rumrunn6

I shop online more & more it seems. visited my local REI last weekend to browse cycling stuff. of course cycling has been pushed to the side for snow board & ski stuff :-( no cold weather cycling pants to be found. Landry's probably has some plus cold weather tights, cuz all they do is cycling

browsing the bike glove section & general glove section was interesting but didn't see anything that grabbed me

it's so easy to be lured into buying online, but I've been disappointed more than once with what I chose. I'll still buy online but I need to be more cautious w clothing items

fyi - if you buy from ebay as a GUEST you do not get a confirmation email. so if you have an account, might as well use it

Bald Paul

Brick and mortar stores cannot stock everything - they just don't have the space, nor can they afford to carry large amounts of merchandise on their books that may take time to sell.
I think many of the online stores are basically warehouses, depending on large volume of sales.
If you do order online, check the return policy carefully. If you order something that costs $15, and it doesn't fit, if they make you pay $10 in return postage and restocking fees, well....

FBOATSB

I use amazon a lot and on occasion I have had to make returns. It has always been pretty painless and hassle free. Ebay also, but haven't had to return anything yet.

jefnvk

I've been more disappointed when I try to buy locally than online.

Simply put, when nearly everything I am looking for is answered with a "let me look that up" or "we can order than in for you", I fail to see why I would ever use a local shop. If they are just ordering it online the same as I can, I may as well cut them out of it.

Hardrock23

I figured all REI stores had dedicated spaces for each thing. Ours has a well stocked cycling area year round. I suppose now though, it may depend on the area.

You could order from REI & pick it up at the store...return it while there if it didn't fit, etc.

I usually buy from REI, Amazon, & Ebay if I think there might be a possibility of having to return something since it's usually pretty easy...if I can't find the clothing I want in store. I would rather go to the store though for such things.

a1penguin

I was at REI this week and there was very little winter clothing in the cycling section. Some jackets, but no jerseys. And no Swiftwick wool socks :-/ The snow* section was overflowing with selection. And I live in Bay Area where people ride year round.

ramzilla

I went into a bike shop that just opened in my area. Noticed that everything was the latest & greatest technology. Just for grins I asked them how much a new 7 speed freewheel would cost. They sort of fiddled around for a minute looking in a couple of books. Finally one of them looked up at me and said $70. Right, Wow. I figured I was in the wrong shop. (I could probably get four or five brand new freewheels on line for that price).

MarcusT

I attempt to give the B&M some business, but when they tell me that they will have to order something in and it will take 10 days, I am just bewildered. How can Amazon get me something next day, but a store cannot get it within a couple?

kingston 

I'm pretty sure this online shopping thing is going to catch on. I probably spend a few thousand dollars a year on bike parts and the only time I bought something from a shop in the last year was to use the performance 20% off coupon to buy a Chris King headset because it was an excluded brand online, and the shop can over-ride the exclusion.

Estacado

Online shopping has been a boon for us out here in the hinterlands. I have no REI or Performance store within 350/400 miles. The local bike store is 70 miles away. They carry very little in stock.

NomarsGirl

If I was shopping for a new bike, I would want to see it in person and test ride it. For any clothing, accessories or parts - online. Returns are so easy and I simply don't have time to go to the shop. I'd rather spend that time riding my bike.

hillyman

Same boat about mainly online now. Few years ago ordered my Trek 520 from a shop and asked them to change stock crankset to a mountain bike set. When I went to pickup they handed me stock crankset and charged me crazy dollars and labor for mountain bike crankset. They said couldn't use stock one. Not the impression I got when I'd ordered it. Nothing that complicated on a 520 couldn't have done myself.
Order online everything else. Save money on last years or out of season clothing and just a lot better deals. I don't have a car so a pain to get to a lbs an hours drive away.

Choctaw

My overall experience has not been good with bike shops.

Iride01 

I've been shopping online ever since there was the ability to shop online. Even before Ebay, might have been during the days of Compuserve if any of you remember them and 300 baud modems. Long before AOL came around and successfully mastered the practice of over selling capacity while promising greatness that never materialized..... But I am getting distracted from the topic... please kick this soapbox out from under me.

While there are excellent deals online, I do find that prices at LBS's and other places are starting to be competitive or at least low enough to make the ability to try it on, or be touchy-feely with it, worth buying local.

But it does depend greatly on what you are buying. Some things, like Garmin devices can usually be bought for the same price locally as you can online. Unless you are looking at re-furb's which you'll usually only find online. At local bike shops I'm even finding Pearl Izumi and other well known makers of bike shorts, bibs, knee warmers, socks, shoes as for the same price or nearly the same as what I can find online.

So I shop both. I've never had a bad experience online, though my son was defrauded in a bait and switch for a video camera he bought from an online retailer. It was an obvious rip-off site. He didn't know better at the time what to look for.

mr,grumpy 

An actual bike shop, with actual people in it, that actually provides service and comunity support is an invaluable resource. I will ALWAYS try to support the LBS first if I can (and no, sorry, REI doesn't count as LBS to me but it's a valid second choice). The one closest to me is super supportive, helpful and low-preasure (for instance I went in looking to buy a bike and the owner told me to put more PSI in my tires and ride more). They can get the stuff mostly faster than I can and are only a little over-priced and sometimes meet the on-line price. That being said, the vast variety of selection that you can come across by clicking pages sometime sweeps me away.

02Giant 

Virtually all of my cycling related purchases are done on line. In the neighborhood of 10% of my on line is through a local distributor. I don't have to drive across town to order, then return in a week or so if I am lucky, to retrieve the item(s).

Daniel4

I prefer to buy in person. Amazon and Ebay will add shipping unless your purchases exceed a certain value. So I don't purchase low cost items from Amazon or Ebay. But I'm also weery of putting down a lot of money for an Amazon or Ebay purchase. I just don't trust the return policy. If I can find the item I want from a local store, I check if they have it in stock. If they don't I would purchase it online and pick it up to avoid shipping costs.

MarcusT

Believe me, Amazon's return policy is so simple, I can't believe B&M stores are still in business. I don't do Ebay, but Amazon is my main supplier

SethAZ 

Although I buy most of my stuff online, I do some group rides with an LBS and sometimes I'll go in and buy some small stuff from them just to be seen by the guys who lead the group ride to be doing it. It's something I need, and I was there, and a little good will might come in handy sometime. My problem is that this LBS is like 35 minutes away by car, and right now our family is down to one car and I don't usually have it, so it's simply not that easy for to get over there when I need something in the next day or two.

My Lynskey arrived Monday afternoon. I got it all set up, including the Ultegra 8000 pedals I'd bought through Amazon. Tuesday I rode the Lynskey and discovered that my left shoe sometimes brushed up against the chainstay a little where it sticks out for the brake mount. I have an idea! I'll return the Ultegra 8000 pedals and buy the Ultegra 8000 +4mm pedals. So I got onto Amazon and as it turns out they stocked the pedals in the Amazon warehouse here in Phoenix, so I got free next day delivery. By Wednesday evening I was out riding the bike again with the +4mm pedals on it. Granted, I did have to just outright buy the new pedals and I haven't returned the original ones yet so I'm temporarily out the money, but still, this kind of convenience is just incredibly hard to beat.

Juggy_Gales

Amazon has spoiled me... BIG TIME.. between 2 day shipping and SAME DAY shipping..

There are certain items I prefer to see in person before I buy.. That is when I prefer a store.. Like a Bike..
One gripe is that the Bike stores have limited stock and do not carry your model, color or size.. so.. Ordering it feels like a Hassle.. and you almost want to buy one that they have in stock just so you can ride NOW..
I ordered a Toughroad SLR2 from the Local Bike Shop.. They really did help me out there and gave me a better price through some haggling. I couldn't have haggled this online.. and it ended up saving me $100
But Ordered it a few days ago.. and I am chompin at the bit waiting for my bike to come in.. and fighting myself from calling and asking every day.. Is it here yet? lol
I can't even look online to see the tracking.. AAARRGGHH LOL ...But.. this just means.. I am spoiled..

Clothing is another thing I prefer buying in store.. Though I have had some decent luck buying online with things I already had bought in a store.. and found online cheaper..

rydabent

The hard fact is---------------as long as they bike you buy on line is a close approximation of the size you need, it is a machine. Machines dont change, people need to adapt to machines.

pdlamb

If an LBS has clothes that fit me, in a color I can tolerate (shirts only), I'll buy it there. I've had fairly awful luck ordering things that should be standard online (who would have thought Pearl Izumi would have reduced the size of gloves in XL from one year to the next??).


Also, if I have a problem that needs a mechanic's attention, I'll let him order and install it. TBH, though, the longer I keep cycling, the fewer things I'm not afraid to tackle.


Standard stuff (9-speed chains), or way-out-there items (tandem length Campy shifter cable, anyone?) I'll cheerfully mail-order.


Gotta ask, though, how much cycling stuff do how many people need to get overnight or second day that the LBS doesn't carry?

sfh

Copy this. Amazon makes it SO easy. Much like buying online is generally easier than buying in-store, returning things on Amazon is easier than returning to a store.

Just about every return is handled in a few clicks. Tape up the box, leave it on the porch, and it's gone the next day. Even unusual cases are handled easily. I had a water filter I bought to go backpacking. Two days before the trip, I noticed the filter element was cracked. In this case, I called Amazon, and they refunded my money on the spot without requiring that I return the item. They did this so I could purchase a new filter element at a local store in time for my trip.

canklecat

My bicycle related purchases are about 1/3 local, 1/3 Amazon, 1/3 other online vendors.

We have a local Pearl Izumi outlet store, which is hard to resist. Helps to be sure something fits. Got my PI arm warmers, windbreaker and a couple other items there last winter.

Usually I buy shoes locally because my feet are weird -- long, skinny with high arches. But I rolled the dice with discounted Merrell cycling/walking shoes from Nashbar last year. Fit great, very comfy.

I buy full finger gloves locally for the same reason -- weird hands. Long, skinny hands and fingers but a disproportionately long thumb and short pinky. Off the rack rigid gloves never fit right so I have to choose between enough room for the thumb and a floppy little finger, or vice versa. Usually I buy flexible gloves and layer up as needed. Bontrager RXL Thermal gloves fit me better than Pearl Izumi Thermal Lite, even though they're basically the same fabric and design.

I buy tires online. Cheaper, no problems. I couldn't reasonably expect an LBS to blow out Schwalbe One V-Guards at $15 each, or Continental Speed Rides at $10 each.

Most other parts, I buy online. My bikes are older, quill stems, etc. Local shops don't carry what I need if I want to replace a handlebar, etc. Although I've bought pedals, replacement grips, etc., locally.

I like Serfas products and tend to buy them locally since Serfas pricing is the same locally or online. And Amazon collects state sales tax either way, so the overall cost is the same. And the LBS lets me play with their stuff to be sure I'll like it.

REI has an outstanding functional display for most major brand lights, so it's ideal for shopping for headlights and taillights. Right now they have deep discounts on some Light & Motion lights, including the Urban 500 for $30 less than I paid a year ago (however it's possible these are new/old stock lights with rechargeable batteries that are going on a year or two old and might have a shorter overall lifespan).

autonomy

It's a hassle for me to go shopping. Not just because I have a toddler to help take care of, but mainly because of all the traffic jams on the roads. It's like 20-30 minutes to drive one way, so 40-50 minutes of driving + how much time in the store? Slim chance of that happening on a weeknight. And the weekends are better spent outdoors, unless the weather's really bad (and/or I feel like I want to go ogle at stuff at REI). So I buy pretty much everything online. For bike stuff I now have measurements of all my body parts (hand/head/inseam/etc.) and so far so good, I've been lucky.