Cajees - is this regular practice

[Red Zone]

I agree go lefty, someone who rides a 'dale could easily buy a giant which is too big for them just by looking at the frame. I almost made the same mistake when moving from a regular frame to a compact frame a few years ago, the compact just looked way to small. Fortunatly the bike shop persuade me to buy the right size otherwise I would have been stuffed

[Taps]

Tee hee. This all goes back to what AM supposedly said about Cajees

[gremlin]

My brother had exactly the same problem by Cajees at Princess Crossing. Baught a new bike, nothing was set up. I did some ajustments for him and tightened some loose bolts. Went to Northern Farm and the chain broke halfway through the ride. We just made a quick fix and ended up taking out about 7 links as it broke 2 more times. The gears where also skipping as it wasn't set properly. On weekends they use temps as machanics and during the week you have the profesional machanics. Also with being overpriced, you can always get a discount on anything you buy there. Rather go to Westrand Cyles, Lynden cycles or Cycle Fountain.

[Joe Low]

Horses for courses:

 

Cajees treats bicycles and accessories as a commodity, they generally score on price, range and location.

 

What they're not is old cyclists who've opened a shop to stay close to the sport and have some sentiment outside of it being a business.

 

So it's like a clothes store where you ask the guy "how does this look" then it always looks fine; until you get home and your mates see it.

 

Everyone gets caught once buying something not quite right at Cajees - I found them to be fine on exchanging stuff. Once you know, you do your research first before going there.

 

But if you want price, range, location & a friendly arm round your shoulder giving you expert advice and steering you away from expensive stuff you don't need - then maybe there are those shops in the next life, cuz I havent found any of them here.

 

 

[Gumpole]

My one experience with Solomons (Pta) was promising. They measured me (height, shoulder width, leg, arms, elbows, knees, feet etc etc) and entered the figures onto a computer (i think the software was from trek), which spewed out ideal bike measurements for my shape.

 

Then they set up a 'template' bike to these sizes and got me to sit on it and check if all was well.

 

Then they took all this down and set up my bike as I wished,

when I picked it up they put it in a turbo trainer, checked I was still happy.....

all this cost me zero!

 

Haven't had any problems since then with the bike and discomfort or injury.

 

BUT I did get this service during the week. Going into a bike shop on a saturday morning and expecting quality service in ANY bike shop is impossible, especially pre argus/94.7

 

[1hill@aTime]

change of topic a bit, but if you need/want great service go to the lbs at festival mall

[scotty]

 

Everyone gets caught once buying something not quite right at Cajees - I found them to be fine on exchanging stuff. Once you know' date=' you do your research first before going there. 

 

 

[/quote']

Thats it in a nutshell, if you've done your homework you would know both size and price, then approach them for better deal.

 

I bought my 1st bike from Cajees, when the assistant asked what bike i wanted i said a blue one, at the time i could not understand his funny expression.

[NotSoBigBen]

 

But if you want price' date=' range, location & a friendly arm round your shoulder giving you expert advice and steering you away from expensive stuff you don't need - then maybe there are those shops in the next life, cuz I havent found any of them here.

 

 

[/quote']

 

Hallelujah brother, let me know if thou should ever find such a fine establishment me lord!

[no.one.knows]

Every good bike shop should have a fitting program on their computer which will take certain measurements and calculate what bike size is ideal for you, customers need to know this and need to ask or yes they will rip you off cause at the end of the day profit is profit to them, no matter how it effects you. At our shop we are required to use total fit matrix to size up a customer before selling the bike to him/her.

 

ideally all bike shops should make it mandatory.

 

[Hog_]

Was pretty funny, although somewhat irritating after 15 minutes, when I went to Cajees this weekend and asked them for bearings for my Shimano front wheel. First the guy pulled out some sealed bearing, then I told him that I needed the loose balls, 18 of them, 3/16" in size.

 

Moral: Cajees is not bad, but you need to know what you're buying. Don't expect advice from them and don't expect them to know their product.

 

 

 

[davetapson]

Like the bloke says, Cajees are there to move goods.  Know what you want and bargain hard - that's their business model.  Bargaining is not hard - just ask 'Is that your best price?'  When you they tell you, look doubtful and ask 'are you sure?'.  If the price isn't right, walk out. 

 

Their prices vary on different things from excellent to ordinary to terrible (R85 for a ryder sludge even after bargaining!?  I don't think so...!!)

 

And like the bloke says, once you've finished bargaining, the prices are probably not a huge amount cheaper than most LBS's.  Now just to get my LBS to open on a Sunday morning, eh' Holy?

 

[Contaminated Haggis]

Cajees dont pride themselves or claim on knowing what the best bikes and /or parts are, their primary interest lies in selling cycling merchandise at a better retail price than the other bike shops. There was an article in the Bicycling mag about a year ago where they interviewed one of the owners and he said admitted this.

Their prices are excellent but like Hog mentioned, do your homework first.

[Joss]

I have a motto: Your complaints regarding the quality and service you paid for more, will be much less than the complaints you will have for buying the discounted bargain. The case mentioned here is one of hundreds from shops forcing their old stock to non suspecting buyers that is all wrong for them. Rather do some research before you buy and have your size determined before you buy. This way you can not be conned into buying the wrong size bike. This is the most importand issue when buying a bike. Is the size.

[dfm1]

that they mostly sell bikes way too big to beginners? Good heavens' date=' we did a MTB 'clinic' one Sunday. And one of the guys had gone to Cajees Princess Crossing and bought himself a MTB. So this bloke is at most 1.6m tall, they give him a 22inch bicycle.

Is this a way to squeeze more money out of the new cyclists?

I happen to also have fallen into that trap...

[/quote']

 

 

AIII one time, I just want to cell the bloooody bike and all man, what do yooouuu mean its to biggggg, itsssssssss all about the price

 

 

THAT DINGBATS IS WHY YOU GO TO A PROPER BIKE SHOP, PAY A BIT MORE AND GET THE RIGHT ADVICE AND EQUIPMENT, IF YOU JUST FOCUS ON PRICE ITS LIKE INSURING WITH OUTSURANCE TILL YOU HAVE A BIG CLAIM.

[SPANIED]

solomons is a nice place, with great prices, although service is okay,the prices compensate and are better than most shops.SOLOMONS ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[nathrix]

In cycling I only buy from people I know, and the people I know I got to know from races and the Hub and if I do not see you often on the Hub or at the races I don't buy from you. This way I know how passionate you are with regard to cycling as I am. That's how I decide on which LBS to support.