TnBama

Has anyone here ever gotten a complete build from Peter White? I know they seem expensive, but they seem like a top notch all-in-one place dealer from the website. If any one has dealt with them on a bike- did you have a good experience?

2_i 

My wheels have been built by Peter White, my crankset, rear rack and front lamp are all from him. The wheels have been expensive when paying, but such a relief and savings, in the end, after what I have gone before. Before, the wheels were a source of continuous worry. I had to adjust the truing, worry about overloading them and, from time to time, to replace them. Peter's wheels are a problem solved, put them on and forget that you have them, move to other things in life.

dobber

In the case of wheel builds, quality costs.

I've heard great things about Peter and have considered a heavy duty set of touring wheels from him. I do own several builds done by Speedgoat which have yet to require any tweaking after several years of heavy use.

marqueemoon

His website is awesome. I've learned so much from it I feel guilty I haven't bought anything from him yet.

JeffS

I try to buy from him, but I just don't have much occasion to. I mean, I know he probably has some of the misc parts that I need, that aren't listed on his site. Sometimes, it's just easier to buy from a point and click web store.

He's been my go-to source for Schwalbe tires.

They've been very responsive to emails, which is actually how I've placed all my orders.

I've never ordered anything as large a bike from them though.

narr33

I received a complete build and the experience was not satisfactory - I specified stem size which was ignored, the bike was shipped two weeks later than stated, did not respond to emails, called about the stem I got one of his hissy fits, one light was defective and would not give a refund. I am not the only person that has had problems. If your getting a Rivendell buy from them they are very good. The lights and most other parts can be had from St. John' Street Cycles or Wall Bike.

relyt

Is his website down? I haven't been able to get to it for a while.

balindamood

He seems to be an east coast version of Grant Peterson...smart, eccentric and opinionated. Though not cheap, they seem dedicated and honest and firmly believe in what they sell. Though I may not always agree with what they expound, I wish there were more of them.

ginsoakedboy

I have never bought a complete bike, but the best wheels I have ever owned were built by Peter. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a bike from him if he had something I wanted -- I would imagine he builds his bikes with the same meticulousness with which he builds his wheels.

fender1

I have purchased from him with mixed results. Generally his products are very good if you know in advance what you want and don't have to ask any technical questions. He got irritated when I bought a Schmidt hub from him and did not want him to build the entire wheel. I got 2 E6 headlights from him a primary & a secondary. The primary light's beam was noticiably dimmer that the secondary. I called him (after using his website to trouble shoot w/ no luck) and his response was "well, that is the way it is sometimes". Not much in the way of customer service IMHO.

His wife, who sometime takes orders is very nice and very helpful as is the other woman who answers the phone and takes orders. When I don't have to talk to him they are good. When you get him, as I would imagine you would for a full build, I would wish you good luck.

Allen

His page on how to fit a bike is very informative and his lighting section is fantastic, but his phone skills do suck. Everyone has their foibles.
I've purchased several lights from him and some other odds and ends such as pit locks. I knew what I wanted before I ordered, used a credit card, and everything was shipped promptly.
When I need bike esoterica Peter is one of the places I regularly look; Harris and Wallingford being the other regulars.

spokenword

I've met Peter a couple of times in person and every time he's been great and fun to hang around with. It's amazing, though, what sort of flame wars he gets into or starts in online newsgroups. It's a reminder of how people can be different in their online and offline personas.

I've bought a couple of dynamo lights from him and have generally found the phone experience to be fine, though I think part of that is that I always get Linda when I call in.

narr33

"It's a reminder of how people can be different in their online and offline personas."

It is simply not a question of personallity. There is a line of not being respectful to your customers where maybe you should look for another line of work. The only reason he is still in business is he has other people answering the phone and has usfull information on his webpage otherwise in terms of customer support and policy he would not be in business.

BBassett

I contacted Peter White of Peter White Cycles directly in February of 2015 to arrange the purchase of a Tout Terrain Panamericana (Gold Build). He directed me to the TT site to "configure" the bike. I did so, and returned a list to him with the specific build, and the configuration number that I was given. After two weeks of waiting I contacted him telephonically to find out he had done nothing on my order. It took my fronting $3000.00 (which I had offered on our 1st conversation and that he said would not be necessary) to get his attention and for him to finally order the bike from Germany. I was told it would take a few week to be built and shipped. I again sent Mr. White an exact build request hoping that everything would be completed prior to the frame arriving. Hoping to save assembly time. I had read several reviews that suggested Mr. White was unbearable to work with so I sent another email to his wife Linda detailing everything I wanted on the build. She wrote back assuring me that they would use my build request. I also wrote to TT directly (Christian Buck - chris@tout-terrain.de) and was told I had to use PWC to purchase a TT bike in America. I tried to stay in contact and to make sure Mr. White knew exactly what I wanted on the build through this entire process, him, his wife and staff. Every time I contacted them I was told it would be a few weeks until the frame was received. This happened several times over the next few months. On Aug 19th, 2015 I received an email from Mr. White asking for the 3rd time how much weight would be on the bike so he would spec the wheels. AAAAAHHHhhhhhhhh!!! On August 26, 2015 I received a shipment notice that the bike had been shipped from PWC. I attempted to phone Mr. White only to find he was traveling and would not be reachable for a week. I checked and PWC had charged my credit card an additional $3300.00 without any prior contact or request to do so. I had already arranged for the bike to be shipped to California E-Bike (Mr. Doug Snyder) for further work. Mr. Snyder was supposed to receive a fully assembled bike that should have been TESTED by PWC. What he received was parts, only the wheels had been assembled. This was more than Mr. Snyder had signed on for so it interrupted his build completion. He mounted an electric motor and sent everything on to me. I received all the shipped parts and took them to a local bike shop and am waiting for the final assembly. I say waiting because multiple parts and components were missing and/or not what I had requested. Mr. White not only used different tires than I had request but also different tubes, and wheel liners. There was no chain, the wrong seat post, no brakes to include disc's, rotors or handles. He built the front wheel use a 32 spoke dynamo hub and rim after I specifically asked him to use 36 spoke versions. The hub is covered in scratches as are the rims he provided. No light was sent with the bike and the USB converter "The Plug III" is missing. He did not included a chain tensioner even though the bike requires one to ride. I have attempted to contact TT directly about this purchase and all the problems associated with PWC to no avail. Emails have been sent to (Oliver Romer - oliver@tout-terrain.de) Owner? Manager? Who Knows? I can get no reply directly, maybe a lawyer will have more "luck".

Why would something like this happen? It's my guess that Mr. White is out of his depth in assembling the Panamericana. That coupled with a minimal profit margins when selling Tout Terrain products leads him to shirking ALL his responsibility in assembling and testing one of the most advanced and unique bikes in the world.

When I complained to him directly his response was, "I knew I shouldn't have been working with someone like you." ???? What a customer? Mr. White is not only rude but a cheat. He disregarded what I asked for, provided me with damaged and incorrect parts, or failed to include them at all. He has displayed to total lack of integrity and honesty. When I contacted PWC and questioned the billing I was given a discount and was told they had mistakenly over charged on parts. Further questioning got me another discount which I was told was because I had ordered a complete bike. Odd since I didn't get an entire bike or even a bike that was assembled.

The wheel build will have to be evaluated to see if they need to be properly assembled. I can only assume that Mr. White’s attention to detail is as lacking as his integrity.

My recommendation - Don't use PWC for anything other than warrantee work that he still owes you. At one time his dynamo's may have been acceptable, those days are long over. Shutter Precision and Shimano now make better, lighter and far better looking products that are less expensive.

PaulRivers

I've not had a great experience trying to order from him, he doesn't do online orders, so you have to call, leave a message, then hope you can answer when he calls back.

Since he's the US distributor for dynamo stuff, I just ordered mine through Home - Harris Cyclery bicycle shop - West Newton, Massachusetts which was a lot easier to order through, and get ahold of someone friendly at the other end (I needed extra light mounts).

Don't know much specifically about getting a bike build from him.

alan s 

I've noticed that some pages on the website haven't been updated in quite some time. For example, the studded tires page includes stocking information for 2013. Sure, it's free information, but at least it should be kept current. There are many new studded tires in just the past couple years, so the information is somewhat out of date and less useful. Perhaps this applies to his business as a whole, but since I'm not a customer, it's just speculation.

unterhausen

this is a really old thread. I get my LBS to order through Peter White. I recently had to warranty a light, they were very nice about it.

kickstart

I get what I need from Holland https://en.hollandbikeshop.com/bicycl...country_id=261 easy, reliable, safe. It takes a little longer, but circumvents PWCs monopoly on US distribution, and the accompanying price gouging.

AngeloDolce

I really like the selection, especially for older Dutch roadsters and DL1s with 28' wheels, but it looks like shipping to the US starts at $40. Is it a choice of high (US) prices or high shipping, or is there a cheaper shipping method if you can wait. How long do typically take?

kickstart

Shipping is what it is, so I usually save up and purchase several items at once as its a flat rate. It usually takes 8 to 10 days. The other consideration is the difference in prices can more than make up for the shipping, a Luxos U is around $250 in the US, and they sell it for around $125. Also much of what they offer simply isn't available here, or is grossly over priced.

Edit, the prices shown are with VAT, change the destination to the US for the actual price. I corrected the link in my initial post.

CbadRider

This is a seven-year-old thread. Feel free to start a new one if you want to continue the discussion.

Closed.