buying a bike from Chain Reaction Cycles

Roc1
Roc1 Posts: 30
edited February 2014 in Road buying advice
About to push the button on a bike from these guys but have read some shocking reviews online (trustpilot etc) about them. Surprised at this as thought they were decent. Has anyone ordered a bike from them recently? Would be interested to hear how it went and if it arrived all built properly etc.

Thanks!

Comments

  • desweller
    desweller Posts: 5,175
    Shouldn't think it'll be fully built when it shows up - simply not practical to box up a bike without involving some disassembly.

    The only bike I've ever bought from them was a BeOne, way back in 2009. Didn't need much - stem and bars needed mounting, straighten out the mechs, fit the cables, wheels, pump up the tyres and done.
    - - - - - - - - - -
    On Strava.{/url}
  • NeXXus
    NeXXus Posts: 854
    Ive bought 3 bikes from CRC. They come in massive boxes with both wheels on, all you need to do is turn the bars and cut the packing off the frame.
    And the people bowed and prayed, to the neon god they made.
  • richk
    richk Posts: 564
    I bought a BeOne from them which needed a little more assembly. Notably, none of the cables were fitted or cut to length along with the more usual move handlebars, fit wheels, pedals etc.
    There is no secret ingredient...
  • Bozman
    Bozman Posts: 2,518
    NeXXus wrote:
    Ive bought 3 bikes from CRC. They come in massive boxes with both wheels on, all you need to do is turn the bars and cut the packing off the frame.

    +1. A mate bought a Ridley in September and he asked me to pop round to assemble it..........the bars needed turning, the gears and brakes were set up fine, all that needed sorting out was the saddle height.
  • stabilised
    stabilised Posts: 70
    I bought a Cube Agree GTC Pro just before Christmas. It came pretty much fully assembled - straighten the bars was all that was obviously required. The gear adjustment was spot on, brake and gear cable ends neatly trimmed and there was even the right pressure in the tyres. Some attention to detail wasn't perfect, though. The handlebar tape wasn't evenly wound (different number of turns on either side, some clumsy overlapping) and the brake set-up was poor. The adjusters had been wound right in and clearance on the rims achieved by undoing the quick release (Shimano calipers). When I closed the quick release, the brakes rubbed and there was no way to loosen them off except by undoing the nut holding the cable to let a little slide through and allow the caliper to open a bit further.

    So, a couple of irritations, but fairly minor ones. Re-setting the brakes was a 5 minute job and whilst the bar tape is irksome, I am not so pedantic as to have taken it off. When I re-tape the bars when the tape gets too tatty I will make a significantly better job of it! They included a multi-tool and a pedal spanner, too, so you can do what is needed with what they send, even if you owned absolutely no tools at all.

    Major things were all fine, though. I would buy another bike from them. Getting the enormous box squashed enough to fit into our recycling bin took longer than sorting the bike.
  • dwanes
    dwanes Posts: 954
    If I always took note of internet review sites I don't think i would ever buy from the internet again. I certainly wouldn't go on holiday again after looking on Tripadvisor for instance.

    Chain Reaction are one of the good guys out there, I wouldn't worry.

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