Buying bike from wiggle.co.uk ??

DogSlySmile

Hey,

Im in the market for a new road bike and Ive been doing most of my searching on the net. I was planning on heading out to cyclesuperstore during the week to get sized for a bike and maybe buy one there and then. My budget for the new bike is around €1000. Ive been cycling for years but I dont know that much about bikes...

I found this deal on wiggle last night:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/raleigh-avanti-carbon-comp-2010/

It seems like a really good deal, I'd be getting a bike in my budget that costs about €2000 Happy days!

So has anyone any experience of buying bikes from online shops such as wiggle?? Or would people recommend I just go down the traditional buying-from-a-shop route??

Thanks for any help!

DogSlySmile

Vélo

I've bought a few bikes from Wiggle and they're great to deal with. If you order the bike you should have it within the week.

One thing to be careful of is the correct size bike. When I bought my 1st road bike they had an offer just like your getting. I couldn't say no but after getting it I was never happy with the size. I knew nothing about geometry and it was the reach that I was never comfortable with.

If you're sure of the size you need, I'd say go ahead and buy from them.

Paul Kiernan

That bike is a fairly good deal but there are are probably better bikes at similiar prices available online.

What would put me off that bike is the gearing, lowest is 39-25, which would leave me struggling on the hills:o. I'd prefer a compact chainset with 34 chainwheel.

I would be inclined to buy this for £360 with free forks, this for £324 (with 10% off) and spend another few hundred on a nice set of Pro-lite wheels and finishing kit.

buffalo

Vélo wrote: »

I've bought a few bikes from Wiggle and they're great to deal with. If you order the bike you should have it within the week.

One thing to be careful of is the correct size bike. When I bought my 1st road bike they had an offer just like your getting. I couldn't say no but after getting it I was never happy with the size. I knew nothing about geometry and it was the reach that I was never comfortable with.

If you're sure of the size you need, I'd say go ahead and buy from them.

I sized up in my LBS, and then gave them as much business as possible afterwards because I felt so guilty. The savings to be made on buying a bike online are incredible though.

DogSlySmile

Vélo wrote: »

One thing to be careful of is the correct size bike. When I bought my 1st road bike they had an offer just like your getting. I couldn't say no but after getting it I was never happy with the size. I knew nothing about geometry and it was the reach that I was never comfortable with.

If you're sure of the size you need, I'd say go ahead and buy from them.

Thanks for your help. Do you think it would be bad to head to a bike shop to get sized for a bike without buying anything??:P

Paul Kiernan wrote: »

I would be inclined to buy this for £360 with free forks, this for £324 (with 10% off) and spend another few hundred on a nice set of Pro-lite wheels and finishing kit.

Cheers, but this is the stuff I dont know about maybe a few years down the line when I know about what specs suit me I could "build" my own bike but for now I'll have to take one off the shelf!

Hats off to you though man!

Lemag

Paul Kiernan wrote: »

I would be inclined to buy this for £360 with free forks, this for £324 (with 10% off) and spend another few hundred on a nice set of Pro-lite wheels and finishing kit.

The OP would have very little left in their budget for wheels and finishing kit.

DogSlySmile wrote: »

I found this deal on wiggle last night:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/raleigh-avanti-carbon-comp-2010/

Looks like a pretty good deal to me. Size is very important though. The only thing comparible with this that I've seen would be the carbon bikes over on Ribble (It'll bring you slightly over your budget for 105 I think). It's been mentioned here that their shipping is very expensive. However, some boardsie posted here recently saying that they themselves organised a courier pick-up which greatly reduced this cost.

DogSlySmile

Lemag wrote: »

It's been mentioned here that their shipping is very expensive. However, some boardsie posted here recently saying that they themselves organised a courier pick-up which greatly reduced this cost.

Thanks for your help... Ribble deliver is about €145 :eek: :eek: :eek:

Paul Kiernan

Lemag wrote: »

The OP would have very little left in their budget for wheels and finishing kit.

The Raleigh works out at just over a grand sterling. The PX frame at £360+£15 delivery, the groupset at £325 and a set of the same RS20 wheels at £140 from CRC leaves £160 for finishing kit which should be enough? Mind you, it would cost maybe €80 to get the bike built or else you'd need to spend about €100 on tools to build it yourself. I think you'd have a better bike though?

eoghan84

I get stuff from Wiggle but a friend of mine ordered a bike from them. It was supposed to be green and it arrived in silver. A small detail you might say, but there was no telephone number provided to query the mistake with them. After several emails, they said that they were refund 10% of the purchase due to sending the wrong colour, but they never did refund this 10% to the credit card account. For that reason and the service provided I always take a good look at whats available in Chain Reaction Cycles before Wiggle.

Lemag

Paul Kiernan wrote: »

The Raleigh works out at just over a grand sterling. The PX frame at £360+£15 delivery, the groupset at £325 and a set of the same RS20 wheels at £140 from CRC leaves £160 for finishing kit which should be enough? Mind you, it would cost maybe €80 to get the bike built or else you'd need to spend about €100 on tools to build it yourself. I think you'd have a better bike though?

The frame does not include headset, seat clamp or front mech clamp.

To add further cost and complications regarding compatibility issues.

The claimed weight of the Raleigh is pretty decent and the spec is very good for the price. The only issue I'd consider if I were the OP would be the hills that I might be climbing (as you've pointed out) and it probably ought to go without saying at this stage (although Vélo mentioned it) the suitability of the size and geometry.

@ DogSlySmile I've never had an issues with Wiggle and I've bought bikes online elsewhere with little or no hassle. Wiggle are reputable so you should be grand.

Lemag

Lemag wrote: »

@ DogSlySmile I've never had an issues with Wiggle and I've bought bikes online elsewhere with little or no hassle. Wiggle are reputable so you should be grand.

eoghan84 wrote: »

I get stuff from Wiggle but a friend of mine ordered a bike from them. It was supposed to be green and it arrived in silver. A small detail you might say, but there was no telephone number provided to query the mistake with them. After several emails, they said that they were refund 10% of the purchase due to sending the wrong colour, but they never did refund this 10% to the credit card account. For that reason and the service provided I always take a good look at whats available in Chain Reaction Cycles before Wiggle.

D'oh! I haven't had any problems. You might though

C3PO

DogSlySmile wrote: »

Do you think it would be bad to head to a bike shop to get sized for a bike without buying anything??:P

What do you think? But anyway unless it's exactly the same bike that you're planning on buying it's probably a bit pointless .... a 54 from one manufacturer can be very different to one from another!

Lemag

Every frame model is different but if you feel like taking a punt you might as well take a somewhat educated one. I've found the bike fit calculator on competitivecyclist.com to be quite accurate and handy.

Lemag

DogSlySmile wrote: »

Thanks for your help... Ribble deliver is about €145 :eek: :eek: :eek:

The post I mentioned above can be read here.

Paul Kiernan

Short review of Ultegra equipped Avanti here. Also one of PX for comparision.

From the reviews it appears that the Avanti is a very rigid frame suited to racing while the PX is probably more suitable for sportive type riding.

DogSlySmile

Cheers for all your help Lemag! Im tryin the fit calculator out now

DogSlySmile

Hmmm... According to the fit calculator...

The Eddy Fit (cm)

---

Seat tube range c-c: 53.0 - 53.5
Seat tube range c-t: 54.6 - 55.1
Top tube length: 53.6 - 54.0
Stem Length: 10.1 - 10.7
BB-Saddle Position: 67.6 - 69.6
Saddle-Handlebar: 53.0 - 53.6
Saddle Setback: 5.6 - 6.0

...that raleigh bike http://www.wiggle.co.uk/raleigh-avanti-carbon-comp-2010/ might just be a bit too big for me? :mad:

Lemag

DogSlySmile wrote: »

might just be a bit too big for me? :mad:

You're probably right. No point in getting a bargain just for the sake of it. Go with the PX SL pro suggested by Paul Kiernan or build up a bike on the Ribble site. You could get a lovely Canyon with an Ultegra/105 mix for your budget although it won't be carbon. I have 2 Canyons and think that they are absolutely lovely.

There's also the option of going secondhand.. the adverts section here, adverts.ie, gumtree, donedeal, buy&sell,..

vertigo1976

I picked up a new Planet X SL pro from Planet X Ireland in Athlone last week.

A big plus for me was being able to see the bike in the flesh and getting fitted. Same price as online prices too but without the risk of getting the wrong size. Could be worth a look.

DogSlySmile

the PX SL is kinda pushing the limits budget-wise, at a stretch I suppose I could shell out for a boardman http://www.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_11101_catalogId_15551_productId_502001_langId_-1_categoryId_212536#dtab

vertigo1976

A mate of mine just picked up his PX SL pro for c.1250 (same as online price) with Sram Rival from the lads in Athlone. Mine has Sram Red (shifters & derailleurs) for a little bit more.

Paul Kiernan

Remember you can get 15% discount at Halfords with AXA voucher. Somebody posted a link a here a few days ago to print out voucher.

Are you buying on the bike to work scheme? If so, you can't buy secondhand or build up yourself. What type of cycling will you be doing?

There's no doubt that Avanti is a very well specced bike for the money. Note, it's got the old 5600 105 on it, not the newer 5700 (I think the 5600 is better but most people wouldn't agree with me:pac:).

DogSlySmile

Paul Kiernan wrote: »

What type of cycling will you be doing?

Mostly getting to/from work but I have 6 duathlon/triathlons lined up over the coming months. The races are the main reason Im after a new bike

Lemag

DogSlySmile wrote: »

Mostly getting to/from work but I have 6 duathlon/triathlons lined up over the coming months. The races are the main reason Im after a new bike

This and you could keep commuting to and from work with your current bike.

Ryath

Lemag wrote: »

This and you could keep commuting to and from work with your current bike.

Only problem is that sale price is only on an XL frame.

Will second the Planet X Sl Pro got one myself in Athlone a few months ago. If I was going for aluminium I would get for the Canyon . Both really are about the best value you can get in carbon and aluminium frames respectively .