BrianPivo

Useful info there Myles, thanks. I've never bothered calling customs - who would imagine anyone there would pick up? I'll give that a try.

Do you suggest I take a chance and wait for mine to arrive? I get the sense that Bike24 will refund if the item doesn't make it to me...

Mmm, similar story to the one above...

Ah, I didn't see this one. Looks like I must cancel the order. You're lucky it took only two months to arrive. I've given up on SAPO, they generally steal or lose my stuff.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. Shipping is "only" 19 Euro to RSA. I've placed my order - based more on need for an item that isn't available locally than on price. Holding thumbs that SAPO isn't in the loop...

Does anyone know if Bike24.com uses the local SA Post office for the last leg of their deliveries? Bike24.com has written to me that they ship using DHL in Germany. On closer inspection I discovered that Germany's post is / was outsourced to DHL and "German Post DHL" is one and the same. This suggests that the parcel will be handed over to SA Post office once it lands here. Can anyone confirm this or correct me? Thanks Brian

I do the sums. CRC seems to be about 30% cheaper than local retail (if they have the item in stock), landed with VAT and duties. That's the upside. But how big is the upside? - Not all my overseas orders arrive. Many disappear in the mail; - My LBS generally discounts between 10% and 20%; - My LBS changes out immediately any defective parts or workmanship, even stripping a bike on their floor if needed; - I get to see in the flesh potential new stuff. I'm more selective and therefore save, when I buy off the floor; - My LBS trades in my old stuff on new at realistic prices and straight away (no waiting for weeks or months for a nibble on TheHub); The savings from dealing with a conscientious and well-run shop have exceeded the discounts on CRC's prices in the long run for me. But I've also had rough experiences with bike shops (one in particular) other than my preferred shop and I well understand how customer loyalty can be lost. Conceivably forever to the likes of CRC for some.

Laaitie is RSA 2011 U17 triathlon champ, and placed 2nd U19 in national duathlon and triathlon champs in 2012 respectively (he's 18 this year). He rides a top-end bike supplied (before this fiasco) by Complete Cyclist, which cost me a pretty penny. At first he couldn't believe their response. Now he's just upset. Not only have these guys messed me around but they've also probably deprived themselves of a few sales. My son has placed on the podium on every duathlon, triathlon and bicycle race he's raced with his bike and many people have commented on it. His bike is brilliant, he admits, but beware the supplier. As one poster mentioned, it would have cost Complete Cyclist perhaps R200 to remedy the situation. Maybe nothing, if they had just been prepared to explore a solution together with me instead of accuse me and send me on my way.

Actually, beacuse the replacement cable shrouds were unmarked and Mark told me that they were Campy, I left it at that. (The lack of logic escaped me too.) I was subsequently told that the shrouds were Shimano and that the good folk at Complete Cyclist hadn't even bothered to replace them either. I then checked the Kuota which I had re-built at the same time at the same place and found that they also swopped from Campy to Shimano. So, against my better judgement I wrote to Scott McKenzie in the vain hope that he would try rescue the situation. His response: "we do not agree with your view of what has taken place and believe it is in both of our interests to not have future dealings with each other. I now consider the matter closed and will not respond to any further emails". This suggests that I have actually gone ahead and swopped out all my cable outers on two bikes just to ... ? Sorry, I just couldn't finish that sentence: it would seem that I spent R1,200 on two cable sets and spent a few hours threading cables and retaping handlebars so that I could get Scott MvKenzie to admit that his mechanic (who apparently no longer works there) damaged a R250 BB nut. Perhaps I'm spoilt and I've gone soft but I believe that a good LBS takes back their work and fixes it, even if it's weeks after they messed up. I swallow my naivety and in future I will avoid like the plague any shop that I cannot trust implicitly. How any of you guys manage with a supplier that fights you at every turn is beyond me. To one of the posters on this one, I point out that in the many years that I have been dealing with Bruce's in Pretoria, I have never had to get sticky or assertive to have a repair seen to or re-done. No-one's work is perfect and perhaps others may have had different experiences but I am dumbfounded by Complete Cyclist's stance. Throughout all this, the most abusive I have been is on this forum. Their position is quite remarkable.

I posted a rant about CC two days ago. It was accompanied by a photo of a pair of cranks installed out of alignment. I posted about 25% of the story which actually started months ago with fairly embarrassing levels of chaos on the shop's part but which they simply brushed off. When it came to the mechanical work, however, the work was good. My most recent experience by contrast was shocking, to be polite. Not only were the cranks skew but the original pristine Campag cable sheaths had been discarded and the BB nut teeth stripped. CC were prepared to fix their mess but insisted the BB problem was the result of me taking the bike elsewhere for repairs. Mike Hewan at CC went so far as to say, in so many words, that I was a liar when I told him the bike had last been worked on by them. The reason for his obstinance is the colour of the grease in the BB. In my business, if I saw one of my staff members messing up the way the mechanic at CC did with the cranks. the last thing I would do to the offended client would be to call him a liar. But that's me, not the good folk at CC. My bike now still doesn't have "Campagnolo Ultra Low Friction" cable sheaths which I supplied the shop to fit; the BB nut is still damaged but at least the cranks are 180 degrees apart. From my experience with Mike that's as far as I'm going to get. And that will also be the last he will see of me at his shop. There are many good shops in Jhb and my custom will go elsewhere. It's been a humiliating and surprising exercise dealing with these guys. The BH bikes (bought two) I bought are brilliant but I'll stick in future with a shop that treats me with mutual respect. Brian Pivo.

So, after I've been riding on the rollers for a couple of days, my kid asks me why my cranks aren't straight. I think he's joking so I ignore him. Well, he was right. See the pic. Bike had recently been rebuilt by the good folk at Complete Cyclist in Jhb. "And have you noticed that they graunched the BB bracket clamp?" my kid asks. No, I haven't, I can't see that far without my specs. But now I'm starting to believe him. OK, I know they replaced the swank Campag cable shrouds with Shiman because of a length problem but they said they'll fix them in the new year. So, I send an email to Mike Hewan at Complete with the pic of the cranks. No reply. When I take the bike in, Tim says "embarrassing the thing with the cranks, we'll sort it out". Then I get an email from Mike saying that the problem with the BB clamp is that someone else has worked on the bike cause the grease in the BB is the wrong colour for his shop and his BB clamp tool can't cause damage. When I went to collect the bike today, Mike tells me that he straightened the cranks but the BB bearing clamp is my problem. I say "I'm pointing out that your techie has screwed up the job - cranks are good enough evidence of that and now you're telling me that I'm lying about you being the last guys to have worked on the bike". Mike: "Yes, that's what I'm saying". So, Brian the liar has to leave the shop. Trust has to be the basis of a relationship between customer and shop, so can't have liars in the mix. Enjoy the pic folks. You get a bit of a dead spot when you ride cranks like that. Maybe has some benefit for improving the pedal stroke? Hope you find some humour in this. Complete Cyclist Jhb. Good for a laugh it seems.

Thanks for sharing your experience with us. I didn't realise credit card companies got involved in web tansactions. As an aside, do you know if the Card company is taking any action against them? If you do get any more detail please keep us posted.

I was contemplating buying a cheap product from them and seeing whether they actually delivered. But their cheapest product was USD 1100. Two questions: what did you try to buy and 2. On what grounds did the credit card company refund you? Thanks, Brian

Don't hold me to be an authority on that site but, from what I can gather: yes, the price is reduced a further 10% on what you see. I haven't taken the purchase process any further though. Anyone brave enough to spend R15k and then tell us how it went?

Here are a few more definitions off the web (where we should avoid looking for such references): To revert (third-person singular simple present reverts, present participle reverting, simple past and past participle reverted) To turn back, or to the contrary; to reverse. To throw back; to reflect; to reverberate; to get back. To change back. To return; to come back. (If they attack, we will revert to the bunker.) To return to the proprietor after the termination of a particular estate granted by him. To return, wholly or in part, towards some preexistent form; to take on the traits or characters of an ancestral type. To change back, as from a soluble to an insoluble state or the reverse. Choose a suitable definition or just replace with "reply" if you prefer. I'd rather stick to getting feedback on the validity/reputability of the Indonesian website.