chrisx

Anybody know how and where to order german bike parts? It came up in another thread that they are far less expensive straight from the father land. I always wanted a Rohloff hub, but not for 1,700 USD, and unwilling to pay 260 USD for a titanium Airy rack. The Germans make the nicest stuff, if you know how to get it.

FBinNY 

Part of the problem is that most search engines show you country specific results. So if you search products from within the USA you generally won't see German sources. Even if you do, they may not ship to the USA.

The easiest option is to find a straw man in Germany so you can see what's available and at what price. I do this all the time for friends in Mexico, so they have a good basis of comparison when shopping for things like computers.

Part of the straw man option might include buying and shipping the stuff, if the vendors don't offer USA service.

You can also check the major global sellers like ChainReaction and others, and see who has the best deal including delivery costs.

BTW -- fo not assume that German goods are cheaper in Germany. Often the home country is the most expensive place to buy anything.

Losligato

The US dollar has been strong vs the Euro for a few years now so we should soon see US based suppliers adjusting their prices accordingly.



When the price differential becomes large you begin to see international sellers trying to arbitrage using ebay. For instance, right now an Italian company is selling Ortlieb backroller classics on ebay for $133 plus shipping. The shipping brings the price to just slightly below thetouringstore price. So it does not pan out for big, bulky items. For smaller, costlier items it may be best to look there for deals.

bwgride

Here

https://www.bike-discount.de/

Bike Shop - German Mountain & Road Bike Store - starbike.com

https://www.rosebikes.com/

I've bought from bike discount. Purchased Lumotec IQ Cyo dynamo light ($53), toplight brake plus ($24), and two little big ben tires ($38) with shipping at $23, total $138. The Lumotec IQ Cyo costs abotu $100 in US.

Tourist in MSN

I just sent you a private message with an option that might work.

himespau 

I've used bike-discount.de and also bike24.com Not for exactly the same items you are asking about though (lights, tubus locc rack, abus granite x lock, followme tandem, schwalbe tubes, etc.), but I had good prices and decent shipping time from the two I listed. That was all a year or 2 ago.

ClydesterD

Looking in the home country is a good idea, but it's hit and miss. I've bought from overseas, but when it comes to price, I've not noticed a strong (or even moderate) correlation between the country of manufacture and the country of the retailer. I've got screamin' deals on English-made stuff from online stores in the UK and on German-made stuff from German stores, but also on French-made saddles from a US retailer, and on Japanese-made and German-made things from UK retailers. Sometimes they cost half after shipping what I can find it for in the US before shipping. I don't know how they do it.

chrisx

Dt Swiss hubs just came within my price range. I was never willing to pay $400, I might be able to pay $227.

Aushiker

Http:/bike24.com and Online bike shop | Top brands at cycling store hibike are pretty popular here in Australia. In fact I pretty much built up my Salsa Mukluk including the purchase of the frame from these two bike shops. Heaps cheaper getting it from Germany than either locally or out of the US. You also need to keep in mind that the you don't pay the VAT so you should register with Bike24.com and login to easily see the prices ex VAT.

JaccoW

- Bike-components.de has some good stuff too, especially the SON coaxial cables and connectors.
- Hollandbikeshop.com for those obscure and hard to find spare parts.
- Rosebikes
- Bike24 for things like a B+M IQ-X for just €80.

chrisx

Abus Bordo 5700 $45 vs $79 in US, check

Aushiker

Thanks for the suggestion on cables and connectors. Hadn't thought of them as a source.

chrisx

Any body else have an idea of where to by German or Dt Swiss.

maeby

If you know somebody stationed in germany they can ship parts really cheap.

BBassett

You won't find inexpensive Rohloff Speedhubs or other high-quality gear at a discount. Quality is quality and usually more expensive for a reason. Before you spend any money on a front rack look at The Faiv Hoogar, it is worth the trouble to get and money. Only front bike rack that is fully suspended that I have seen - Hoogar | Fahrradgepäckträger für Federgabeln | faiv

rifraf

You "might" get a nice surprise depending on your location.
Prices have gone up and the Aussie dollar has tanked of late, but when I bought my Rohloff from Starbike.com, admittedly a few years ago now, it was approx half of the local price.

Oh and yeah, add starbike.com to your list of German suppliers.
Have bike24.com got a mention?
I think the French site xxcycle.com used to get good mention on local Aussie sites for dynamo hubs a while back.

I've personally put starbike.com and bike24.com to good use.

The trick with the Germans and their pedestrian postage, only slower by the yanks, is that you can pay the same for one item as 10 as I think it depends on the box size or something.
You never buy one item as its approx 30 Euro, so you buy as many items as you can until the postage tally goes up.

Oh and some sites show the VAT tax included and some sites excluded so look carefully when trying to price things or you'll either miss out or pay too much.

When I put my bike together the Poms in the UK were the kings of speedy and cheap postage, but thats to Australia.
Wiggle and Chainreactioncycles spring to mind.
sjscycles.com were fantastic for things like small items hard to source like Rohloff small parts and tricky items like spare cables for E-werks etc.

Hope this helps

PS, every now and again you'll come up against companies that force their suppliers to not export to certain countries.
Rohloff was doing this for a while with some German sites and Aussie.

MSR I think were another company doing it.

Also check your countries and states duties and import tax obligations or you might get a nasty bill from the border holding your item hostage.
Here in Aus we've been allowed up to $1000 import tax and duty free but its changing I think in June whence you'll hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth from down under.

Tourist in MSN

I got my Rohloff hub from Germany a few years ago, about one third off of the prices cited in USA. And I think it was about a year ago when I bought the Rohloff 250ml oil bottles from Germany, even after paying for shipping I got it for less than half of the prices charged by USA sellers.

But if you want to keep paying more than you have to, go ahead.

Philly Tandem

fahrrad.de is another big German bike website. Not sure if they ship outside of Europe, though.

FYI, "bicycle" is "fahrrad" in German, if you want to try some searches.

I travel to Germany usually 1-2x per year. I love looking in German bike shops. So much cool stuff, especially for touring! But I find I can often (usually) find German stuff cheaper here in the USA. Haven't tried any of the online stores, though, as I usually just buy what I need in-country.