Welshboy

I've bought loads of frames and/or complete bikes over the years and there is only one frame that was a slightly poor fit as it was just a bit too small being a 21" and my perfect size (on traditional horizontal top tube) is 21.5". It just didn't feel right so it had to go and thankfully it was a cheap training frame. I find things easier in this age of sloping and semi-sloping frames and a medium or a 54cm will always fit me perfectly so nowadays I just don't deviate from these sizes.

rekmeyata

In 2013 I bought my 2013 Lynskey Peloton off the internet from Lynskey who then shipped the bike to Adrenalin Bikes for some special-order stuff I wanted done that Lynskey could not do; I never thought I would buy a bike off the internet, but in order to buy a titanium bike you are pretty much forced to do so, I don't regret it all! It is by far the best bike I have ever bought or ridden. That was the only bike I ever bought exclusively off the internet, the rest were in stores, or garage sales.

Would I do it again? I don't see why not!

slowpacer

I bought a Marin Muirwoods online recently and it's the most comfortable bike i've ever had after some modifications. I wanted a flat bar steel bike but local bike shops did not have any. So, i compared geometry of several models online to my existing Sirrus and decided this one would work best and indeed it has. Of course price was a big factor.

PDXZach

I’ve purchased off pinkbikes and frames on eBay and CL I tend to trust people more when they have more details in their adds.

Tony Marley

I have bought three bikes from Bike Friday that way, plus my Catrike from Utah Trikes, and all were perfect fits. Their team works with you regarding the measurements and set the bike / trike up accordingly.

bruce19

Last month I bought a 2016 GURU Photon from The Pro's Closet. It was sized as a M and from the geometry it looked like a 54-55 which is my size. It fits me perfectly after swapping out a 90mm stem for a 110mm. I swapped out the saddle too but I expected that. In any event it went very well and actually was a killer deal.

trip77

I bought a Dawes 29er single speed it was nice but I sold it...I then went for my current folding bike which helps me ride more which I bought used on the bay.

DaveSSS 

I've bought evert bike frame that I've owned for the last 30 years online. Until recently, the fit was based on standard measurements like stand over height, TT length, head tube length and seat tube angle. These days stack, reach and STA are all I need to determine the fit and seat post setback needed.

Gonzo Bob

I bought a road bike via phone order in 1986 after I was hit by a car on my previous road bike. Went with phone order because no-one locally carried the bike I wanted. Did lots of math using published frame geometry data to determine what frame and stem size I needed and also used the old bike as a comparison point. The fit is great and I've made no adjustments and still ride the bike a lot.

PeteHski

I bought my last 3 bikes online. 2 Canyons and 1 Giant. No real issues. The Giant needed a replacement seatpost as the original was not properly aligned (D-shaped post with head bonded slightly off centre, so saddle was pointing off centre). I sent a photo to the shop and they sent out a replacement post the next day. The 2 Canyons were both perfect out of the box. The main thing is knowing what bike you want and in what size. In all 3 cases I did a ton of research before buying and it all worked out fine. I would buy online again for sure.

davethelefty

Bought a Canyon Endurace, loved the bike until it had a cracked steerer tube after 1500 miles (well documented on this site). Canyon called it a warranty issue but took 6 months to make good on it. I had to send my bike back so they could strip the components off it and put them on another frameset. They certainly could have taken an easier approach or a more customer-friendly approach, but I think they took the economical approach. Canyon told me they do not use new inventory to resolve customer service issues -- puzzling unless you consider this was during Covid when inventory was zero. Oh well, now I do have a good bike with a new frame.

Would I buy another Canyon? Next bike will be a gravel bike and neither the Grail nor Griz'l really do anything for me. I'm debating a Trek Checkpoint or a Cannondale Topstone, but they're so hard to find. If I want to stay in the direct-to-consumer realm I might look at a Fezzari Shafer once I learn more about the brand...

Camilo

My online purchasing has been fairly extensive, and 100% satisfactory.

The first bike I bought online was a Cannondale CAAD7 R2000 (Ultegra/Dura Ace) that was about 5 years old from EBay. As usual, I read the seller's ratings and it came out perfect - the bike was as described, very nice condition. All I knew at the time was the general frame size I needed. My friend had a 56 in the same frame, which was a bit too big so I got a 54. It fit fine, but I also knew that the stem and saddle were beginning points for changing out if needed and have never expected a "bike" to fit without tweaking those things.

The only thing I kind of got (very slightly) burned on were the wheels. The bike originally came with high end Ksyrium wheels and the seller had substituted brand new Aksium wheels - obviously to keep the better wheels for his own bike. The bike was described as such ("new Aksium wheels") but I didn't know or even notice the difference between that and the spec chart on the Cannondale website, so didn't realize that the wheel difference made a meaningful difference in value. So what I thought was a super bargain was actually just a fair bargain. No harm, no foul. But all OK in the end because it motivated me to buy a better set of wheels later and have a second set which has served me very well since. I have all the parts from that bike still in service on different bikes, still have both sets of wheels and sold the frame and fork for a decent price when I got a new frame and fork (online of course)

The bike served me very well and informed all my later online purchases (about 8 or 9 since, complete bikes or bare frames w/ or w/o forks). I learned from that bike how to assess geometry in comparison to it, and knew what I liked and didn't like about it. It's easy to assess a frame based on geometry charts, especially in comparison to a bike you're familiar with. Since then, I've bought all these frames based on geometry charts knowing that if the geometry is what I'm looking for, I can get the fit by choosing the right parts to go on it.

Paul Barnard

Seven bikes at my house. Six were bought on line. Very happy with all of them. I may have gone a different size on 2 of them, but I am not certain.

DVC45

I bought from BikesDirect way back in 2007. They messed up my order and shipped me the wrong bike (same size though). They compensated me for their mistake. I had to change to a shorter stem after realizing the stock stem was too long. Other than that, I was fairly happy with the bike.

Darth Lefty 

I bought a new mountain bike, one a city bike in a contest, one kid bike, and bought a gravel bike used. The mountain bike was great. It was a diamondback, a full suspension model. Bought through Nashbar/performance (RIP). It was packaged really nicely and had extra tools, a shock pump, everything needed.

The city bike was a priority classic. The original version from when they first launched. It was a really simple thing to build, it only needed a 6 mm Allen wrench. The pedal wrench they included was crap, though a crescent wrench did the job. It was a size too small but I knew that when I chose it. It was the largest step through frame that they had at the time. The rear wheel went out of true after a few months of use. Since then they have introduced a revised version and I think that most of the little problems I had have been fixed.

The kids bike was a 12 inch BMX branded “blank spark“ from Chain reaction cycles. It was pretty junky. The controls were all plastic and the hubs were cruelly overtightened. It was astonishing how much it weighed for being a 12 inch bike. Still it was a better design than anything from Walmart and it made a good balance bike

The gravel bike was packed by a bike shop and they did a 95% good job. The 5% was the front brake caliper didn’t get any armor and it rubbed through the box. There was a tiny raw spot on the caliper and I decided not to worry about it. Other than that, everything’s great.

ThermionicScott 

I learned a lot about bike fit from the first road bike I bought -- on Craigslist.

MinnMan

I love my Canyon Ultimate, but it took a while to get the fit right, including a professional bike fit. At first, I just couldn't get it right, but now it fits like a glove.

All other aspects of the bike have been great (except that I didn't like the OEM saddle or wheels and swapped them out for things I prefer, but that's normal).

jgwilliams

I bought a road bike from PlanetX in 2018 which worked out pretty well. The fit felt a bit odd at first but I found I quickly became used to it. The thing is, my next newest road bike was something in the region of 30 years old and standards have changed rather a lot in that time. My third road bike is 50 years old and was definitely very different in shape. The PlanetX was also a much better spec than I could have afforded otherwise. I did almost 6,000 miles on that before I broke it (and my collar bone) in an accident, so I then bought a used Mekk Poggio frame and transferred all the parts on to that. Since I bought that blind on Ebay it also fits your definition of an internet purchase. I've now done over 6,000 miles on that and can definitely say it's worked out very well.

Once again I'm about to get a bike on the internet, a mountain bike this time. Any day now I should be taking delivery of a Sonder Dial XT, only with Rockshox SID Ultimate forks and tubeless tyres. Due to the shortage of parts it's been on order since the start of the year. In this case it's to replace a Giant XTC 4.1. I bought this used but I believe it dates from about 2009. I've done close to 2,000 miles on that and I reckon it had been ridden pretty hard before I got it, so it's definitely feeling its age. I had to replace the original forks, but the replacements aren't a huge step up. Also, it's a medium frame and I really should be riding a large, so I'm anticipating that the new one will be a huge step up. I'll let you know how it works out but I'm expecting smiles all the way.