.
Keep in mind that you may be hit with customs duties when the package gets delivered. Its doesnt happen all the time but it can. I’ve had it happen once out of maybe 10 orders from the UK. .
While it can be assessed on any import item, I’ve read on good authority that the threshold amount is $200. If your order is under this amount you won’t get hit with the duty tax. In truth the tax isn’t really that big of a deal, but what is is annoying is the $15 processing charge on top of it and having delivery held up for days under the best circumstances.
Not quite true as I ordered a DA di2 derailleur that was $375ish and didn’t have any hostage fees at customs. This was from Ribble few weeks ago. I think PBK is the one you need to keep it under $200. Perhaps it comes from how much the retailer claims the item’s worth?
I ordered my Scicon from PBK and was delivered fast with no issues. However, lately, I’ve been hearing more and more about the custom issues.
Wiggle and Merlin Cycles are also great.
Merlin was fast and painless - ordered a cassette and had it in roughly a week in S. California.
PBK was a hassle. I ordered a groupkit and cassette. They sent to the wrong address (they used my phone number as an address) which caused a delay and it was already very slow to begin with. When I wrote asking what was going on, they told me it was my fault. Box finally arrived damaged and some of the parts were not in original packaging, but rather in plastic bags with zip ties. Very odd. Their customer service made no accommodations of any sort and is a bit of a hassle because you can’t get a running dialogue on an item. Every time they would respond to my e-mail, I would have to go back to the site and launch a new comment rather than simply replying to a person handling my issues/questions. Meanwhile, my buddy ordered the same groupkit from Merlin a few days later which arrived 7 calendar days later and roughly 3-4 weeks ahead of mine.
I’ve used both Ribble and PBK. I quit using PBK after buying two Scicon cases and fighting with them for two months about only one case arriving. They sent the second case, but it took me doing all the investigation. They are not set up for customer service.
Ribble customer service is a little better. But basically you should just assume if you buy it and they screw it up, you are keeping it and reordering if size, color, etc is wrong. Of course this depends on total cost, but I’m talking about clothes, tires, etc.
Lately, EVERY Ribble order I’ve placed over $200 has gone to FedEx for customs processing:( items under $200 ordered at the same time go by something similar to DHL. Those bastards at FedEx have my employer’s FedEx account and just bill the customs and processing fee to them. This happens even after I’ve asked FedEx to confirm no charges:( Frustrating! I’m prolly done with Ribble after the last order. Customs was 27% plus $7 FedEx processing charge. They claim they can charge up to $75 for processing if they want and as a courtesy are only charging me $7. Sucks because prices are great and shipping is under a week.
… how are they so cheap?
I believe it is partly due to the competitions act whereby companies are not allowed to dictate what another company sells it products for.
In the UK the competitions act demands that the retailer can sell their product for whatever price they deem fit and to whoever they see fit. They can buy in bulk, sell low and pass on that saving to the customer. I believe that the US and Canada have a more ‘price fixing’ model where they get dictated to a little more in order to keep retail prices inflated. Which is why UK (and possibly Euro) stores are able to supply the US / Canada a lot cheaper than US or Canadian retailer might be able to.
I think (again, I am not sure) that it would be illegal for companies such as New Balance to demand that the UK not sell to the US and or tell them how much to sell for, whereas New Balance can demand the US not sell mail order to Canada or that prices have to be a certain amount.
All that may or may not be correct, or may or may not be right to some degree but I was told something along those lines by a retailer.
How quickly did you receive your bag?
couple weeks
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Thought I would let everyone know…I order the scicon bike box from Wiggle and I received it in three days, i was schocked!!! I had to pay 70 dollars in custom fee as well.
What part of the country are you in? Mine from probikekit took 1 week to dispatch and it’s in route still. Will let you all know when I get it and if there are custom fees.
I am in Colorado
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