Buying wheels from Europe

Cubic

Hi,

I'm going to upgrade my wheelset soon and I've noticed that some shops on the continent are a fair bit cheaper than in the UK.

The ones I've looked at so far are: http://www.salden.nl, http://www.bike-components.de/, http://www.jedi-sports.de and http://www.bike-discount.de/

Salden seems the cheapest for what I want.

Has anyone ordered from one of these shops and had things delivered to the UK? Did it go ok? Would you recommend it?

Are there any other shops I should take a look at too?

Thanks.

ugo.santalucia

I did buy from bike discount, no problem at all.
Same rules in terms of warranty apply as for UK purchases. If the difference is small (+ - 10%), I still prefer to buy from a UK retailer, at least there are UK jobs involved, but if the difference is great, than it doesn't make sense.

Cubic

Thanks.

I agree, I would usually prefer to buy from a UK shop, but the wheels I'm after are about £200 cheaper in Europe than from Wiggle/CRC and about £300 cheaper than from my lbs. So, in this case, buying from abroad makes good sense to me.

nochekmate

ugo.santalucia wrote:

I did buy from bike discount, no problem at all.
Same rules in terms of warranty apply as for UK purchases. If the difference is small (+ - 10%), I still prefer to buy from a UK retailer, at least there are UK jobs involved, but if the difference is great, than it doesn't make sense.

Used these guys too! Service first class IME.

Monty Dog

Jedi Sports are another reputable dealer too.
Any company that seeks to charge a premium for their warranty doesn't get my business - companies that make a big play about their warranties IME are often the ones with a litany of product quality problems. Properly designed and made products simply don't break IME.

tompo

I ordered a set of 2012 Fulcrum Racing 5 wheels from Math Salden last Thursday evening.

They were delivered yesterday.

I paid €169 (including delivery) which worked out at £148. Ribble are doing same wheels for £167 + £9.50 for delivery. CRC are doing the 2011 version for £199.

I had a couple of queries which were dealt with very promptly and efficiently by e-mail.

Would highly recommend.

Cubic

Thanks. I ordered some wheels and tyres from Bike-Discount.de last Thursday too. Delivery was included. They should hopefully arrive today or tomorrow according to the online tracking. Finger crossed!!!