Who do you shop with?

[John Shingler]

I have pretty much always used Wiggle over the years but recently the deliveries have been a bit hit and miss ( more miss than hit) with Evri being their courier of preference. I was wondering what online shops others use for their cycling paraphernalia, Tredz, Chain Reaction, Merlin etc.

 

[Juan Kog]

Merlin , Spa Cycles, PlanetX, Tredz , EBay , Wiggle/CRC occasionally. For fixed wheel /single speed parts Velo Solo and Hubjub . Name an online shop and I have probably used them.

 

[Vantage]

Wherever is cheapest and has the fastest delivery times. Usually Amazon wins.
I have as much loyalty to online traders and traders in general as they have to me.

 

[All uphill]

Spa or St John St Cycles usually.

 

[Juan Kog]

I use St John St Cycles sometimes, my go to place for those small hard to find parts .
I have used Amazon I think they can often be beaten on price by the cycle specialists.

 

[John Shingler]

Amazon delivery rarely fails me too. If they can't get the delivery right it doesn't work in my book. Even Royal mail do better than Evri depite the strikes.

 

[Sea of vapours]

As always, the quality of Evri deliveries really does depend on your local delivery person. In my case, mine's excellent; knows where my house is; knows where to leave things; and is highly reliable at turning up at the time specified. The same applies to Royal Mail, so I actively welcome suppliers who use either of those. Conversely, the allegedly better couriers cannot be relied on to find my house and nor do they know where to leave things so I opt for the cheap, Evri/Royal Mail options for delivery rather than the 'next day / random courier' ones.

 

[Peter Salt]

I stopped using Wiggle because of the deliveries. Before they started using Evri, I made probably around 30 orders and never had an issue. After that, 2 of 3 orders got delayed - with the last one outright lost so I bought it somewhere else - it arrived a week later and I refused it.

Wiggle then got in touch and said I should have accepted it and then take it to the free return point. Told them it wasn't worth my time, just like their website.

 

[John Shingler]

the quality of Evri deliveries really does depend on your local delivery person.

I understand what you are saying but do you always get the local Evri person and are they directly involved in the online updates on the Evri tracker website. Also, I just want to get my purchases delivered efficiently. I don't want to get into the logistics of the process.

 

[Alex321]

It varies. I bought my bike in August last year from Cycle Revolution. I tend to head to Tredz first, bacause although they are owned by Halfords and are mainly an online retailer, they do also have two stores (Swansea and Cardiff) and the Cardiff one is only 10 minutes from my office on the bike.

But it does depend who has what I want in stock, and I have also bought from Merlin, Rutlands, SJS, and Wiggle at different times.

 

[Sea of vapours]

but do you always get the local Evri person and are they directly involved in the online updates

There's certainly only one regular delivery person, yes. He's only involved in updates once the package gets to him, so that means the 'Out for delivery' and 'Delivered' updates. I suspect, from numerious discussions on courier quality, that Evri is a very good option in rural areas, like mine, and a pretty poor one in urban areas where the turnover of delivery people is higher. Evri's backbone infrastructure, out to the local delivery people, usually seems to be pretty solid and predictable.

 

[wiggydiggy]

Amazon whenever I can because of the Prime delivery, lots of delivery options for when I'm out and free returns.

For bike repairs and servicing I use this shop in halifax who I've found to be generally pretty good value and straight with me for what the bikes actually need rather than what I think they need.

 

[slowmotion]

Ten years ago I used to use Chain Reaction and Wiggle but they seem to have gone "a bit Travis Perkins". I really rate Spa Cycles and have done for a long time.

 

[vickster]

Probably Merlin or Chain Reaction. I’ve also done a few click and collects with Balfes who happen to be my LBS, mainly for parts which they then fit!

 

[presta]

I've had something from most of them over the years, but the ones I recall using repeatedly were J.E.James in Rotherham (because they were post-free), and Rose Versand in Bocholt because there was big money to be saved. I first tried them in 2007 when Chris Juden recommended them because I was buying a front mech that Madison didn't import to the UK. I was upgrading the whole transmission from 8sp to 9sp, and at about two thirds the price of that in the UK it was alot of money saved. They used to send a free ~1000 page glossy colour catalogue every year too, if I were still cycling I'd be pretty hacked off that Brexit forced them to cease trading in the UK.

The guy in Colchester Cycles once had a snipe at me about buying online, so I went home and had a tot up. It turned out that at that time I had spent more on the High St. than online, and more in his shop than any other, bar the one where I'd bought the bike.

Names I recall using are:
Spa
Wiggle
Chain Reaction
Settle
SJSC
Surosa
Rutland
Tredz