rgconner

Were they big in the E-bike space?
I would not have thought so.

stevoo

Thanks for sharing the info on Niagra.

That explains my recent Amazon purchase from them that was never filled.

I too bought from them over the years as they had good prices. Never any issues.

Sad to hear they are out of biz.

PeaceByJesus

I do not think they even had them. But as the link to what is being included shows, it is far more than just E-bikes.

• Casing for bicycle derailleur cable; and casing for cable or inner wire for caliper and cantilever bake, whether or not cut length; of plastic.
• New pneumatic tires, of rubber, of a kind used on motorcycles.
• New pneumatic tires, of rubber, of a kind used on bicycles.
• Bicycle rim strips of natural rubber.
• Bicycle rim strips of rubber other than of natural rubber.
• Interchangeable tire treads and tire flaps, of rubber other than natural rubber, except bicycle rim strips, nesoi.
• Inner tubes of rubber, of a kind used on bicycles.
• Electrical lighting equipment of a kind used on bicycles.
• Electrical visual signaling equipment of a kind used on bicycles.
• Parts of electrical lighting equipment of a kind used on bicycles.
• Bicycles, not motorized, w/both wheels not over 63.5 cm in diameter.
• Bicycles, not motorized, w/both wheels o/63.5 cm [25''] in diam., weighing under 16.3 kg & not design. for tires w/x-sect. diam. o/4.13 cm.
• Bicycles, not motorized, w/both wheels o/63.5 cm in diam., weighing 16.3 kg or more, and/or for use w/tires w/x-sect. diam. o/4.13 cm.
• Bicycles, n/motor., w/front wheel diam. o/55 cm but n/o 63.5 cm & rear wheel diam. o/63.5 cm in diam., & wt <16.3 kg w/o acces., value $200+.
• Bicycles, n/motor., w/front wheel w/diameter different than rear wheel diam., nesoi.
• Cycles (o/than bicycles) (including delivery tricycles), not motorized.
• Pts. & access. for bicycles & o/cycles, frames, valued over $600 each.
• Pts. & access. for bicycles & o/cycles, frames, valued at $600 or less each.
• Pts. & access. for bicycles, sets of steel tubing cut to exact length for the assembly (w/other pts) into the frame & fork of one bicycle.
• Pts. & access. for bicycles & o/cycles, forks, nesoi and pts of frames, nesoi and pts. of forks.
• Pts. & access. for bicycles & o/cycles, wheel rims.
• Pts. & access. for bicycles & o/cycles, wheel spokes.
• Pts. & access. for bicycles & o/cycles, aluminum alloy hubs, w/hollow axle and lever-operated quick release mechanism.
• Pts. & access. for bicycles & o/cycles, 3-speed hubs nesoi.
• Pts. & access. for bicycles & o/cycles, 2-speed hubs, w/internal gear changing mechanisms, nesoi.
• Pts. & access. for bicycles & o/cycles, variable speed hubs, w/internal gear changing mechanisms, nesoi.
• Pts. & access. for bicycles & o/cycles, non-variable speed hubs, nesoi.
• Pts. & access. for bicycles & o/cycles, free-wheel sprocket-wheels.
• Pts. & access. for bicycles & o/cycles, brakes (o/than hub brakes) and parts thereof.
• Pts. & access. for bicycles & o/cycles, brakes and parts thereof, nesoi.
• Pts. & access. for bicycles & o/cycles, saddles.
• Pts. & access. for bicycles & o/cycles, pedals and parts thereof.
• Pts. & access. for bicycles & o/cycles, cotterless-type crank sets and parts thereof.
• Pts. & access. for bicycles & o/cycles, crank-gear nesoi and parts thereof.
• Bicycle speedometers.
• Parts and accessories of bicycle speedometers.

https://www.regulations.gov/document...2018-0026-0001

This may be worthy of its own thread.

rgconner

But this is for parts made in China, which with bicycles it is still possible to avoid parts made in China if you are not buying the lowest tier of cycling.

E-Bikes it is really the electronics/battery that definitely come from China, and probably the rest of bike to... since most E-bikes I have seen would be $500 bikes without the electronics on it.

PeaceByJesus

I am buying the lowest tier of cycling, like 0.10, 50mm patches, $.5.00 pedals, $8.00, 20'' tires (if they have the money for that) + free labor buy the grace of God.

Which, besides the relatively low income (versus 3rd world) is partly die to approximately 93 percent of complete bicycles, and at least 40 percent of imported bicycle components being sourced from China.

If the next round of tariffs go thru, the repair business may see more of an increase vs. new bike sales.

CliffordK

Niagara sold a lot of stuff on Amazon. I wouldn't think Amazon would have killed them off, unless it was through added fees.

I wonder if there is slowly increasing competition of internet retailers.

This may be the new world... of not internet resellers vs LBS, but rather a cuthroat internet reseller vs internet reseller.

I see some of the Wheelmaster hubs that I had previously been interested in from Niagra are now available from a place called BikeSomewhere.com down in Florida.

rgconner

Because I did not even know they sold super cheap parts like that, I thought they were a higher end seller. Granted, I had not bought anything from them since I replaced my Campy chainrings a couple of years ago and they had the best price.

Hard to make a living on such low margin stuff, as they have shown.

Nashbar maybe?

desconhecido 

Yeah, Nashbar. Over the years (probably since the 80s, I don't recall) I've bought from Nashbar but I'm thinking of boycotting them -- at least until I can save $0.10 per butyl innertube, or something. Nashbar is owned by the same people that own Performance and they are the ones lobbying for lower ($50 instead of $800) tariff exemptions for ordinary Americans ordering European bike parts from European retailers. It's a threat to their business, they claim, as they want to keep paying the rent seekers up and down the ditribution chain -- those who suck off a percentage while adding no value except the value of the typical worthless middle man. It's ironic since it's mass retailers like performance, Nashbar, Walmart, Amazon who are blaimed for the destruction of the brick/mortar model of retailing so popular in America for so long.

WGB 

Peacebyjesus - I had used Niagara Cycle a lot because it was free local pick up, When I saw your post I checked google street view for the Lewiston address for Niagara Cycle and it's the UPS store in Lewiston.

PeaceByJesus

Well, a quick look indicates they have no 20" tires or tubes, and have a small selection relative to Niagara at least, and the cheapest Schrader Valve Tube they have is 4.99 (Presta from,2.49); but a AKA 29x2.2 Wire Bead Mountain Tire for 5.99, and 26+" tires from 12.99, and a Nashbar Chain Rivet Tool for 3.99 and Totally Free Shipping On Your Entire Order $49 & Over and Extra 15% Off Your Order thru labor day.

PeaceByJesus

That only adds to the mystery.

zacster

I'll have to check but I'd swear I bought my frame from them 13 years ago. It was a Kuota Kredo. They had a shop in NY State and one in Ontario across the border/river/falls, and to save on taxes they shipped from Ontario since I live in NY and would otherwise have had to pay 8.5% The frame was gently used and I still ride it as my main road bike.

Ritalalala

www.lightinthebox.com
www.dhgate.com
www.made-in-china.com
I know some other shopping platforms, but I don't know if they provide the inexpensive parts you need.
Hope to help you.

PeaceByJesus

Thanks. The first is like an Ebay, but a brief research (and choosing lowest price first) show they are quite higher, similar to Banggood.com, Searching two basic items, the Bike foam Seat Covers Ebay has for 0.99 (actually quite good for kids bikes) but start at 3.19 at www.lightinthebox.com. And the 0.99 a pair MTB V-brake pads at Ebay start at 5.99 for one at the latter.

The second site,www.dhgate.com, based on my very limited searches, is more expensive than Ebay. 0.92 - 1.04 / Piece for the same covers and requiring a Min. Order: of 100 Pieces. Two of the standard brake pads were $1.83.

The last site is more like alibaba amd lacks a "lowest price first" seartch option, and was more expensive than Ebay on the brake pads at 3.58-4 / Piece Min. Order: 300 Pieces. I did not find comparable seat pads. However, i did find Lock on type handle grips (which last year were 0.99 each on Ebay, but but now 3.19 for a pair ) apparently much cheaper for eve one, but it requires contacting a supplier to find out the actual lowest price.

All the same, thanks for trying.

boneshaker78

masi61

Cicli Danilo

I live in Western New York and largely used Niagara because I could pick up at the store and avoid shipping charges. In addition to the very good prices that they had. They were a local shop first (having purchased an older nearby shop) and then went into the e-business. Husband and wife team at first. Very interesting and nice folks. They still did repairs and sold items in their shop. I chatted with them once, surprised at the fact that their online presence made one think of a huge company. They had an interesting business model. They had no warehouse, rather their website was directly connected to all the various suppliers. I believe the owners investigated and learned alot about how to connect the databases. When you placed an order the parts were sent to Niagara from all the suppliers, and the availability was directly reflected in their website. They probably had large orders from the various suppliers all the time. They then re-packaged it to send out or set it aside in a box in the case of local pickup like me. There were a bunch of people re-packing and shipping.

700

Well, that's what soured me on them. When you say an item is "in stock" it really should be in stock. When they didn't take down an Amazon item after they cancelled my order, I was disappointed.

Doug5150

It's the wave of the future, friend. JIT management.

When sitting on a pile of unsold inventory, it is easier to lose money than sell inventory. The goal of the most savvy online retailers today is to never have anything "in stock".

CliffordK

There is Just In Time, and Just About In Time (at least that is what I call it).

Just in time would imply stocking just slightly more than one would expect to sell in a given time frame.

Just about in time means you're constantly needing to restock or manufacture to fulfill orders.

I have the tendency to like to buy a couple of things at a time. Likely what those stocking both love, and dread, as my impact on inventory can be unpredictable.

But, if I need qty 5, and a store stocks qty 1 or qty 2, then I'm ether looking elsewhere, or heading home with a half an order, and looking elsewhere.

On occasion I'll pass up E-Bay vendors because I can't buy 5 of one thing, and 1 of another.

Drop shipping has fallen out of favor also due to inventory and other issues.

Niagara must have had a dang good wholesaler, but never quite had the stock to do their own fulfillment for most things, especially if an order went slightly out of the ordinary.

In general, if they could do one day for product acquisition, and one day for shipping, they could do OK. Unless something hit differently. Perhaps they would hit a holiday, so a Thursday shipment becomes a Wednesday of next week shipment.

unterhausen

They had stuff that was apparently surplus or overstocks for good prices. But the great majority of their items were from QBP and sold at the same retail price that my LBS offers. But since my LBS gives me a good discount and doesn't charge me shipping on QBP items, I was far better off going there.

I stopped buying from them after I found out they saved a cookie containing my credit card number in plain text on my computer.

WGB 

I drove by to see if there was any movement there. No cars and no one inside. I left a note asking how they were selling off their inventory.

trailangel

Their bank will sell off any inventory

TiHabanero

The online motorcycle store I worked for only stocked high volume items. Certain batteries, manuals, fenders, etc. The rest of the stuff ordered was drop shipped direct from the supplier or received from the supplier overnight and reshipped to the customer. It was a serious nightmare to run, but turned a lot of money, albeit very low profit margin.

JanMM

The retail store is no longer open and the website is "Down for maintenance". Thanks for the images.