Needgiftcardadv

Hi
I need some suggestion on where to get a gift card so my husband can order whatever he wants from there. Not sure exactly what he wants so gift card is the best option. He does road cycling and also mountain biking. He also joins races occasionally. I am looking to spend 500-1000 dollars on the gift card thanks!

Mad Honk 

365 cycles is a pretty good place to look. Smiles, MH

mstateglfr 

Is there a local shop he buys from? If so, get a gift card to there.
If not, Merlin Cycles or BikeTiresDirect.

shelbyfv

Can't go wrong with REI.

Wileyrat

Competitive Cyclist.

veganbikes

Go for your local shop, they will appreciate it, he will appreciate it and you will have gotten an excellent gift.

Camilo

Check out Western Bike Works too. Among most of the suggestions so far, I've also had great luck with them, both online and in their storefront in Portland.

bboy314

Another vote for local shop.

Wileyrat

As I see all these recommendations for a card from a local bike shop, I will say for an established cyclist, they probably won’t have the type of accessories in stock they may want.

If that’s the chosen direction, I would rather have a pre loaded Visa card and make my own choice on where to spend it.

indyfabz

Excellent point. When I retired last month, some former colleagues got me a gift card from a shop near my house. It’s the kind of shop that I have bought a tube from now and then, but that’s it. The shop doesn’t cater to my typical needs. I’m planning to stop in later this week to ask if I can use the money to buy items it should be able to order. There is a LBS about 5 blocks from that shop that I usually use. A loaded Visa would have been perfect.

Barry2 

In my mind the most obvious, extremely useful, and likely least popular choice here on BF ..... Amazon

Barry

philbob57

Amazon is on my **** list now. They've missed 4 delivery promises - and then they tell me to be thankful that they'll refund my purchase price if I ask for it. They miss their dates, they send no notice that they're done trying to deliver the product, and if the customer doesn't take action, they keep the customer's money. And they tell the customer they're doing the customer a favor by doing so. Um...no.

I look at Biketiresdirect, which has given me great service when an expensive product failed under warranty, and Modernbike, which seems to have a wide, deep inventory at good prices and ships as fast as they say they do (or faster). Biketiresdirect and WesternBikeWorks look the same to me.

I think a good LBS or major Visa/M'card gift card is a good idea, too, because it can be used anywhere, even internationally.

howaboutme

They offer free shipping, period. Do you find that their prices are inflated to compensate? I only looked at a few samples and didn't get a good sense.

bboy314

Bike shops can usually order quite a wide range of accessories, components, clothing etc. And since it’s a gift card, one needn’t fret about having to spend more money to (god forbid) support their local economy instead of stuff Jeff Bezos pockets more.

OK my rant is over.

Mad Honk 

I guess there may be some inflation pricing. I have paid shipping in the past, but I find they have quite a selection of DT spokes that I buy by the box of 100 which brings spoke prices to about $.60 each. The gift card from Visa or MC is one I completely didn't think about. Probably the best bet for universal use. Smiles, MH

Pratt

Visa?

indyfabz

My only concern, hinted at above, is that the gift card could possibly be limited to in-stock items only. For years I raised a lot of money for my local MS 150 and was rewarded with LBS gift certificates of as much as $250. (No cards back then.). The LBS gift certificates were limited to in-stock merchandise only. Best that the OP check.

Wileyrat

And with a pre loaded Visa, you can shop at an LBS to your hearts content, or you can support an online business like Competitive Cyclist or Fair Wheel bikes, which has a local presence in Tucson, or even give Besos your money too.

unterhausen

I suppose some bike shops don't like money, but my lbs treats a gift card just like money. I know they are a bit of an outlier in a number of ways, but requiring in-stock only is a fairly big restriction. An MS150 card might have been donated or sold at a deep discount.

indyfabz

Good point. I’m sure they were at least sold at a discount and maybe donated. The $250 one I went through pretty easily. A pair of Oakley glasses helped a lot. Probably $175 back then.