Where to Buy Your Next Bicycle – Direct or via a Bike Shop

Over the last few quarters I have published a bunch of articles covering various aspects of the bicycle buying process.  In many cases newcomers to the sport are overwhelmed by the number of choices of brands and bke types – so these articles have added at least some help.  Here is a short listing of those:

Now, in this article I would like to discuss briefly what are your options for picking up a bike — and whether you should buy one direct from a manufacturer or get the help and expertise of your local bike shop…

Well, the reality is that you will have to decide by yourself and that decision will most likely be based on your mechanical abilities.  The bicycle you would buy direct — for example, I just added a new listing to the database of mountain bikes on this blog – Airborne Bikes – will require you to make the adjustments for your hight and body type by yourself.  You will most likely need to have access to some replacement parts – like the stem for the handlebars, the seat post, the seat itself, pedals, as the ones you would get from the manufacturer may not fit you best. 

In the case of the direct order option, most of the manufacturers will work with you via phone, email or by offering sizing charts on their Web site, to help you decide on the size of frame for your bike.  With respect to the assembly process, many of the subsystems for your new bike will come assembled, but you still will be required to tune and adjust the final assembly.  

So as you can see – the process requires you to do some work!  

Of course your alternative is very simple — just find the store in your vicinity that carries the type and brand of bikes you would like to test and buy.  Most of these stores will help you decide on what particular bike will fit you best and after you make your selection — they will tune / custom fit the bike to you.   This is a very important procedure for most of us as it will help you avoid significant future strain and pain !!! 

 

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