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THE BEST ONLINE BIKE STORE RANKINGS

Of the nearly 100 stores I track, I rank Competitive Cyclist, BTD (BikeTiresDirect), Tredz, Merlin Cycles, and Bike24 as the best online bike stores for road and gravel cycling enthusiasts based on their prices, selection, customer satisfaction, and support.

Shopping at an online bike store saves time and money and provides the kind of product selection, delivery speed, and user experience many local bike shops can’t compete with.


I shop for bike gear. A lot. Bikes, wheels, components, bibs and jerseys, helmets, shoes, power meters, and all sorts of tires, cassettes, tools, and bike food are on my shopping list for new reviews and to keep me and my test bikes dialed in.

Fortunately, most of my shopping is done at one online bike store or another. Otherwise, I’d be spending a lot of time driving to bike shops within 50 miles of where I live. I could bike to them, look at all their bike gear, buy a few things, and strap them to my bike for the ride home. I could also hang out at their coffee bars, talking about cycling with the salespeople, mechanics, and other customers. But then, I’d never have time to write up new reviews.

Wait a minute; that sounds pretty good!


RELATED:

HOW AND WHERE TO BUY BIKES ONLINE

 


Since I have a family that I also like to spend time with and a budget that I need to keep to, shopping at an online bike store and buying bike parts online is usually my most time-efficient and cost-effective option. When I shop online, I can usually find the best prices on the range of enthusiast-level bike gear I evaluate for the In The Know Cycling reviews.

And if I go to the right online bike shop, I’ll get the kind of shopping experience that most bike shops just can’t deliver – from detailed product information to easy ordering of the bike gear I want that’s already in stock to fast shipping of authorized dealer products to great after-sales service.

The problem I run into, and I imagine you do too, is that there are soooo many bike stores out there selling bike gear and bike parts online, a lot of them you may have never heard of and those you may hear of for the first time when you do a product search. It can be hard to figure out which stores can be trusted, and which have the best prices, selection, and most satisfied customers.

The bottom line is it’s hard to know which are the best stores to buy from.

Fortunately, because I shop for bike gear and bike parts online a lot, I’ve been building this experience over the years. I follow prices closely across many online stores. I also get a good idea of the range of bike gear they carry and keep in inventory and periodically check into what their customers say about them from independent services that rate each store’s customer satisfaction.

To share what I’ve learned, I’ve reviewed and rated nearly 100 online bike stores and ranked the ones I recommend you shop at. They are based on prices, customer satisfaction, product selection, and reader support.

These ratings are data-supported, analytically developed, and only compare online bike shops that serve road and gravel cycling enthusiasts, those of us who are regular, committed riders who are serious and knowledgeable about the bike gear we buy. I update this review and ranking every quarter.

Here are my latest rankings:

ONLINE BIKE STORE RANKINGS

RankStorePriceSatisfactionSelectionSupportModelHQ
1Competitive Cyclist2222ServiceUS
2BTD (BikeTiresDirect)2222SuperstoreUS
3Merlin Cycles2222SuperstoreUK
4Bike242220SuperstoreDE
5Tredz Limited (2)2212ExtensionUK
6Mantel (3)2210SuperstoreUK/NL
7Slane Cycles2210ExtensionUK
8FuturumShop (7)2210SuperstoreNL
9Performance Bicycle1221DiscounterUS
10Bike-Components1221DiscounterDE
11Sigma Sports1221ExtensionUK
12Bikebug1220DiscounterAU
13JeJames (2)1220ExtensionUK
14Planet Cyclery1212ExtensionUS
15JensonUSA1211DiscounterUS
16Leisure Lakes Bikes (2)1211ChainUK
17Tweeks Cycles1211DiscounterUK
18Pedal Revolution (2)1210ExtensionUK
1912GoBiking (6)1210ExtensionNL
20Starbike1110SuperstoreDE
21Tree Fort Bikes (1)1110DiscounterUS
22Hargroves Cycles1110ChainUK
23Brands Cycle & Fitness1110ExtensionUS
24Pro Bike Supply1110DiscounterUS
Source: In The Know Cycling, February 9, 2023

Unless noted, stores listed above ship internationally. 
Exceptions:
(1) Ships only to US and Canadian residents 
(2) Ships only to UK residents 
(3) Ships only to UK and European residents  
(4) Don't ship to UK and European residents
(5) Ships only to European residents
(6) Ships only to Netherlands and Belgium
(7) Don't ship to US and Canadian residents

In The Know Cycling is ad-free, subscription-free, and reader-supported. If you want to help keep it rolling without any added cost to you, buy your gear and kit after clicking the store links on the site. When you do, we may earn an affiliate commission that will help me cover the expenses to create and publish our independent, comprehensive and comparative reviews. Thank you, Steve. Learn more.

If you don’t see an online bike shop you know or have heard of on the list, it likely didn’t make the cut. About 2/3rds of the stores I track don’t usually because their product selection is limited or their customer satisfaction ratings are meh or worse.

A full explanation of how I came up with this ‘Best’ list, what the ratings mean, and the names and reasons why those who didn’t make the list follows.


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ONLINE BIKE STORE RATING CATEGORIES

Based on all I’ve learned from reading your comments and reviewing the results of an opinion poll I’ve run on the site about online stores, I developed four basic criteria about what matters to you to rate each online bike store – Price, Satisfaction, Selection, and Support.  Here’s an explanation of each and how I came up with the 0, 1, and 2 scores you see in the ratings above.

Price

We want to buy bike gear at stores with the lowest net price.  The net price includes the product’s base price, additional shipping costs if the online bike shop charges them, and any taxes included in the price.

The stores are rated on Net Price as follows:

0 – Limited discount.  Net prices are usually the same or within 10% of the price recommended by the company that sells the product.  This price is often called the MSRP (manufacturer’s suggested retail price) or RRP (recommended retail price).  In the US, this is often also called the MAP, or minimum advertised price, the price at which stores agree to advertise the product or risk voiding the agreement to sell the company’s line of products. MAP is legal in the US but not Europe and most other countries.

1 – Modest discount.  Net prices across many current model year products are typically 10% to 20% off the MSRP/RRP

2 – Deep discount.  Net prices across many current model year products are typically 15% to 40% off the MSRP/RRP

Sales and value-added taxes are added depending on where you are having the product shipped, so while they add to the net price, they aren’t different from one store to the next.

Many readers also ask about the import costs of buying at a UK and EU-based online store and shipping it to the US, Canada, or another non-EU country. You want to know the net price of something you buy at the EU-based online store versus what it would cost you if you bought it at an online or physical store in your country.

First, because customs services rather than stores impose import fees, it’s not something I can use to compare stores. Second, because each country imposes import duties and taxes differently, at different rates, only above a certain declared product value, and irregularly or infrequently, it is difficult to include import charges in a rating system, even when comparing stores based in one country versus another.

However, importing bike gear can be part of what it costs you to buy from a specific store, so it’s worth digging into it so you know what it might cost you.

First, the better online bike stores and places to buy bike parts work with shippers who have figured out how to work with customs to minimize or avoid charges. For example, some stores will break up sales and shipments of high-priced items (like your front and rear wheels) or declare shipment values below the level that triggers customs involvement. You can do this yourself by keeping the total invoice on the items you purchase on any order below the amount that will trigger import charges.

Also, some stores use shippers with processes that move their packages through the system without interruption. Living in the US, I have only ever had one package come from overseas charged by customs. I stopped using that store!

Second, if you are concerned that you’ll end up paying more from an online store if your package does get stopped and charged, you can do a basic calculation to determine if you are better off buying from a store in your home country. Add the cost of getting charged by customs to the net price of the product and compare it to the net price of buying it at an online store or bike shop in your home country.

Here’s an example. Say you live in the United States like I do and want to buy a wheelset that retails for $1200 at a local bike shop in the US. Let’s say the same wheelset sells for $1000, including delivery from an online store in the UK, a discount level typical of the difference between a local bike shop in the US and an online store in the UK.

If the wheelset from the UK store were to be stopped by customs, it would run about 11% more when you figure in the import duty and handling fee. My net cost then comes to $1110 from the UK store. I’d pay $1260 at the bike shop, including a 5% state sales tax.

Depending on your state, US online stores may or may not charge sales tax for goods delivered to you. Their pricing, selection, and service are often better than local bike shops. So for this same wheelset, it is worth comparing the cost of buying it from a US online store versus the customs imposed charges of a UK store.

Effective 2016, US Customs raised the value of goods you can import into the country to $800 without being subject to charges. Now, you won’t have to worry about import charges for anything you buy below that amount.

Satisfaction

At a minimum, we want online bike shops that we can trust and aren’t taking a risk buying from. Ideally, we want stores that will provide an excellent customer experience from the moment we click onto their site and through every step in the buying experience – learn about, order, deliver, and stand behind a product.

Treat us the way we would expect to treat ourselves. Nothing less. We’ve got our riding to focus on and want an outstanding, hassle-free store experience.

The stores are rated on Customer Satisfaction as follows:

0 – Unacceptable/Unknown. Despite price or other factors that may initially attract you to a store, you run too high a risk of being dissatisfied shopping at a store with this rating. On average, customers rate the store less than 4 out of 5 stars meaning they’ve racked up a fair amount of average, poor, or bad ratings, or there is not enough customer satisfaction data available on this store to reach any conclusion about it.

1 – Very Satisfied. While there may be a few aspects of the shopping experience that didn’t thrill some customers, they rate the shopping experience very highly overall with at least a 4 out of 5-star rating.

2 – Overwhelmingly Satisfied. These are stores that the overwhelming number of customers rate very highly and would have no reservations recommending to anyone. A high 4-star rating is typical of these stores and less than 10% of their customers have called them average or worse. 

If the online bike shop rates a 0, it doesn’t appear in my rankings. I haven’t recommended it and won’t link to it on the site. You may think I’m setting the bar high for customer satisfaction. You’re right. There are too many online stores with great prices and very satisfied customers to mess with those that are only average or good at best.

Several stores that rate 0 don’t systematically poll their customers, don’t use one of the independent services, or don’t have enough feedback to conclude you should or shouldn’t shop there. That tells me that customer satisfaction or transparency about how satisfied their customers are isn’t high on their list of what’s important to them. That crosses them off my list of stores I want to shop at.

Here are the stores I’ve rated 0 because there’s no or too little feedback about them from independent services:  Amain Cycling, BicycleBuys, BicycleWarehouse, BikeBling, BikeExchange, Bikesale.com, BikeSomewhere, Bob’s Bicycles, Canada Bicycle Parts, Excel Sports, Glory Cycles, La Bicicletta, Mike’s Bikes, Bike Closet, Pushys, TBSM, Torpedo7, Total Cycling, TourCycling, Universal Cycles, Westbrook, and Worldwide Cyclery.

Here are the stores I’ve rated 0 because there is sufficient feedback to conclude that their customer satisfaction level is average or worse: 4theBike, bikebug, Alltricks, bike-discount.de, BikeInn, Bikester, Cycle Surgery, Evans Cycles, Lordgun, ProBikeKit outside the UK and US, Probikeshop, R&A Cycles, Rose, and Wheelies.

Several rating services collect customer satisfaction data and publish the results. I lean on TrustPilot and Google Customer Reviews as these are the most credible services I have found in my research. Occasionally they disagree; when they do I put a premium on what customers have told TrustPilot because of the quality of their feedback.

There are other rating services like Feefo and BizRate that I no longer consider in my evaluation because some aspects of their approach to collecting and displaying the data are not as comprehensive, independent, or transparent as those done by TrustPilot and Google. When those or similar services make up the bulk of the Google aggregate rating, I also disregard that.

Some services like eTrusted Shops provide a money-back guarantee for consumers under a specific policy. That’s nice if you have a problem, but having this service says nothing about how satisfied customers are with the store. Others like GeoTrust or Trustwave tell you a site complies with specific procedures for secure credit card use but nothing about how happy customers are doing business with the site.

I don’t consider Facebook, Yelp, or other social media ratings of stores. These are not collected independently of the store or have any validation process.

I look at all of this customer satisfaction rating data for the stores to develop the 0, 1, or 2 ratings you see above.

Selection

We want to buy from online bike stores with a good range of the products, brands and models we road and gravel cycling enthusiasts ride, wear, and use. Many other stores cater primarily to recreational or mountain bike cyclists, triathletes, hikers, runners, etc., but carry a few lines or products that enthusiasts might buy. Finding what most enthusiasts look for at these stores is like finding needles in a haystack. Your time is better spent going to stores specializing in selling needles and very little hay.

We also want to shop at stores with the enthusiast’s selection of products in inventory when we want to buy them rather than having to order them and wait for the dealer to deliver them to the store and then to you. We can all do that locally.

The stores are rated on Selection as follows:

0 – Poor Selection.  Very few brands and models are used by road and gravel cycling enthusiasts

1 – Limited Selection.  A good range of products or models from a few major brands (3-4 or less) enthusiasts favor in each of the major categories (bikes, wheelsets, components, apparel) or many major brands but a limited model range or inventory in those brands.

2 – Broad Selection.  Many (>4) of the major brands that enthusiasts favor in each category have a good range of models and a good inventory ready to ship.

How do I determine these selection ratings? First, stores that sell primarily recreational level bike gear, close-out or older goods, sell just one category like bikes or vintage bike clothing, or cater primarily to triathletes or MTBers are ranked 0. They aren’t stores we’ll find a lot at and aren’t worth searching for gear. I haven’t listed these in the table above.

In case you were wondering where some stores went that you might have heard of or showed up in your Google searches, here are the stores I rated 0 for selection for the reasons I just mentioned: 99 Bikes, Bikesdirect.com, BobShop, Cambria, Colorado Cyclist, CyclesUK, Cycledivision, Modern Bike, Nashbar, Planet X, Power Meter City, REI, Ribble, Rutland Cycling, Sun & Ski, Trisports, Winstanleys.

Stores are rated 1 or “Limited Selection” if they have only a few brands enthusiasts ride, carry only a few models of a large number of enthusiast brands, or carry only a limited number of a larger range of brands or models in inventory.

For example, an online bike shop with an Ultegra groupset but only in one or two combinations of crank lengths, chainset and cassette ratios would rate 1 for selection. If they only carry a couple of the major wheelset brands and a lot of less widely distributed, often national brands, I would rate them 1. If they sell a wider selection of brands and/or models but you usually need to special order many of these, what they really have is limited and rate a 1 in my book.

There are undoubtedly financial and marketing reasons that some online stores use these strategies, but if you don’t look closely you might think they have a better selection than they actually do.

If the store has exactly what you are looking for in stock at a good price and has good customer satisfaction ratings, it is perfect. That’s the store for you for the product you are looking for. It doesn’t matter to you if it is one of only a few in the sizes, ratios, standards, colors, etc., made in that model. It’s just that the stores I’m ranking 1 are limited in what they have compared to those that carry much more stock and sell a standard range of options in a given model.

The “Broad Selection” stores I rank 2 typically carry at least a third to a half of the brands that make the range of products that show up in my reviews, the models within those brands that we enthusiasts ride, a good range of options in those models, and carry a lot of it in their inventory rather than having to go back to their distributor to get it when you want to order it. They also often carry smaller brands that are well regarded and for which the manufacturer limits their distribution to stores they have found will service their products well.

Support

According to polls I’ve run on the site over the years, cyclists read our bike gear reviews first and foremost to “get in-depth reviews and recommendations on gear I’m planning to buy.”

A smaller group of you read the site either to do some initial research or confirm what you’ve decided to buy is the right choice. Very few read the site to keep up on what’s happening in bike gear. That’s good because I don’t offer the kind of press-release coverage of new gear that most ad-supported cycling publications do to keep their advertisers happy.

Knowing the overwhelming number of you are here on your way to buying something rather than merely browsing with no intention to buy in the near term, I work hard to provide you regularly updated links to the highest-rated stores – those with the lowest net price, in-stock listings for each product in my reviews.

I also make sure to link you to those online bike shops that give you exclusive price discounts and codes as readers of this site or that provide the site a commission when you buy through the red links on the site that go directly to the stores and their product listing pages for the gear we’ve reviewed. Those commissions get plowed back into the cost of running the site and buying gear that we review. This enables me to keep the reviews independent of industry influence, free of advertisers and the potential bias that can come with them, and keep the site free of subscription costs.

Quite a few readers have commented that they want to buy from an online bike store that will give them the best deals and that supports In The Know Cycling’s unique and independent approach to cycling reviews. So, I’ve come up with a Support rating aligned with those objectives.

The stores are rated on Support as follows:

0 – No Support. The store offers no discount to In The Know Cycling readers and provides no commission to the site for sales through links from this site. Those links are in black.

1 – Average Support. The store offers no unique discount to readers, but it supports this site at the same level it supports other sites. Those links are in red.

2 – Strong Support. The store provides this site’s readers with exclusive deals and/or more support than others. Those links are also in red.

Model

For context, I’ve also listed one of a half-dozen categories describing the business model the online bike shop uses to run its business. This is an informational description only and doesn’t figure in the store rating or ranking.

The good news is that there are many business models that online bike stores are using to be successful and provide you the combination of price, service, selection, and support you want these days. Some models may suit you better than others and can help you choose between them.

Here are brief descriptions of the model designations in the chart above.

Superstore – These online cycling stores are very large and have massive purchasing power, allowing them to sell products typically for 20-40% below the total retail price and sell all over the world.

Premium Service – Need to talk with a bike gear expert? Put a premium on speedy delivery, no-hassle returns, and great customer service? These stores set themselves apart with their service while still offering good discounts.

Discounter – These stores offer good discounts, some as much or more than the Superstores though many only in the 20% range. Some discounters also offer very good service though not to the level of the stores in the Premium Service category.

Chain – Usually a well-known, large chain of cycling or outdoor stores, these sell bike gear, often focusing on bikes, at both their physical stores and online stores. This allows you to see, touch, or even ride display models before buying. Customers order online and get their gear shipped to their home or the store for pick up, what’s called “click and collect.”

Extension – These are typically stores with a single location or a small number of stores in a concentrated geographical area that see an online storefront as a way to extend their business further to reach customers far beyond their physical location, sometimes with a unique combination of high-end or niche products.

Marketplace – Amazon and eBay also sell new bike gear online with just about every consumer product under the sun. Smaller cycling brands will use these online goliaths when looking for a large distribution channel or marketplace without losing profit by going through a distributor who then sells to a retailer. You will also see online stores that only sell through Amazon and eBay that specialize in buying bike gear from major brands in deals that smooth out the brands’ inventory.  Note, I only link you to new product listings from stores with Amazon’s 4* or 5* rating and eBay’s Top Rated Plus buyer ratings.

There are also many large cycling brands like Specialized, Trek, Giant, and Cannondale, and some of the smaller ones that sell directly to consumers online and through their own branded physical stores and bike shop dealers. Most sell just their own gear online and at full retail price, but occasionally, they will discount a line of theirs that is being discontinued and sell it through their online ‘outlet store’ at a discounted price. I have found no customer satisfaction data on these stores and have not included them in the lists above.

*     *     *     *     *     *

Is there an online store you have used or are curious about that isn’t one of the nearly 100 in the table or mentioned elsewhere in this post? Please let me know in the comment section below, and I’ll check it out.

If you’ve benefited from this review and want to keep new ones coming, buy your gear and kit after clicking the store links in this review and others across the site. When you do, we may earn an affiliate commission that will help me cover the expenses to create and publish more ad-free, subscription-free, and reader-supported reviews that are independent, comprehensive, and comparative.

If you prefer to buy at other stores, you can still support the site by contributing here or buying anything through these links to eBay and Amazon.

You can use the popup form or the one at the bottom of the sidebar to get notified when new posts come out. To see what gear and kit we’re testing or have just reviewed, follow us by clicking the icons below.

Thanks, and enjoy your rides safely! Cheers, Steve


Before asking me about a store you are interested in,

Add the store’s URL to these links:
For Trust Pilot – https://www.trustpilot.com/review/
For Google Customer Reviews – https://www.google.com/shopping/ratings/account/lookup?q=

If they have less than 4 stars with at least 100 reviews or no matter how many stars with less than 100 reviews, I don’t recommend you shop there. Any other rating system – Facebook, Yelp, Testsieger, eTrusted Shops, etc., etc.- are not independent rating services. Ignore their ratings. Thanks, Steve

82 comments

  • Hi Steve, are you familiar with Venus Bicycles in Singapore? I am exploring a more current Dogma frame; I’ve been riding a 60.1 since 2011. The prices are low … not sure if that comes with surprises. There are frames available on other sites … but frame size and color are challenges.

    Thanks for the helpful insights.

    Gil

    • Gil, never heard of them. Steve

    • Unknown websites in SE Asia are often scam sites. The surprise will be getting nothing in the mail. Check the site creation date, contact info, whether they have a real address, whether their ‘about us’ text is copied from other sites or same as other scam sites. Things like that.

  • futurumshop NL

    same level as ManteL

  • There is a bike shop on Facebook advertising TREK bikes. It looks like the official TREK site. It is called “The World’s Best Bikes and Cycling Gear.” It’s website is [address deleted by moderator]. Bikes are around 85% discount. I am convinced that it is a fraud/scam but a couple of my friends are convinced that they are legit.
    Have you heard of them, and if so, what is your take on them?
    If it is too good to be true, it is usually a scam; right?

  • I just found this site. I’m in the USA and bought a bike from Chain Reaction a few years ago and had a great experience. Sorry I didn’t link from this site but will from now on.

    What about Decathlon? I’ve read they’re big in Europe.

    Thanks for all the great info!

    • Alan, Welcome. Glad you found the site and appreciate your future support. Decathlon (both in the US and Europe) is more of a general sporting goods store and doesn’t carry much enthusiast-level cycling gear for the kind of roadie I am and write for. Cheers, Steve

      • I agree they don’t have a LOT of stuff, but are worth a look. Their top level winter bib tights and base layers (winter and summer) have been great for me – 95% of the performance at 50-60% of the cost. My understanding is Wiggle/CRC’s DHB is similar, though I don’t own any of it. My other road gear is from 7Mesh, Sportful, Castelli, Sugoi.

  • I found more useful a “black list”, the opposite, the list of stores that can cause a great headache. On the top to me is bike-discount.de, my first and last experience, delays, damage, poor customer service. A complete nightmare

    • In the Satisfaction section, you can see the list of stores I’ve not included on the recommended list because there’s too little independent customer satisfaction information to judge or there’s enough to see that their customer satisfaction is average or worse. The store you mention is listed in that second group. Steve

  • Have you heard of [Deleted during comment moderation]? They seem to have a lot of older model bikes for reasonable prices.

    • Duane and fellow readers, an easy way for you to check out independent customer satisfaction reports for any store you’re interested in is to add the store URL to the end of these links.
      For Trust Pilot: https://www.trustpilot.com/review/
      For Google Customer Reviews – https://www.google.com/shopping/ratings/account/lookup?q=

      If they have less than 4 stars with at least 100 reviews or no matter how many stars with less than 100 reviews, I don’t recommend you shop there.

      Any other rating system – Facebook, Yelp, Testsieger, etc., etc., etc., are not independent rating services. Ignore their ratings. Steve

  • Hi Steve, I have found Tredz to be a really good store and have used the discount code before but, tried to place an order this week and it says the code is now invalid. Were you aware of this?

  • Hi Steve, Thanks for the contribution! There are some amazing bike shops I frequently visited, namely:
    Bikebug, Bike-discounts, Lordgun, Hibike, and Ciclimattio. They should be somehow on the same list.

    • Laura, Thanks for your input. The first three of those I’ve not put in the rankings because their independently reported customer satisfaction level is average or worse. (See them mentioned further down in the post.) I’m not familiar with the last two but will research them. Steve

  • Bikeparts.co.uk is one to check out, over the last year or so really making a name for themselves. Great customer service and wide range products with fast postage.

    • Harry, per the independent review site Trustpilot.com, most customers rate Bikeparts.co.uk has customer service as 5* excellent but an unacceptable amount (per my evaluations) that rate it as 1* bad. Their selection of road cycling gear is also somewhat limited in comparison to others I’ve ranked. For these reasons, I can’t recommend them at this time. Steve

  • I got a great deal on a Zipp 353 NSW wheelset from All4Cycling, an Italian shop. Hundreds lower than any other shop. Did have to pay a modest import duty, maybe $50 or so, but also saved a bundle on sales tax.

    Also Bike Closet in California has some great deals.

  • BikeTiresDirect and WesternBikeWorks are the same company. I’ve also found the same prices on their web sites. Their free membership program gets you rebates and occasionally amazing deals.

    • Western Bikeworks was the brick and mortar store in Portland, OR that closed in December of 2019, BikeTiresDirect has always been the primary online retail site, but but are owned by the same parent company.

  • I think I heard of them, bought something online.

  • Hey. Very cool site. I am new here and just trying to figure it out. Very good content and this is now a valued site of mine. LOLOL So I went to Trustpilot. Entered the business name and it just redirected me to that company review site. Same stuff I saw when I ordered. I purposely ordered just one thing I wanted to see how that goes. If the reviews are good then it will be fine. How do you know? Anyway the google address for the check says it is bad. Do you personally know anything about OOLACTIVE? Everywhere on line I go look to support this. Just wondered if you did? Thank you and Cheers.

    • Rick, Never heard of it. 8 reviews on Trustpilot. Not enough to know whether you can trust it. I don’t consider any store until there are at least 100 reviews. Most of the better ones have hundreds if not thousands. I’d expect you could find whatever you’re looking for at one that has at least 4 stars from hundreds of reviews. There’s 25 or so stores on my ranking list above that do.. Cheers, Steve

      • Thanks Steve. So i now have a second notification that my order is moving somewhere. LOLOL I will keep you up to date. I am still quite suspicious and your advice of shopping local is the best advice. I am a huge proponent of shop local yet I wanted to see if this site was real. The kit I ordered I have not seen anywhere else. LOLOL ALL THE BEST FOR THE HOLIDAYS. Cheers Steve. Great site you have. Just got the new reviews page. Love it.

  • This is the first time I have seen a review of online bike stores. I agree with Merlin Cycles being high in the list. I have had great experience with them even though they are UK and I am in the US. I buy my expensive upgrades from Merlin. JensonUSA another good site that I mainly use for lowest price components, such as cassettes.

    Love your reviews, concise and objective.

    Keep up the good work.

  • Great post and website, Steve. I agree with Competitive Cyclist as a top pick here. I have found them to have fair prices and in my experience their customer service has been exceptional. Thanks for this informative article! Best, Michael

  • Hi Steve, Thank you for putting this useful guide together.

    I’m in the market for a new bike and have never bought one online before. I’ve bought plenty of accessories and equipment but never a bike. I am looking at a model from Canyon. I’ve heard good things about their bikes and have a friend with one and he is happy with it. What is your opinion of Canyon and the quality of their bikes?

    • Hi Ken, There are a lot of great bikes out there including from Canyon. However, whether a Canyon bike is right for you just because it may be for others is a separate question. I strongly encourage you to read my review How and Where to Buy Bikes Online to help you answer that question. Steve

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