[Turt99]

Hey Guys, I've been looking around at different shocks and other parts that I might upgrade on my current ride. I'm not in any rush (Don't have any funds really) but I'm just trying to watch for deals that might come up during the off season.

I've tried surfing around on the net but I'm having some trouble figuring out how to get the prices that I would actually need to pay. For example I'm looking at replacing my front shock with a Reba SL (currently an Axel with firm spring) now if I go to pricepoint it comes up as $269 or so, but thats american and I would need to have it shipped across the border (probably end up paying alot of duty or something). Now if I try to find a shop (or online store) in canada I can't seem to find alot and the few that I do find seem to have almost a different pricing system. One site that I found is the TrailBlazers Site (http://www.trailblazercycles.com/) which seems to keep the site somewhat up to date. But when you look for the Reba SL is not really there they seem to have different models that are all around $600 (the team is on sale for $499.95).

All in all my questions are:
1) Where do you guys order from?

2) I don't see how $269 and $500 are equaling out? Are things just more expensive on this side of the border?

3) Do you guys have alot of things shipped from the states? Do you ship them to someone in the states and then pick them up?

4) Do you guys know any sites that I should be checking out? I live in Brampton, Ontario

Thanks for all your help

 

[sru]

Good luck finding a Canadian mail order site that has the selection that some of the sites our neighbors to the south take for granted. You can try Brauns, Ramseys, and depending on what your looking for, MEC, however, you will find selection is very limited.

I have ordered from BlueSky, WheelWorld, Nashbar and Jenson's with great success and even had a few good suprises with respect to the duties I've had to pay.

My general rule is to double the selling price from an American site. That usually more than covers the cost of shipping, duties, tax, conversion etc. etc.

The best I can tell you is to order from sites that use USPS, not UPS, FEDEX or other couriers. Good old snail mail is the slowest.....and cheapest way to get goods shipped to Canada. Also, keep an eye out for close-out deals. Most of the additional costs are based on a % of the selling price, therfore the less you pay for the part, the less you will pay in shipping, duties and taxes.

My last purchase was last week. I ordered a wheelset from Jensons, which after paying duties, converting currency etc. etc. was still $100.00 less than what I would have had to pay locally, and it is a cheap wheelset.

Do a search in "where are the best deals" forum about shipping to Canada. There is some good info there.

And let us know if you find a decent Canadian site.

 

[airman]

Hey Guys, I've been looking around at different shocks and other parts that I might upgrade on my current ride. I'm not in any rush (Don't have any funds really) but I'm just trying to watch for deals that might come up during the off season.

I've tried surfing around on the net but I'm having some trouble figuring out how to get the prices that I would actually need to pay. For example I'm looking at replacing my front shock with a Reba SL (currently an Axel with firm spring) now if I go to pricepoint it comes up as $269 or so, but thats american and I would need to have it shipped across the border (probably end up paying alot of duty or something). Now if I try to find a shop (or online store) in canada I can't seem to find alot and the few that I do find seem to have almost a different pricing system. One site that I found is the TrailBlazers Site (http://www.trailblazercycles.com/) which seems to keep the site somewhat up to date. But when you look for the Reba SL is not really there they seem to have different models that are all around $600 (the team is on sale for $499.95).

All in all my questions are:
1) Where do you guys order from?

2) I don't see how $269 and $500 are equaling out? Are things just more expensive on this side of the border?

3) Do you guys have alot of things shipped from the states? Do you ship them to someone in the states and then pick them up?

4) Do you guys know any sites that I should be checking out? I live in Brampton, Ontario

Thanks for all your help

I agree with sru, the rough cost of getting stuff from the US is about double. Since the exchange is very good, you may do better right now. Deal only with US retailers that ship US Post. I've used Pricepoint and Cambria although you have to phone Cambria to get USPS shipping. I don't use Nashbar, Performance, Supergo or Jenson because they use couriers, and you can almost always find a better deal elsewhere. You may want to consider ebay as well, but only from reputable sellers. Cambria has an ebay store - for example - you may want to try. Don't buy used on ebay since there are too many low-lifes selling junk out there...

If you want to figure out your cost to get something by US Post, exchange is roughly 20%, so take the $US cost of the item, multiply by 1.38 (20% exchange and 15% CDN tax). Multiply the $US shipping cost by 1.2 and add that. Finally add $5 for the brokerage handling fee for the total. Insurance is extra, but be warned that if the retailer inflates the value of the goods for the insurance, that is the value on which you will be taxed.

Finally, what I recommend you do is wait for the spring bike show, go early and have a pocket of cash. You will probably get a good deal there and you will know what you're getting...

Cheers

 

[Turt99]

Thanks for all the info
I guess I see how it all adds up now, I guess in the situation I gave above the best deal would be the Reba Team at Trail Blazers.

Airman, yeah that is exactly my plan, I'm planning to save as much for my upgrade fund between now and the spring bike show. Then I'm going to walk in there and find out what items I can get the best deals on.

Currently my bike is decent for the amount and type of riding that I do (Gary Fisher Marlin with Avid Disc), so I don't really need to upgrade anything if I can't find a good deal. I'm a heavy guy so I think the Reba would suit me better then the Axel that I currently have, and I'd like to change my SPD's to Crankbros as well as upgrade the low end shimano crank I currently have.

Other then that I'm pretty happy with what I got and I'm not going to be riding untill the spring anyways so there is really no rush. I'm really just looking for a site where I can watch the prices of different parts. I guess I will use the US sites and then just use the rough 2X rule to get an idea of what might be a good deal here.

Thanks Again for the help.

 

[airman]

Thanks for all the info
I guess I see how it all adds up now, I guess in the situation I gave above the best deal would be the Reba Team at Trail Blazers.

Airman, yeah that is exactly my plan, I'm planning to save as much for my upgrade fund between now and the spring bike show. Then I'm going to walk in there and find out what items I can get the best deals on.

Currently my bike is decent for the amount and type of riding that I do (Gary Fisher Marlin with Avid Disc), so I don't really need to upgrade anything if I can't find a good deal. I'm a heavy guy so I think the Reba would suit me better then the Axel that I currently have, and I'd like to change my SPD's to Crankbros as well as upgrade the low end shimano crank I currently have.

Other then that I'm pretty happy with what I got and I'm not going to be riding untill the spring anyways so there is really no rush. I'm really just looking for a site where I can watch the prices of different parts. I guess I will use the US sites and then just use the rough 2X rule to get an idea of what might be a good deal here.

Thanks Again for the help.

I forgot to mention that there are a couple of useful sites for comparison shopping:

Best Bike Buys (search engine)

Comparison Pricing $ervices

For cranks, look into ediscountbike.com and chucksbikes.com...

Good Luck!

 

[SSteve F]

Another search engine.......

http://www.qbike.com/

 

[MJ51]

The reba Team at Trailblazers (if it has u-turn) for $499 is a KILLER deal. I'd jump on that one if I hadn't just bought one at Pricepoint.

 

[Turt99]

The reba Team at Trailblazers (if it has u-turn) for $499 is a KILLER deal. I'd jump on that one if I hadn't just bought one at Pricepoint.

yeah it seems to have the U-Turn and Poploc and everything, if I was able to afford it I would probably jump on that deal too, but sadly I can't afford much right now

Well I guess its either run into alot of money in the next while and hope the deal is still on at TrailBlazers or save every penny over the winter and hope for a similar deal at the bike show in the spring.

 

[Bill Payer]

decent transaction from canadian online retailer

www.bikeroom.com

I just bought a wheel from these guys, everything went well, good price and good product.

They are based out west in B.C. somewhere, but they generally have great prices, good selection and reasonable shipping rates... having said all that, they are currently re-doing their website and it is kinda useless atm, but watch for them to come back strong

...

 

[nogearshere]

sure i'll bite...

MisfitPsycles - Store

mostly SS but some overlapping, in Ontario and free shipping over $50 (in Canada).

 

[Bill Payer]

agree

sure i'll bite...

MisfitPsycles - Store

mostly SS but some overlapping, in Ontario and free shipping over $50 (in Canada).

yes, must agree.

I have not bought anything from misfitpsycles yet, but the correspondence I have had with them has been most helpful and I will likely be making a purchase in the near future.

(SS is singlespeed for those of you like me that are new to the SS scene)

 

[Turt99]

Great Links guys, I'll keep an eye on the Bikeroom hopefully it will fill up with more products.

The Misfits site is pretty interesting however I don't know if I could handle a SS bike, I thought about it for my old (1995 I think) Haro V1 hardtail, but I don't think I'd get very far on it.

 

[TT.]

www.bikeroom.com

I just bought a wheel from these guys, everything went well, good price and good product.

They are based out west in B.C. somewhere, but they generally have great prices, good selection and reasonable shipping rates... having said all that, they are currently re-doing their website and it is kinda useless atm, but watch for them to come back strong

...

proceed with caution with that bunch.... they burnt a TON of ppl on both sides of the border

run a search on airbomb and bikeroom I hope they finally grew up and realized that they can't rip ppl forever......but I'd still be carefull

 

[Turt99]

proceed with caution with that bunch.... they burnt a TON of ppl on both sides of the border

run a search on airbomb and bikeroom I hope they finally grew up and realized that they can't rip ppl forever......but I'd still be carefull

I thought I had heard something about those guys, but if the site has the prices in canadian funds then atleast I can use it as a guide for trying to price out some parts.

 

[Dutch]

No issues with Bikeroom here.

I know Airbomb and Bikeroom got slammed in the past but I have ordered from them several times in the past year and have had nothing but great service. They even upgraded some parts that I ordered due to a minor transaction problem at their end that was resolved quickly and professionally.

I wouldn't hesitate to order from them again...plus you only pay GST as they are located in BC and Ontario PST does not apply...I guess you should pay the PST on your income tax but I won't tell if you don't.

 

[AndrewTO]

proceed with caution with that bunch.... they burnt a TON of ppl on both sides of the border

run a search on airbomb and bikeroom I hope they finally grew up and realized that they can't rip ppl forever......but I'd still be carefull

Huh? What am I missing from this picture? Airbomb is an American company - they're not in B.C.

 

[airman]

Huh? What am I missing from this picture? Airbomb is an American company - they're not in B.C.

Airbomb used to have a Vancouver location that - if I'm not mistaken - mysteriously became "Bikeroom"... That was three years ago? Maybe someone else has more info...

Cheers

 

[AndrewTO]

Airbomb used to have a Vancouver location that - if I'm not mistaken - mysteriously became "Bikeroom"... That was three years ago? Maybe someone else has more info...

Cheers

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh, I see now. Thanks Derek! Damn, I looked at some of the prices on the Bikeroom site and thought some of the stuff they had was a great deal, too.