Pushys buys Bikebug

[Mr Purple]

A bit of a shame that the two major online retailers in Australia are now under the same ownership.

No issues with their postage after a brief adjustment period. They might as well close one of the websites and go under the same banner now though. If they do this, hopefully they close the 'Pushys' brand and website, I can never find anything on there.

[trailgumby]

A bit of a shame that the two major online retailers in Australia are now under the same ownership.

Yes, I'm quite surprised that was waved through by the ACCC.

[find_bruce]

Is it just me or do they carry very limited stock on either site - looking for a commuting tyre, ~40mm - even when it is listed as in stock when you go to the detail it is only available in a peculiar size and not at the price listed

[Tim]

Is it just me or do they carry very limited stock on either site

My experience too.
No stock of Ultegra 11 speed chains. A basic item. Although this might reflect Shimano Australia's very limited spare parts local availability.

[ace70]

Not surprised in the least, Pushys stock is woeful, and the sales they have are little more than clickbait.
Was there any chance after they purchased Bikebug, they wouldn’t transfer that same business model over, not likely.
It’s a real shame, Bikebug support and stock of Campagnolo was very good, and being able to go in and see and have stock on hand was great.

[trailgumby]

Is it just me or do they carry very limited stock on either site

My experience too.
No stock of Ultegra 11 speed chains. A basic item. Although this might reflect Shimano Australia's very limited spare parts local availability.

That was an ongoing pattern. Historically, Shimano Australia was seemingly asleep most of the time, keeping little stock and charging large margins. It was part of what drove the popularity of sites like c r c and Wiggle - availability, accurate stock levels on site, and rapid delivery. +/- 10% GST wasn't really a factor for me.

After Shimano Australia successfully lobbied the global parent to have Australia geoblocked from those sites, their inventory-keeping performance did improve dramatically, and pricing became a lot more competitive as well. I suspect the parent demanded that as the price of the deal.

Not sure what's driving shortages at the moment. It needs to be borne in mind that supply out of China is still a major issue, and what stock and manufacturing capacity is available is being prioritised towards OEM bike brands.

As far as stock availability goes on Pushys and BikeBug, I agree it is annoying. I use their product filters for the size I want and with "In stock" checked, which helps, but it's not foolproof. Been trying to get some replacement 100% branded gloves, but now I've given up. Their loss.

[g-boaf]

Not surprised in the least, Pushys stock is woeful, and the sales they have are little more than clickbait.
Was there any chance after they purchased Bikebug, they wouldn’t transfer that same business model over, not likely.
It’s a real shame, Bikebug support and stock of Campagnolo was very good, and being able to go in and see and have stock on hand was great.

Rocky and his colleagues were all good. It was just a reliable store where you could get what you needed and be on your way. No stress with worrying about shipping. My last big purchase from there was a Tacx Neo 2T from Rocky. I'm definitely not giving any business to Pushys (if they are reading this, take note).

[trailgumby]

Not surprised in the least, Pushys stock is woeful, and the sales they have are little more than clickbait.
Was there any chance after they purchased Bikebug, they wouldn’t transfer that same business model over, not likely.
It’s a real shame, Bikebug support and stock of Campagnolo was very good, and being able to go in and see and have stock on hand was great.

Rocky and his colleagues were all good. It was just a reliable store where you could get what you needed and be on your way. No stress with worrying about shipping. My last big purchase from there was a Tacx Neo 2T from Rocky. I'm definitely not giving any business to Pushys (if they are reading this, take note).

Shuttering all the bike shops was pretty disappointing. Bought my Scalpel 29r from Rocky at the North Sydney store.

[foo on patrol]

Never had a problem with Pushy's and always prompt with their postage, I guess that I'd been lucky.

Foo

[warthog1]

Never had a problem with Pushy's and always prompt with their postage, I guess that I'd been lucky.

Foo

Same, Foo.

[biker jk]

Never had a problem with Pushy's and always prompt with their postage, I guess that I'd been lucky.

Foo

That's because Pushys' distribution centre is based in Brisbane. When Bikebug existed independently, we in Sydney had the choice to pick up from their stores or have the item delivered within a day or two. Now delivery takes a week and there is no option for pickup.

[Andy01]

Never had a problem with Pushy's and always prompt with their postage, I guess that I'd been lucky.

Foo

That's because Pushys' distribution centre is based in Brisbane. When Bikebug existed independently, we in Sydney had the choice to pick up from their stores or have the item delivered within a day or two. Now delivery takes a week and there is no option for pickup.

Bikebug would deliver free of charge to their Brisbane shop or "collection centre" (which was the courier that they used, and only about 4km from my house) - a few years ago until things changed - it was very convenient and cheap.

Pushys used to allow free pick-up from their Brisbane warehouse in Salisbury (I am on the southside) until Covid gave them the excuse to stop this.

[Calvin27]

After Shimano Australia successfully lobbied the global parent to have Australia geoblocked from those sites, their inventory-keeping performance did improve dramatically, and pricing became a lot more competitive as well. I suspect the parent demanded that as the price of the deal.

Only for it to go to crap again. The reality is we are pretty far off european levels of supply chain. Try to find something simple like a mtb brake lever in aus, you can't buy it.

[MichaelB]

Even something as simple as SPD-SL cleats are an issue !!!

[trailgumby]

Even something as simple as SPD-SL cleats are an issue !!!

Buy Speedplay

[MichaelB]

Even something as simple as SPD-SL cleats are an issue !!!

Buy Speedplay

Not that rich to convert two sets of pedals and shoes to match

[trailgumby]

Even something as simple as SPD-SL cleats are an issue !!!

Buy Speedplay

Not that rich to convert two sets of pedals and shoes to match

Yeah, not cheap. But cheaper than constantly needing therapy for irritated knees in my case, and less stressful than having to hunt and peck trying to flip the pedal the right way up to get underway from traffic lights on a steep grade with a truck up my clacker.

It wouldn't be so awkard if I rode road exclusively, but the difference between MTB and road with beginning the engagement action made switching between bike styles painful. While not identical, at least the action of clipping in is not so different with Speedplay, and their double-sided entry just works for me commuting in busy Sydney.

Hopefully Shimano Australia gets their act together shortly.

[g-boaf]

Not surprised in the least, Pushys stock is woeful, and the sales they have are little more than clickbait.
Was there any chance after they purchased Bikebug, they wouldn’t transfer that same business model over, not likely.
It’s a real shame, Bikebug support and stock of Campagnolo was very good, and being able to go in and see and have stock on hand was great.

Rocky and his colleagues were all good. It was just a reliable store where you could get what you needed and be on your way. No stress with worrying about shipping. My last big purchase from there was a Tacx Neo 2T from Rocky. I'm definitely not giving any business to Pushys (if they are reading this, take note).

Shuttering all the bike shops was pretty disappointing. Bought my Scalpel 29r from Rocky at the North Sydney store.

Online is great, but I like going to the shop to get what I want quickly and without fuss or worrying will it be delivered on time, does it get lost, etc.

My area of Sydney is very short of bike shops.

[Andy01]

Pushys has opened a Brisbane shop and offers C&C.

https://www.pushys.com.au/store-locatio ... %3D.XZkeQe

Located at 31 Gravel Pit Road, Darra Brisbane. Not open weekends. This is about 20km (30 minutes each way) from me, so not stupidly far, but not close either - would cost $7 in fuel, so wouldn't save much on delivery costs.

[Mr Purple]

Interesting but 'not open weekends' completely rules it out for me.

[baabaa]

If the prices are anything like the Canberra shop be prepared to pay more ( and sometimes much more ) for the item you can walk out of the shop with.
Still happy to pay more for bits like shoes that you know will fit as you can do a real time foot in shoe fitting.

[MichaelB]

Interesting but 'not open weekends' completely rules it out for me.

That's a bit odd ? Maybe testing the waters to start with ?

They have also done a big revamp of their website too ? Wonder when they'll drop the BikeBug webpage and go solely to Pushys ?

[Mr Purple]

Interesting but 'not open weekends' completely rules it out for me.

That's a bit odd ? Maybe testing the waters to start with ?

They have also done a big revamp of their website too ? Wonder when they'll drop the BikeBug webpage and go solely to Pushys ?

I'd say it's just a 'we're here anyway, we may as well open an actual shopfront'. I assume that's also their warehouse.

I hope they don't drop Bikebug completely. Even with the revamp the Pushy's website is absolutely impossible to actually browse - Bikebug is much better laid out.

What I hope doesn't happen is the way of most overseas online companies - the whole thing randomly folds due to poor financial decisions. It always worries me when a merger like that happens.

[AndrewCowley]

Agreed, the Pushys web site is a steaming dog turd.

The BikeBug web site on the other hand is great.

[biker jk]

Indeed I let Pushys know that their website was rubbish with specific examples of the problems. They totally ignored my complaint when they did their web site revamp.

Bikebug was way better than Pushys in every respect. It now takes a week from order to delivery post takeover from two days before.