dark horse

Many thanks for the tip on waiting for cash clearance. Well done for not handing over the bike to a cheat! Remember though that the risk runs both ways. What if the deposit goes through but there is no delivery of the bike / components? Up to now I have had no such problems and I am sure that 99% of members are 100% trustworthy. So, what to do about the shady 1%? The second hand market is very imporant and we cannot allow it to be discredited in this way. My advice is do the transaction in person, or if the seller is in another town, get a friend who lives there to do it for you. Hand over the cash and take delivery at the same time. If the amount is big, or for any other reason you are nervous, I suggest you do the deal at a friendly bike shop for added peace of mind. I would in any case prefer for an expert to check the parts / bike, at a reasonable charge of course, before taking delivery, which gives another reason for doing the deal in that way.

Hi all I have had good results buying campy parts from the following: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ http://www.cyclingbargains.com/ All the parcels have arrived safely and if under a certain value no tax is claimed by the post office. You also save on sales tax on the UK side. Delivery takes about two weeks. However it gets tricky when you need minor bits and pieces. You may need to correspond with them (via email addresses given on the site). I have never waited longer than 24 hours for a reply and the agents are very helpful. I have tried to check out the campag factory webiste or other supplier sites in Italy but got horribly lost. If anyone has managed to find a usable English portal for ordering parts in that confusing maze, please let us know, as this could be the best way to go. Also the guys at Solomons in Johannesburg have been very helpful on the telephone, though the parts themselves are pricy. PS I have a 9 speed veloce cassette in good condition, if anyone is interested.

I regularly ride both mountain bike and road events. Any bad experiences I have had are vastly outnumbered by the great ones - good people trying to keep fit and have fun at the same time, whether on or off road. It is true that there are some arrogant and selfish people out there, but the rest are really cool to ride with / against. In my view the best way to deal with the inconsiderate minority is simply to ignore them.

I might be interested. Please send full specs (NB dont forget size) and price.