Wiggle/CRC - are forumites still using them?

daniel_b

Afternoon all,

ventured on to the CRC site for the first time in quite a while, and it appears to be unrecognisable.

You can't sort things by 'biggest discount' anymore for starters, but it all looks to be a bit of a dogs dinner.

I left within minutes, having found nothing, which is good for my wallet of course :-)

I guess for me, it will mainly be Sigma, Merlin, Alpinetrek and Lordgun.
Interestingly, despite it being announced PBK were closing back in April, they still appear to be trading.

What are others people thoughts, am I being too hasty?

super_davo

daniel_b said:

Afternoon all,

ventured on to the CRC site for the first time in quite a while, and it appears to be unrecognisable.

You can't sort things by 'biggest discount' anymore for starters, but it all looks to be a bit of a dogs dinner.

I left within minutes, having found nothing, which is good for my wallet of course :-)

I guess for me, it will mainly be Sigma, Merlin, Alpinetrek and Lordgun.
Interestingly, despite it being announced PBK were closing back in April, they still appear to be trading.

What are others people thoughts, am I being too hasty?

I still use them, because their DHB, Prime and Lifeline brands are great (and Fohn for civvy clothing).

However the web redesign is terrible, so much worse than before. Can only assume they changed IT providers - there would be no other reason to change to something so obviously inferior.

My trick is to search using Bikesy.com, you can sort by discount there, and it shows sizes available etc. It hunts across all the big shops, but if you search for DHB, Prime etc. it will only bring up Wiggle/CRC.

verylonglegs

I use them a lot less these days as they don't compete that well on price anymore. I'm talking about discount mostly, for example if Merlin are offering a jersey at around 50% off then I was finding Wiggle would have the same one but at around 30% off.

hpaul

The crowd that bought Evans now own pbk kit I think.

As for the other it totally depends what your after. If I was in the market for a turbo I'd be buying from wiggle/CRC because they have it at £480.

daniel_b

hpaul said:

The crowd that bought Evans now own pbk kit I think.

As for the other it totally depends what your after. If I was in the market for a turbo I'd be buying from wiggle/CRC because they have it at £480.

oh wow, I hope not, ashley (sports direct) bought evans, and google still seems to think pbk is owned by the hut group - if he did buy them, then I wouldn't be shopping with them any longer.

EDIT: oh censored, your right it would seem, or that was the plan:
https://road.cc/content/news/probikekit-be-bought-mike-ashleys-frasers-group-301415

Censoredy censored.
Only censored confirmed in July
https://www.business-live.co.uk/retail-consumer/thg-sells-division-mike-ashleys-27365740

MidlandsGrimpeur2

Agree, the website is terrible in terms of functionality, and looks like some kind of lifestyle/wellness blog!

I still buy small parts and cleaning bits like Morgan Blue. Delivery is still quick and no issues with this side of things.

As @verylonglegs says, they don't offer anything like the discounts of old (although most online retailers are similar IME) so unlikely I will ever order any big ticket item from them in future.

Tend to use Merlin, Tredz, Tweeks and Sigma nowadays.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

I've used wiggle and CRC far less over the past ~5 years, about the only recent exception would be my bargain Lezyne Super Pro GPS for £27 a few months ago.

Not used Planet X, ProBikeKit or Halfords much in the past few years either.

All about Merlin and Sigma for me these days, albeit I'm trying not to spend much besides consumables (chains, cassettes, disc pads, tyres).

wobblebob

Still use them a lot here. Obviously not a regular purchase but some of the Vitus bikes are great value. My SRAM rival AXS CX bike was 2k, didn't think I was going to get anywhere near electronic shifting for that budget

daniel_b

I had been using pbk up until the spring, they often had good deals on GP5000s and my favourite clothing brand Ale, no longer though, which is good for my wallet.

On the plus side, more and more EU suppliers are setting up warehouses/shipping channels so that there is no extra fees, and even in some instances free returns, which is a huge rarity (Rapha is the only one I can think of) in the current climate.
Quite often, even if you have to pay postage, the complete price is less than that from a uk supplier.

Agreed on PX and Halfords though, I VERY rarely use them, don't think I have ordered anything from PX in many years, and Halfords is a very rare visit indeed, the odd innertube, and they did have the 4iiii cranks and Varia rear lights on offer a couple of years back - but now I'm pretty sure I read that my works discount chargeable card is no longer available either, which did save me 8% or something, so becoming less appealing by the day, and you can never use your bc discount on tech either.

Although I am sad to have less choice, with evans and pbk being struck off my list, it is better for my wallet, so on a personal level, I'm going to look on the positive side.

Deffo Merlin and Sigma, I would imagine their market share must have gone up significantly.
Good shout on tweeks, have often found items on there, and must have ordered something from them in the past, but can't recall a specific item currently.
IIRC they are part of the automotive Demon Tweeks site, but sometimes have some good Castelli bargains.

Speaking of which, if anyone remembers Castelli Cafe, the replacement Saddleback store has some decent deals right now.

oxoman said:

Mike Ashley has affectively retired from the day to day stuff, yes he's the biggest shareholder but he's got others to do his bidding now. Another place to try is Swinnertons they seem to be able to compete competitively.

I'm sure he is more than rich enough to retire, but I dare say his methods still prevail, he'll have chosen the underlings with a great degree of care I have no doubt.

Good shout on Swinnertons, have seen their site before.
I've also seen https://certini.co.uk/ given a shout out recently as well.

I'd also give more than a nod to:

https://runandride.co.uk/
They sell a lot of Scott stuff to - as do Startfitness actually, though they tend to be a bit slow with getting the latest stock - if indeed they still are.
https://balfesbikes.co.uk/ were phenomenal in level of service at getting me my C2W bike last year, best customer service I have ever had.

EU sites, these are my faves:
https://lordgunbicycles.co.uk/
https://alpinetrek.co.uk/
https://mantel.com/uk

Apologies, this wasn't meant to become a what sites do you recommend post

First.Aspect

There's no silver bullet. Different vendors shift different stock at different times at different discounts. Google shopping and a quick look on eBay (where many of the retailers have outlets anyway) is the way to go.

Daft to take some sort of moral stance against a particular owner if they happen to be cheapest.

commuterlegs

I still use Wiggle occasionally because I paid for free next day delivery a few months ago so useful for that. But I fully agree that the redesign of the website/app is atrocious. They've taken out so much functionality it's almost impossible to search for some things. Plus, they lost all the previous orders in the transition so if you didn't keep the emails then you have no idea what part you ordered last time to replace.

Absolute shambles. I've definitely bought more from Merlin / others over the last 6 months when I've pretty much been 90% Wiggle for 10+ years.

daniel_b

First.Aspect said:

Daft to take some sort of moral stance against a particular owner if they happen to be cheapest.

We'll have to agree to disagree there, I avoid wetherspoons for the same reason.

I won't knowingly support someone's business that is widely perceived to mistreat their staff, and or have questionable customer service.

Additionally if the entire population ALWAYS bought the cheapest, in time there would be no independent shops or retailers of any kind left - I for one do not want that.

Not for a second saying other people should do the same, but it's obviously my choice to make, and I don't perceive it as daft, rather an informed decision.

commuterlegs said:

I still use Wiggle occasionally because I paid for free next day delivery a few months ago so useful for that. But I fully agree that the redesign of the website/app is atrocious. They've taken out so much functionality it's almost impossible to search for some things. Plus, they lost all the previous orders in the transition so if you didn't keep the emails then you have no idea what part you ordered last time to replace.

Absolute shambles. I've definitely bought more from Merlin / others over the last 6 months when I've pretty much been 90% Wiggle for 10+ years.

Good shout, I paid for that prior to the website update, so probably nearly expired anyway - IIRC it has also now gone up from £9.99 to £14.99.

Yes that was a pain with the orders, I'd often look back to see what I had bought in the past, and due to my 25 year old hotmail becoming full, I have also purged 90% of my e-mails, and yes they are mostly gone.

akh

I still use Wiggle a fair bit. I agree the redesign is terrible, but it's still nicer than the eye searing blue of CRC's website. As far as I can tell, Wiggle and CRC share the exact same stock and prices despite maintaining separate websites.

Wiggle are still attractive for a year's next day DPD for £15, and their loyalty discount can often tip the price in their favour compared to Sigma. Merlin are decent but quite a few of the components they sell seem to be OEM, which I think is a bit cheeky if it's not declared. Sigma are pretty good and the fact they have working stock notifications (Wiggle lost the feature a while ago!) is really handy with current availability being patchy.

daniel_b

In the recent past (Post merger) often CRC and Wiggle would have different prices for the very same item, or sometimes show stock in one size colour on one site, but not the other - fairly odd, so always paid to check.
Noticed the stock alert thing had gone, bonkers, as surely that would just generate more business - I used it plenty of times, and still do with Merlin.

I'd suggest you all check Topcashback, as often the likes of Merlin and Sigma have much higher cashback rates than wiggle/crc which are often 1%.
If you are buying a more pricey item, can often make quite a big difference.

EDIT: Just checked, and rates have swapped around.
Wiggle @ 5%, CRC @ 6%, Merlin @ 3.15% and Sigma down @ 1%!

bobones

I hated the new Wiggle site at first but you soon get used to it. Nowhere near as big a faux pas as the changes to this forum, which have more or less killed it. (Having to type out HTML syntax to embed links is progress how?). Anyway, there are still some cracking deals at Wiggle from time to time and next day DPD for £15 a year is much better than Merlin and Sigma's shipping setup. I also like my seemingly permanent 12% loyalty discount, while Sigma have just ditched there's I believe. Thanks for the Topcashback tip - no idea why I didn't sign up for this years ago!

daniel_b

bobones said:

Thanks for the Topcashback tip - no idea why I didn't sign up for this years ago!

I won't divulge how much cashback I have had over the years

webboo

daniel_b said:

bobones said:

Thanks for the Topcashback tip - no idea why I didn't sign up for this years ago!

I won't divulge how much cashback I have had over the years

Is a case of telling the missus that you saved so much, you virtually get stuff for free.😂

me-109

Tend to use various eBay sellers for consumables like chains and cassettes, often sourcing take-off cassettes in pristine condition at reasonable prices, although that's got more difficult post-pandemic.

Westbrook's are one of my go-to sites, partly because they are local to me so I can try on or go and buy in store. NRG are another local store I've used.

To be honest there isn't that much I need to buy these days. I did get some bits from PX earlier this year that I now need to move on because I then bought a Pro Carbon from them. A shade under 2k for full Force 22 and 45mm carbons.

More recently I did grab a Kickr from the Wiggle sale, and I've got some socks and baselayers too, but it was probably a year since my last order with them.

plymouthsteve

Merlin, Sigma and Certini.co.uk for me.
Merlin are crazy cheap on Castelli. Sigma for general bits and pieces, and Certini.co.uk for anything Specialized plus the occasional bigger purchase such as groupset or wheels.
Used Wiggle.co.uk and CRC in the past but site is too much like hard work, and when I did persevere just a few weeks ago, they cancelled my order and refunded the money because one of the four items was out of stock.

webboo

Just ordered something from Wiggle. It took a couple of minutes and seemed very easy, not really sure what people are struggling with.
Watch it not turn up now🤣

pangolin

Yeah I have used them a couple of times recently for some dhb kit without issue.

Three redesign is certainly very inclusive!

webboo

My saddle ordered Saturday came today Monday. I just used the free postage and said it would be here by Wednesday and there was some Haribo.
What’s the world coming to.😉

secretsam

I really, really hate the new Wiggle website. The functionality has gone. Just awful.
I think the competition has caught up.

rick_chasey

I have had some great success on Vinted fwiw.

Brand new with tags maybe 70%-80% below RRP

daniel_b

rick_chasey said:

I have had some great success on Vinted fwiw.

Brand new with tags maybe 70%-80% below RRP

Never even considered looking on Vinted for cycling kit.

I guess there is a chance people could be buying the cheap fake kit and passing it off as genuine though. No different to ebay I grant you.

rick_chasey

daniel_b said:

rick_chasey said:

I have had some great success on Vinted fwiw.

Brand new with tags maybe 70%-80% below RRP

Never even considered looking on Vinted for cycling kit.

I guess there is a chance people could be buying the cheap fake kit and passing it off as genuine though. No different to ebay I grant you.

Not a Vinted salesperson but their “buyer protection “ is pretty good - includes knock offs.

shirley_basso

My wife uses Vinted a lot to buy and sell. Zero issues. Postage cheaper than eBay as well by about £1 per item. Does work better if you're more city based so you can use all the postage options.

bobones

Just as I am about to make a significant purchase, Wiggle's Topcashback rate is down from 5 to 1.05%

N0bodyOfTheGoat

bobones said:

Just as I am about to make a significant purchase, Wiggle's Topcashback rate is down from 5 to 1.05%

Today there is £2 bonus for £5+ spend via Topcashback (needs activating), plus Quidco are doing "double cashback."

daniel_b

bobones said:

Just as I am about to make a significant purchase, Wiggle's Topcashback rate is down from 5 to 1.05%

Yep saw that, think the ~5% was a bit of anomaly, is pretty much always 1%, but yes agreed, a pain if you were going to make a big purchase.

N0bodyOfTheGoat said:

bobones said:

Just as I am about to make a significant purchase, Wiggle's Topcashback rate is down from 5 to 1.05%

Today there is £2 bonus for £5+ spend via Topcashback (needs activating), plus Quidco are doing "double cashback."

Saw that this morning, just made a purchase yesterday

I have noticed if you make a purchase, and then see the bonus is for the same day, as long as you activate it on time during the day (After the purchase or not), it does track and add the extra bonus amount.

huret

Prophetic comments given the recent news.
https://www.cyclingelectric.com/news/wiggle-crc-administration-signa-sports-united