MORNE

i get and agree with all your points re marketing costs etc etc, but i recently as last week bought from 3 different local online stores (well known ones in these circles and not the big one who has recently been bought out) who literally advertise on their site that they don't carry the stock or a fav seems to be 'in stock at supplier', then upon ordering - first confirm that the distro have the stock...then send it to either themselfs first and then on to end user(me). all non clothing items btw. The well known one in Malmesbury also works like this. They sell 'everything' online...but basically have nothing on hand except for ALOT of full bikes and the basics you can find at sportsmans warehouse. Their prices are good though...twice now they have come in ALOT cheaper than some of the competition on stuff i wanted...and they get their stock from the same distributors. You still have to shop around and ask with the online stores...some of their profit margins obviously differ.

usually when the items reach a certain amount...can't recall the number, i think it used to be around 25k and over back then, you are required to have an import licence since SARS then automatically assumes you are going to sell those goods. it has changed recently i think....the amount you are able to bring in per year before it is not considered for personal use/gifting purposes. also....I'm not even close to being an expert but pretty sure there are lots of creative ways to show close to zero profit for a 'small business' and therefore minimise losses to SARS.

yes but then i sometimes wonder why some of the many "online only" stores in this country, which obviously don't have all the overheads like full retail stores would have, sell items at the same price as walk in stores. They are obviously making alot more % wise per item then since most of those places literally make a make a phone call and just ship your crap directly from distributors...basically just a middleman. It is not always the case though but it most often than not. We used to bring in some stuff for other interests we have, mostly since we were racing ourselves so it was for own use...but if people wanted to buy, we had no issue to sell. We sold stuff to cover our import and shipping costs +10%...and that still came in at about only 60-75% what local distributors of the same items were charging....so in some case it seems theywere making 30-50% proffit. Needless to say...we actually sold plenty and made up the difference in volume.....and that was in an infinitely more niche segment than bicycling...

oh ok..thats different...double vat - in UK and SA. but still willing to check it out, sometimes it still works out cheaper

bet his is not that AWESOME shade of purple with orange trim though...

lets keep it going untill Friday ...

good to know they use UPS. will try them out soon. between those 2 shops you could probably get most of the things

i know Merlin doesn't carry the variety of CRC but i have ordered from them numerous times and always get it around 3 days at my door with UPS. R490 shipping is worth it when you get to sidestep SAPO etc and get you stuff faster than local couriers from jhb to cape town almost. Duties and fees on parts has been VAT +10% without fail for me. Maybe they'll source you a part even..dunno, have'nt asked yet. they are my preferred offshore store. P.S - recently got me some Shimano Saint goodies at literally half the local price from merlin all in.

Saint rear derailleur at CWC - R2.5k. And if you ask the 'friends at the till' to price match they say thats the best price. I obviously went there first because they carry stock. So i ordered from Evo instead and had to wait a ~week for it but at R700 less....yea, no brainer. I'd like to know WHY there is such a discrepancy in price though... Unfortunately had to suck it up and buy the shifter from cwc because they are the only ones with stock. i bought the last one. luckily i got the Saint crankset from Merlin in UK at R1650 (sale) ups got it to my door in 3 days. VS cwc @ R3.5k lol!! They also had a special on 29" tubes with sealant in (for the wifes bike). I grab 2 Schrader ones...just t be told that ONLY the Presta ones were on special....suck it. do they hate money? I think i might go in there next time wearing lycra though...they obviously only take you seriously then

sexy RGB spokes. black is so 2004

put the orange marshguard and purple chainring on today. luckily they both match the existing orange and purple. All colour coded now in that regard. The gold accents in the saint kit got me thinking about a nitride coated(gold) kmc chain...but that'll have to wait till month end. I like it so much i want to sleep next to it. ive always upgraded bikes but this is the first bike i've built from the frame up. dunno why i waited this long to do it. yes it cost more but is makes you love it so much more.

defo looking at those ones as first choice - obviously the price is good, local support and they look nice too. Though they have been out of the 1x levers forever it seems and ill need a shim too - also out of stock in 31.6

I'll probably need 170mm+ lol. The guys at Stoke showed me some of the porno 185mm Bikeyoke ones. The frame can accommodate one and has seatpost routing too so it is definitely on the radar. Just want to get it to a point where i can atleast go smash some rocks with it sooner rather than later....super keen to try it out after looking at all the parts unassembled for a few months now. So keen i'll sommer try it without the front brake . thats how i know i'm gonna love it...it makes me want to go do silly crap...and it's orange. Buying new bits end of each month but also trying to be smart when it comes to buying stuff. Im mostly trying to source 'new-old' stock at discount or stuff that doesn't sell great these days in the mainstream (650b/29"/<11speed). The things i know i can keep for the long run i'll get new but I dont just wanna go out and throw money at it either, it's a hooligan bike afterall. It has been painfully slow last few months for me, especially with stalking the classifieds and all. Almost there though... Thanks for liking the 'teensy weensy 26" orange and purple bicicletta' so far. Might not be the most current of things and is burly AF but i'm pretty sure its gonna kick like a mule when done and if nothing else, will definitely go straight through a plastic bike without even bogging down

My stupid-crazy - who still builds 26" bikes right? - 26" ain't dead - cotic BFE 26. Thought at least you guys would appreciate it somewhat. I like it - cotic Bfe 26 2016 size L (im tall so this will be my big boy BMX lol) - Hope headset, seatclamp, rear skewer, hubs and disc rotors. - Saint m820 cranks, shifter and derailleur...got them crazy cheap from Merlin (bike industry hates 10 speed right?) Had the saint pedals already. - sun ringle mtx33 26"/ continental trail king 2.4 apex/black chili- these things are HUUUGEEEE. They measure ~ 698mm outer dia (27,3") in total on a 26" rim LOL. who needs 650b right? the pic is next to a 29"x 2.1 on the wifes bike. also found some minions dHfs 2.5 " super ST's although i know they run smaller. - 2013 Rockshox Lyric Rc2 Dh 170mm limited to 160mm. - got this as "new old stock" for bread money. - Deore brakes. but they presented me with a first world dilemma today...the front line is too short for the ginormous fork...so might upgrade and put these on the wife's bike. i'm thinking something....PURPLE The Deores are super value for money though and i like them so i'll see if hoses and bleed kits are justifiable. in the mail: - raceface chain ring - mosh guard - 10 speed cassette still to come ( at some stage): joystick builder 8 bit riser bars and stem....still deciding...might as well go full-retard and not be able to go home right? probably a dropper at some stage...although I think this bike will be pointing downhill most of the time so i'll see. PS - Shoutout to the guys from Stoke, Blacksheep bikes, Bike Addict and Evo bikes for the help up to now.

Merlin and UPS have been good to me the past month. 3 days and you have your stuff in your hands. I usually order on a saturday as ive noticed they do parcel picking/ dispatches on sundays too. some crazy good prices on certain items atm in their "pre stocktake sale". Got me some saint m820 cranks for literally HALF of what they cost locally...all in. i have always been importing stuff depending on what money pit im throwing my money into at the time and I have always preferred dhl/ups even if it costs more shipping wise. if you buy smart you could always buy more stuff to offset shipping and sell locally. Screw SAPO, they can burn in hell. They owe me around 5k to date in lost parcels circa 2008.

Anakin.....is that you? P.S feel the same way. sometimes feel thet maybe some of these peeps weren't moer'd as kids when they dropped there kitkat wrapper on the floor. Im pretty sure I probably did it once, and my mother saw it once...because i can not recall ever feeling the urge to litter EVER again.

friends don't let friends put 17" wheels on their golf 1's ?...

'sorry, only 29 inches available'...

someone mentioned they only come in mediums and i think you might be a tad late...especially for the Trail 5. might still be some 7's around not sure. they sold like hotcakes. Unless there is more stock on the way I don't know. There was only 1 trail 5 left in Cape town at the cape gate makro a few weeks ago.

yea...pretty much my inseam

awesome gesture thanks Meezo. you guys rock. I'm 6'5" (83kg) though ? rather than make you regret lending me something you could be sentimental about i'll hear what they have on offer in terms of rentals. I appreciate the offer. you are a better person than me lol. I wouldn't

this is what it looks like when you don't have 'vertical sync' setting enabled when playing high end video games. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing

ugh..wish I could have my silly bike build done for this. keen to try one out. guess only 2019 for me. Also need to make some friends in this discipline so I can go on some bro'duros . the wife is always up for getting down and dirty being a plaas meisie and all but i like going fast and she likes looking at the scenery...

needing to buy the best 'budget' bike for under R80k...nice problem to have

yup, I remember circa 2001 you could get an nice avarage bike for around 7-10k. Decent starter mtb's were around 2k if it had some sort RST shock in the front. Not talking about above avarage kind of suff. I'll classify this Trail 5 at about above-entry-level in today speak..not your last bicycle but not total crap either...you definitely don't have to feel ashamed when whipping this badboy out at you local funride...even though you got it from Makro. And if that bothers you..just tell everyone you got it from CWC LOL. then again, they might rag on you for paying almost double for it then.