OldsCOOL

Not wanting bash a decent company, just curious if any here have an order "awaiting fulfillment"? I placed an order Jan 2 and opted for the free shipping. Have also been in contact with a rep via email that keeps apologizing for the wait but not giving details. She said all items are available and should be shipped last Monday. Sure glad it's winter.

BradH

I once ordered from Niagra and Wiggle (UK) on the same day. I opted for the free shipping from both companies. My order from Wiggle was here a week before the Niagra order. Still, Niagra is my go-to spot for Sun M13 and CR18 rims.

rhm

Niagara is unpredictable, but I don't mind much.

the sci guy 

I've ordered from them before and had to wait a while for things to arrive as well. I wish they'd just sell their stuff through Amazon Prime.

wphamilton

Niagara Cycle has always been reliable for me, and no problems with the product or orders, but I have always had to wait. They're just slower in fulfillment. It's best to expect that when you order and put it out of mind until the packages arrive.

Wileyone 

I used to order from Niagara. But they took 2 Weeks minimum to deliver. I now order from the UK. The prices are cheaper and the shipping is free.

I live 120 Miles from from Niagara Cycle.

nlerner

With free shipping you get what you pay for.

nashvillebill

They are also using Fedex Smartpost for their free shipping, I believe. This seems to add a week to the shipping time: Fedex drives the package across country in their truck, then they transfer it to the local post office where it then gets delivered via mail.

Kobe 

I placed an order on Dec. 30th, it was shipped Jan 5th. I chose free shipping and it was delivered Jan 7th by the USPS. The fulfillment seemed to take long but it was over a holiday weekend and the shipping was relatively fast.

jamesdak 

Yeah, seems like Niagra is always slow. You just have to be ready for that or use someone else. Of course PBK is the same in my book. Still waiting on wheels I ordered from them the second week in December. Ribble and Merlin have been awesome and usually get stuff to me in days, a week at most.

jj1091

Ordered something from them 12/31, received it on 1/10. 10 days isn't bad as far as I'm concerned.

jefnvk

Niagara only gets my order in bulk and when I don't need things now. It generally takes a week and a half to two weeks, in my past experience.

Cost or speed, take your pick.

m_yates

I just happened to have a Niagara Cycle order delivered today. I used USPS priority mail and the package arrived 8 days after I placed the order. Not the fastest, but I wasn't in a big hurry.

OldsCOOL

Exactly. I am close to altering the order to include payt for shipping. My orders have not taken beyond 8 calendar days but this is stretching that timeframe in grand fashion.

ramzilla

yep, it's that time of year again. Everybody is cooped up inside avoiding bad weather & waiting for the goodies to arrive for another winter rebuild project. Oh well, it's also a good time of year down here in Atlanta area to fire up the tractor and clear brush. No bugs this time of year.

bulldog1935

not any more, I've waited too long in the past
My favorite for speed, and I'm sure geography has a lot to do with it, are Andy at Modern Bike, trailthis on ebay, and McMaster-Carr, who sets the bar high for
everyone else.
Universal makes a bold attempt, partly because they have geographically scattered warehouses.

ps, the absolute slowest, but prices are usually worth the wait is Outside Outfitters. They repackage and ship, so you have to wait for it to be delivered to them before they deliver it to you.
But if you're smart-shopping for building up a bike, you should check there, along with your other logistics and sources, and place one big order there.

noglider 

Niagara doesn't keep a lot in stock. They order your stuff from their suppliers when you order it from Niagara. They call them warehouses, but that is stretching the term. If you're cool with this, then fine, but not if you're in a hurry. Worse, estimates for delivery are unreliable.

If you can order from Niagara through Amazon, you'll get a better time estimate, because Amazon only carries the stuff whose delivery time is known.

Bottom of the barrel US vendor, for whatever it's worth.

mstateglfr 

Do you though? Perhaps from there specifically, but that isnt the norm.
When you compare it to elsewhere, Niagra often has similar prices and free shipping, yet is significantly slower to fulfill the order and deliver the order.
Free shipping simply means shipping has been factored into the overall cost of the product. They then charge more to fulfill orders that need to be delivered sooner.
Somehow, other retailers manage to offer free shipping, similar cost, AND faster delivery.

lostarchitect 

I would not bother changing the order at this point. Just ride it out. It's likely it'd just cost you money and it'd ship at the same time anyway.

greg3rd48 

I have used Niagra several times and have no qualms with the amount of time that I had to wait before the items arrived. I will use them again.

nlerner

I agree with you and was mostly just being flip. My point wasn't with shipping per se (lots of places offer free shipping at reasonable minimum purchase, particularly the UK online retailers and do ship quite fast), but that Niagara is largely a discount house and likely operates on very thin margins. I suppose they haven't made much of an infrastructure investment in the shipping department!

That said, I've ordered from Niagara many times and will again. And, yes, shipping is always very slow.

sarahbruce

I recently waited 2+ weeks for an order from Jensonusa.... I will not be ordering from them again. In this day and age, there is really no reason to tolerate slow handling and shipping. Most of my stuff from Jensonusa was not actually shipped until 6 days after ordering. I also no longer order from Niagara. A few years ago, I received two shipments of tires, months apart, that had been sliced BEFORE being shipped. They were packaged in those shipping bags, but the bags were in perfect condition. It was obvious that someone had been a little crazy with a box cutter and then the person in charge of packaging hadn't noticed. I have never had a problem from any other vender with the dozens of tires I have ordered over the last 10yrs.

I have Amazon Prime now and I am just going to order everything I can through there, even if I have to pay a little more. I also don't have to worry about returns with Amazon, as every return over the course of 2+ year, has been ridiculously easy.

Bruce

oddjob2

You can have cheap or you can have fast, just not simultaneously. A good percentage of what Niagara sells is ordered from QBP or other distributors and I don't think they order every day or carry a deep inventory. So it has to ship from distributor to Buffalo and then to you up north.

Figure up to 2 weeks in Boyne country.

OldsCOOL

I've used Niagara frequently over the years but this is the first time any delays have occured that caused me concern to the point of emailing for an answer to the delay. I know they take a bit longer but this is the first time I've had to wait 10 days from the order date for the "awaiting fulfillment" to change status. The order finally changed today. This is also the first time I qualified for free shipping given for orders above 150$. Makes me wonder if there is a coincidence in this situation.

Anyways, status says "shipped". Probably will arrive in another 10 days.

Slash5

Seems to be getting more common. My Jenson order at the end of Nov with free shipping didn't actually get to the shipping company for 10 days after I got the shipping notice and the the electronic shipping info was sent.