Who are go-to retailers these days?

[adaml]

Hey everyone,

I'm getting back into cycling after about 10 years away. Back then, the best source for reasonably priced components and accessories was the UK, and Chain Reaction Cycles and Wiggle were my mainstays.

Fast forward to now and it's obvious things have changed. c r c and Wiggle are shadows of what they once were, and facing bankruptcy.

Can anyone give me a quick catch up of the terrain scene today? Who the major players are, who your first port of call should be for that brake rotor or chainring tool and so on.

Thanks!

[AndrewCowley]

Local: Pushys or Bike Bug (pretty much the same thing these days)
Overseas: Merlin

Worth checking 99 Bikes too. If you have a store nearby that has stock then it's convenient sometimes to go and buy it from there.

For Shimano parts, the big issue is supply. You'll need to search around and potentially buy from places you've never bought from before.

[Mr Purple]

Definitely Pushys and Bikebug locally though as mentioned they have the same owner now. I find the Bikebug online store much easier to navigate and the prices are much the same.

Bikebug definitely have reasonable stock of most Shimano now. Though Merlin above is also a good backup option, as is Alex Cycles in Japan.

I spent so long out of the scene that Cell bikes was the default option when I left it. Hard to imagine that so many online companies manage to completely disappear constantly; how hard is it?

[blizzard]

Pushys and Bikebug mostly, added benefit is their warehouse is 2 suburbs over so often get next day delivery on normal post. AliExpress for cheap tools (I've had good luck with ZTTO brand).

I have used CCache on occassion, they have a pretty good range high end and also far east brands.

Very occasionally Merlin and ProBikeKit, and even rarer the German online stores but shipping is a killer from them.

[P!N20]

If you're on a budget, Cycling Deal can be good for tools and peripherals.

[jasonc]

Very occasionally Merlin and ProBikeKit, and even rarer the German online stores but shipping is a killer from them.

I would be cautious with pro bike kit as their financial position isn't much better

have used ccache and george's bike shop
i used merlin for an order last week
i'm thankful i stocked up on spare parts when in europe earlier this year

[uart]

It's a shame to see Wiggle going under. Between Wiggle and Merlin I could usually find most of my preferred stuff in consumables (tyres/tube/chains/cassettes/saddles/etc) at a decent price. Merlin is still ok, but I can't find all of my favorites there at the moment.

So is Wiggle yet another retailer that eventually succumb to covid supply chain issues?

[find_bruce]

So is Wiggle yet another retailer that eventually succumb to covid supply chain issues?

I would suggest Wiggle / c r c / Bike24 are succumbing to venture capital issues & have lost touch with what made them successful in the first place.

[caneye]

ccache has very competitive prices for Shimano components

[biker jk]

So is Wiggle yet another retailer that eventually succumb to covid supply chain issues?

I would suggest Wiggle / c r c / Bike24 are succumbing to venture capital issues & have lost touch with what made them successful in the first place.

I believe Wiggle/c r c/Probikekit are owned by Signa Sports United which is an E-Commerce company. Their funding was from Sigma Holding GmbH which is a real estate company.

[Duck!]

So is Wiggle yet another retailer that eventually succumb to covid supply chain issues?

I would suggest Wiggle / c r c / Bike24 are succumbing to venture capital issues & have lost touch with what made them successful in the first place.

I believe Wiggle/c r c/Probikekit are owned by Signa Sports United which is an E-Commerce company. Their funding was from Sigma Holding GmbH which is a real estate company.

ProBikeKit is not part of the Signa group, however is on its own shaky ground.

[biker jk]

I would suggest Wiggle / c r c / Bike24 are succumbing to venture capital issues & have lost touch with what made them successful in the first place.

I believe Wiggle/c r c/Probikekit are owned by Signa Sports United which is an E-Commerce company. Their funding was from Sigma Holding GmbH which is a real estate company.

ProBikeKit is not part of the Signa group, however is on its own shaky ground.

Yes, my mistake. Meant to write Probikeshop.

[robbo mcs]

I use bikebug for most things, easy to use website, competitive prices, and very quick delivery.

I use 99bikes for some things, but they have an annoying practice of shipping from multiple sites. So if you order 4x of something, it can come in 4 packages from different places.

For touring and bikepacking type products, there are range of good smaller shops and providers that provide good service, Omafiets in Sydney and Commuter Cycles in Melbourne for example

For hard to find products, or unusual stuff BikeInn seems to have an enormous range of products. However, it can take a long time to arrive.

[lone rider]

Bikebug/Pushys and Ccache. Havent bought from the o/s retailers in years, mostly because they stopped shipping a lot of brands to Oz. Then after Covid, shipping prices got ridiculous so didnt bother even checking what they had last couple of years.

[g-boaf]

I don't really have any go to retailers - it just depends who has what I want.

Cycling kit, I went to 99 Bikes, they had Assos bibs I wanted at a reasonable price - and in stock, bonus. Othewise jerseys are all Le Col Custom from the overseas cycling club I'm a part of, when the order goes in for the next years design, I grab two.

I used to deal with Bikebug back in the days of Rocky and the Tempe location, but when that closed and it went online only I ceased dealing with them - haven't gone to their site, haven't purchased a single thing from them.

Otherwise I had a trusted local bike shop (sadly closed in unfortunate circumstances), then I have another two bike shops, neither of them exactly local but they have people working for them that I trust.

Wiggle (link intentionally broken) I haven't used in god knows how long, seemingly the right choice given the recent news.

[Duck!]

I only shop online if there is something I specifically want that I can't get locally. A friend & former colleague now runs his own bike shop, so where possible I'll get stuff through him. Sometimes though the stuff I want is either out of stock at supplier level, or they simply don't bring the stuff into the country, so that's when I go online.

As noted here and in other threads, the likes of Wiggle, c r c and other previously go-to British online sellers are for various reasons in a world of turmoil now. The more reliable players now are from mainland Europe, some better-known than others. Bike24 and Starbike, both from Germany, have a wide range of stock, generally at very good prices, however freight is expensive so that counters much of the saving on the price of the product, and can be very slow to get out of the country (a fault of the freight provider, not the retailer). Lordgun, based in Italy is also very well priced on the products, but similarly expensive for freight, but use a different carrier so ships very quickly. By some techonogical trickery they're one of the few OS retailers who can/will ship stuff from major brands who otherwise have regional/intercontinental shipping restrictions imposed by the manufacturer.

[MichaelB]

Bikebug/Pushys and Ccache. Havent bought from the o/s retailers in years, mostly because they stopped shipping a lot of brands to Oz. Then after Covid, shipping prices got ridiculous so didnt bother even checking what they had last couple of years.

I'm pretty much the same.

Are ccache a drop-shipper ?

Have used Bike24/r2 bike/Bike-Discount before, but they tended to be for some wheelbuilding gear, mudguards & tyres but tend to make the purchase worthwhile.

The recent increase in shipping costs post covid have made them less attractive. Lordgun I've looked at, but they haven't been competitive in terms of shipped price/stock at the time.

[warthog1]

Merlin ,Pushys, Bikebug are my primary go to, now I guess. Used to be Wiggle and c r c
Probikekit years ago but now only if they have exactly what I want at a good price.
Have used Lordgun once for a wheelset. Great price and good result but yep postage ain't cheap.
Ccache a couple of times. Bike24 only if I can't get it elsewhere due to slow, and expensive shipping.
US sites not at all basically, crap postage.

[Mr Purple]

Bikebug/Pushys and Ccache. Havent bought from the o/s retailers in years, mostly because they stopped shipping a lot of brands to Oz. Then after Covid, shipping prices got ridiculous so didnt bother even checking what they had last couple of years.

Are ccache a drop-shipper ?

I've ordered them for quite a few things and their delivery times seem on par with Pushys and Bikebug so I'd suggest not.

Of course that may not apply to big dollar or boutique items. Prices are actually pretty reasonable for most things as well.

[antigee]

pretty much as above - bikebug has very comprehensive parts stock and useful "email me when back in stock" if after a specific...99bikes click and collect as pass close to a couple of shops on a regular basis...cyclingdeal if they've got what I want ...bikeinn (Spain?) if not worried about delivery and price very good to put up with waiting or simply not available in Aus'...Merlin (UK) for (OEM?) groupsets/parts ... not previously mentioned and depends what you ride but have used MTBdirect a few times...probably helps that I'm in same City (Melbourne)...they also have a give back to the sport fund that grants MTB clubs and build projects - claim gave back nearly $400,000 last year.(edit or thinking about it more likely this is total since started scheme).I'm hoping this is true as link on website is broken but here's a facebook post:

https://www.facebook.com/mtbdirectonlin ... HvrnqMDJ1l

[redsonic]

Another plug for MTBdirect; I've bought from them a bit, shipping to Brisbane is quick, and prices and range are good.

[LateStarter]

I would suggest Wiggle / c r c / Bike24 are succumbing to venture capital issues & have lost touch with what made them successful in the first place.

Wiggle did own Bike24 from 2017 till 2019 when it was sold back to its original owner (fortunately), the "shipping" cost is mostly saved via the always cheaper Bike24 prices even on just a few items. The shipping duration can be lengthy though, but they have an enormous range of everything (excluding stuff they are not permitted by suppliers to ship to Oz , Shimano, garmin, ortlieb etc(

[find_bruce]

Wiggle did own Bike24 from 2017 till 2019 when it was sold back to its original owner (fortunately), the "shipping" cost is mostly saved via the always cheaper Bike24 prices even on just a few items. The shipping duration can be lengthy though, but they have an enormous range of everything (excluding stuff they are not permitted by suppliers to ship to Oz , Shimano, garmin, ortlieb etc(

Cheers, I'd missed that news. Haven't bought from Bike24 since 2017

[lone rider]

Bikebug/Pushys and Ccache. Havent bought from the o/s retailers in years, mostly because they stopped shipping a lot of brands to Oz. Then after Covid, shipping prices got ridiculous so didnt bother even checking what they had last couple of years.

I'm pretty much the same.

Are ccache a drop-shipper ?

Have used Bike24/r2 bike/Bike-Discount before, but they tended to be for some wheelbuilding gear, mudguards & tyres but tend to make the purchase worthwhile.

The recent increase in shipping costs post covid have made them less attractive. Lordgun I've looked at, but they haven't been competitive in terms of shipped price/stock at the time.

Not sure. Pricing they are bit different to Pushys/Bikebug and they have a few bricks and mortar shops. Stock wise with the brands they have they seem to independent, and orders must be coming from local stock given the freight times.