CanAmSteve

Not sure how UK VAT refunds are processed - I imagine a credit card refund? In SA they give you a limited-use debit card. In Oz right back to the credit card used. Here's my own SARS story - package arrived CPT airport separate from my flight - mostly camping gear. Held for Customs clearance, I had to retrieve it. Went to the office, met a nice chap who reviewed my printed manifest and (as the stuff was staying in SA) offered to charge me the VAT only (no duties) on the declared value (all without opening the box) which was agreed. Went to pay the charge - two cashiers at two windows.. both went to lunch at the same time! I cooled my heels in the office for an hour while they ate their lunch. The agent came out, saw me, asked what's up, went out back, came back, apologised but could do nothing. That's Africa, man :-)

As to tyres, in my experience these are duty-free. As to buying locally, stop pulling my leg. Anything a tiny bit out of the ordinary (tyres wider than 25mm, brake or shift cables in a colour other than black) are almost impossible to find in CT. The LBSes go for the wannabe-racer road/MTB thick wallet crowd only. If there is a "normal" bike shop in CT, please advise. Olympic is probably the best for my needs, and I do shop there as much as possible

Re: UK VAT refunds - there are offices pre-security at the major airports. You need to go there first WITH the goods to claim back the VAT. This should be simple enough - at least at Heathrow T5 (where I normally leave from) you can check in, get your oversized bike box tagged for the flight, go to the VAT refund office and then drop the bike at the oversized luggage ramp. All close together at the right side of check-in. Other airports/terminals not so sure, but should be easy enough. You need to be flying out of the EU (not via another EU airport) on a non-resident passport and have the VAT receipt showing a non EU address as well (Make sure you get this at purchase). I doubt the missing wheels will be a problem on the UK end. As to SARS at JHB - good luck. I've found the airport guys in CT to be pretty reasonable, but I don't hold an SA passport, so they are probably a bit more lenient with me.

Personal choice. I order from CRC, Ribble, etc. all the time plus the usual Chinese eBay sellers, but it has become increasingly frustrating with SARs and the PO. Couriers better, but they take their pond of flesh, too. I ordered a small remote control form Amazon UK (R200) and it took two months to arrive - YMMV

Garmin SA service is very good, however Garmin service elsewhere is pretty horrible. As you can imagine, Garmin SA is not too keen giving service free to people who went around them, but they have always had very high prices compared to outside SA - somewhat better now that Avnic was taken over by the parent company. TBH, I don't think it's worth importing it yourself for the difference. SARS will lose it, or charge you too much and it could take a month or more to get it.

My experiences ordering online from foreign shops has been varied. Sometimes the stuff comes in a few days with just VAT and other times seems to take forever. So check the duty rates before purchase. A lot of the Ebay gadgets from China take the longest as the invoice supplied is not to SARS specs, so you have to send them a copy of yours. Anything expensive make sure you use a "big name" shipper (UPS, DHL, FedEx) and get a tracking number. You might want to use a work address since they tend to just show up in the 9-5 slot. Not much good at your home address. The SA bike market is very narrow, with dealers stocking the most popular items only in a lot of cases. Their prices will be competitive on those items, but often they won't even have anything as esoteric as a 25mm road tyre. Bar tape in colours is hard to find as well (and expensive). I do try and support the LBS as much as possible, but it does seem that some of them are not particularly interested in anyone who doesn't buy a new bike each season.

Anyone know a CT shop that stocks brake/shift housing in colours other than black? Tried the usual suspects (BMC, CWC town, CycleLab WestLake). Ideally yellow brake housing (5mm). Rebuilding another old bike.

Here's my recent (Dec 2013) info on SA imports. I grew up in Canada, moved the the US and then the UK. I come to SA a couple of times a year and keep bikes with friends at various locations to ride when I'm able to. So I've bought/imported parts from/to US/UK and SA. So far, for SA parts (wheels, tyres, chainset, BB and an entire Tiagra groupset) I've ordered from CRC, ProBikeKit, Evans, PlanetX and a few others. Post takes about a month. A cheap (GBP80) Shimano wheelset from CRC took four weeks and cost me ZAR250 (IRC). Box was pristine despite coming via post. UPS shipments come in about ten days. They actually arrive in as little as three days, but then SARS takes its time to release them. I don't think SARS actually inspects any of the couriered goods (unless they suspect some problem) but rely on the declared info for expediency. In the case of UPS, once the package is released, you start a dance of sorts. UPS called me and then sent a photo of the duty/VAT invoice. I had to do a transfer to allow its release and then delivery was the usual "Can't say when" timeframe - best to use a commercial address unless someone is home all day. But it's quicker and more secure than post - also trackable the whole way. So for expensive stuff, I'd use UPS (or FedEx or DHL). BTW - the import charge for the Tiagra 10-spd groupset was ZAR650. Groupset (compact) was GBP235 + GBP16 for UPS. Hard to beat. I have also ordered from CRC to the US. This was more expensive (Easton) wheels. CRC shipped them free, I saved the UK VAT and the USA charged me nothing when they arrived. Quite a bit of bike kit (esp. clothing and shoes) is less expensive in Europe than the US, though.

Sorry - I paid ZAR100 in fees toatl

Just FYI - I ordered two Conti touring tyres (so hard to find a selection here in CPT) from ProBikeKit in the UK on Dec. 3rd (so in the Christmas crunch). Delivered to CPT Dec. 27 - total charges about ZAR200. Tyre price was GBP15 X2 + GBP8 shipping (post). I may make another post or two once I've reached the end of this thread, but since I have such a hard time finding any sort of tyre selection here in CPT (such as no road tyres between 23mm and 32mm) I'm mostly ordering from away to get items I can't find here.

Thanks for the comments - I will send a note again after ther holidays. The bike is in good nick but a bit on the small side for me. I've found a crankset in better condition and will probably go to bar-end shifters and 8 speed cassete (keeping the old parts for history). I'll post a photo when it's done. Here's last year's project, a SA-built LeTurbo (I do have French heritage :-) resprayed by BMC for me.

I'm on my annual Cape migration and this year I picked up a nice old steel-framed "LeJeune" bike. It's (I'm guessing) an late 80s/early 1990s vintage, with 2X7 Shimano 105 group w/downtube shifters. Most interesting is the tubeset - it's labelled "Super Prestige" (and "hand built by Le Jeune cycles") and is the "fluted" or ribbed type that Calnago used on some frames. I think it is also refrred to as Gilco tubing. But how it ended up in this bike is difficult to tell. There is a frame builder in Belleville (name du Toit) and he seems linked to the current-day SA LeJeune (see http://www.lejeune.co/) and also steel frame building, but a note sent gets no reply. Can anyone help with any info? Thanks - Steve

I'm a CT summer resident and frequently here throughout the rest of the year, but I live in the UK and hail from Canada. I also spend plenty of time in the US, and cycled in France and Spain this year as well. So I'm exposed to a wide variety of cycling shops, etc. Knowing how keen CT cyclists are (God knows enough of them have tried to sacrifice themselves in front of me over the years) I expected a lot from CT cycle shops when I finally started looking in earnest for a road bike to ride casually here. I eventually bought a used bike, so most of my shopping has been updates and accessories. The best store I have been in for selection is CWC, but it was overall a disappointment. For example, I was looking for a tyre selection. There was nothing in 700C in 25mm, 28mm or 32mm. There are very good reasons why a 25mm might be a better choice than a 23mm (no to go into here) but for such a huge store, there was a measly, tiny selection of tyres. I can only assume there is some way better place in CT that sells all the tyres and CWC doesn't even bother stocking anything beyond a basic offering (with the highest profit margin?) I picked up some tools - oddly, there are ten Campy cassette crackers in stock and zero Shimano/Sram. Which do you think sells more? (Note there was no empty slot for the missing ones) It's difficult to find and compare stuff in the store because a lot is set up in branded sections, so you have to look in several places to compare similar products. Very frustrating for the consumer. I was looking for some SPD MTB pedals but had already seen a Ryder version (copy of Shimano) at another shop. CWC carries a ton of Ryder stuff but not the pedals - just the Shimanos at double the price. I'm sure you can see some are not hard-core and/or rich and might appreciate a good value option. Anyway, nice large shop, staff were helpful if not particularly knowledgeable (about what I was shopping for - so it could be just that I'm unusual). Disappointing overall as the initial impression is "Wow, look at all the space" and the truth is there is not that much variety on offer.