Buying a bike online

gog555

I`m shopping for a new bike and currently struggling to find a bike I want in any of my LBS,
Starting to think about buying one online but i am a bit wary of this. As how do I make sure its the right bike for me.
Has anyone else purchased a bike online?? How did the buying process go and would you buy online again?
Also what would I do if i found it was the wrong size?

Wirral_paul

For a first bike especially, i'd say simply dont do it unless you know your sizes. If needs be then be prepared to travel to get the right bike. This forum is great for narrowing down what may suit you, but you'll never really find out without a test ride. Budget and intended use are the two main criteria. Simply sitting on a bike and getting the saddle height right is not enough, neither is simply stating your inside leg measurement. Travel to a shop who really know what they are doing and the investment in time / fuel will be worthwhile if you cant get the bike you want locally.

Where in the country are you??

lef

Alternatively get a good bike fit by a bike fit specialist. Any fitter worth their weight will be able to measure you up, check your flexibility and then advise the suitable size for a particular frame. Some have the retul units which allow then to replicate a given frame size. You can then have a follow up to get fitted to the bike once you have it. May seem expensive but in my view it's essential if you're thinking of any decent length rides. If you ask lots of questions you will learn plenty too.

As a starting point you could take a look at the link below but I wouldn't wholly rely on the output to make a purchase. http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CC ... ATOR_INTRO

Also be weary of taking a bike store assistant's suggestions as gospel, there are some who know very little about correct bike fit yet are suggesting frame sizes to customers.

smeev

Hi,

I recently brought a giant TCR 2 from wiggle with 38% off the list price (paid £640). The last road bike I'd brought (spesh allez) I had it fitted at my local LBS. I was venturing in the unknown when I brought it, but at the price I paid for it the pleasure of getting a good deal outweighed the initial problems with the potential purchase. When it arrived i just set it up & I was away. I already gave wiggle my leg measuments & they set it up for me. I suppose I have been lucky on my purchase & they are some really good deals at the moment, some too good to be passed.
You could purchase the bike online & then take to your LBS to get it correctly set up.
I would deffinately purchase another bike online.

Hope this helps

ilm_zero7

bought my last 2 bikes on line - no problem, but I knew exactly what I wanted and it wasnt available in the UK

ilm_zero7

try these two:
https://www.bikebuster.com/details/120930.html

http://www.salden.nl/default.asp?pid=52&catid=2908

neeb

If you already know your ideal setup and you completely understand bike geometry (e.g. it's amazing how many people don't know how seat tube angle and effective top tube length interact), then you can at least be sure of getting something that fits online. If not, then best go to a shop first. Even knowing the geometry it's always a bit of a gamble knowing how the thing will ride, although if you really do your research and read up on other people's impressions you can often get a pretty good idea. Also, obviously, you need to be reasonably confident with fettling (and have the tools) to set it up correctly and safely.

petemadoc

neeb wrote:

If you already know your ideal setup and you completely understand bike geometry (e.g. it's amazing how many people don't know how seat tube angle and effective top tube length interact), then you can at least be sure of getting something that fits online. If not, then best go to a shop first. Even knowing the geometry it's always a bit of a gamble knowing how the thing will ride, although if you really do your research and read up on other people's impressions you can often get a pretty good idea. Also, obviously, you need to be reasonably confident with fettling (and have the tools) to set it up correctly and safely.

+1 for this

You need to understand the bikes geometry and you need to have some mechanical knowledge if you're going to buy online.

ilm_zero7

not sure if I agree with all this 'you must know the geometry' stuff - i do only to the extent you need to know how supple you are, but if your normally proportioned, and fit then a 56 (large) fits most people in the 5'10''-6'0'' bracket. the saddle moves up down, back forward, stems and stacks can change to accommodate the individual - so where is the risk?

True i sat on my first one - but have mail or pre-ordered from an LBS every bike since - as the last 2 total in excess of £10k you would risk that if it might not fit would you?

neeb

ILM Zero7 wrote:

not sure if I agree with all this 'you must know the geometry' stuff - i do only to the extent you need to know how supple you are, but if your normally proportioned, and fit then a 56 (large) fits most people in the 5'10''-6'0'' bracket. the saddle moves up down, back forward, stems and stacks can change to accommodate the individual - so where is the risk?

True i sat on my first one - but have mail or pre-ordered from an LBS every bike since - as the last 2 total in excess of £10k you would risk that if it might not fit would you?

Assuming you don't want odd handling, you probably want to use a stem length between 100mm and 130mm. It's quite easy to end up needing something outside of that range if you get the wrong frame size, and I'm sure there are so-called "56" frames that differ by more than 2-3cm in effective reach. Horizontal saddle position is determined in relation to the bottom bracket (for pedalling efficiency) so you shouldn't use that to change reach. It's also easy to end up with a too tall headtube or to require unhealthy (and ugly!) numbers of spacers.

Wirral_paul

ILM Zero7 wrote:

not sure if I agree with all this 'you must know the geometry' stuff - i do only to the extent you need to know how supple you are, but if your normally proportioned, and fit then a 56 (large) fits most people in the 5'10''-6'0'' bracket. the saddle moves up down, back forward, stems and stacks can change to accommodate the individual - so where is the risk?

As Neeb says above though - its the reach (via the effective top tube length) that should be the first consideration, in conjunction with the head tube length. Saddle height could be set at the correct height on 3 or 4 different frame sizes i'm sure, but only a correctly sized frame will then put the reach in the right range with a "normal" length stem / bar height right without a huge stack of spacers or worse, too high, and even then it may come down to two sizes that would suit when properly set up. Two people of say 6ft may have totally different proportions between inside leg, torso length etc - so they possibly wont ride the same frame. Whilst clearly not as bad, buying a bike based on seat tube length is almost as bad as buying a road bike based on standover height

For most of us here, a bike is a very large investment so best to get it right. There's too many stories of people buying the wrong sized bike and given that correct sizing is the number one priority so often advised - is it worth the risk of a newbie to road cycling getting it wrong?

BrianTrousers

Agreed. If you know what you're doing it's ok but if you don't it's not. (Apologies for a bleeding obvious reply).

Whilst you can adjust reach by swapping out the stem size, that's feasible as long as you've bought the correct frame in the first place. Oddly though, I went over to Merlin Cycles in Chorley before I bought my Malt 4 (that's an MTB, I know I'm on the road forum) and the guy there was adamant I needed a 17" frame based on standover height. I'm 6'2" and thought this was a bit strange and the bike felt cramped. After I thought about this and went home, I called back Merlin and spoke to a different person there who couldn't understand this and recommended I bought a 19" which I did, by mail order, and it was perfect. The irony being that, had I not have visited the shop, I'd have bought a 19" anyway.

Rambled a bit there and lost what my point was. I think it's probably that you need to be absolutely sure of your geometry and, like the other posters have already said, get this sorted by having a bike fit or sitting on a few and then you can use those experiences as a guide to buy online if you wish.

BrianTrousers

Forgot to add in answer to another one of your questions, I have bought three bikes online from Planet X, Merlin and Pedalon. All three of those experiences were top drawer and all the companies were great to deal with and really helpful over the phone and by email.