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Becoming a roadie!


T-girl

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I'm wanting to buy a road bike soon. B) Not really sure what to go for. Is CRC a good place to buy? Saw this cube bike http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/LargeImage.aspx?ModelID=44405 which has Shimano Ultegra and weighs 8.45kgs. Costs just under 11k.

Seems like a sweet deal to me, am I mistaken?

 

 

Bear in mind that the government will hit you around 25% for VAT, Import duties, clearance fess etc when bringing a new bike into the country.

 

So that'll make it just under R14K. Rather use R14K as your local comparison price.

 

Nice bike though!

 

Perhaps have a chat to these guys: http://www.cube-bike.co.za

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I know there are some reasonably priced road bikes at CWC (not online, the actual store)... that are very well spec'd. Especially for the price range you are shopping in...

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Trouble is there's no CWC store in Durbs...

What more important for a road bike; light weight or better components?

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Wow ok didn't realise I would pay that much VAT! Drat! Will check out that site, thanks ;)

 

Don't worry I also hate the tax man !!! These bloody agents !!!

 

Some food for thought, if you had to bring in the bike "in parts or taken apart" then you'd only pay 14 or 15% VAT and a clearance fee.

 

Alternatively if you know somebody that can is travelling back from the UK they can bring it in for ZERO (extra).

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Best value for money would be to buy a good second hand bike off the hub.

 

There are some really nice bikes posted with high spec, should be great for starting out.

 

shop around to get a feeling for prices and components etc... but keep a look out on the for sale area here. ;)

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Don't worry I also hate the tax man !!! These bloody agents !!!

 

Some food for thought, if you had to bring in the bike "in parts or taken apart" then you'd only pay 14 or 15% VAT and a clearance fee.

 

Alternatively if you know somebody that can is travelling back from the UK they can bring it in for ZERO (extra).

 

Thats a thought! Although then I would still need to assemble the bike and wouldn't my LBS charge muchos for that? Plus they would probably be bitter I didn't buy from them so charge extra muchos!! :blink:

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How tall are you ?

 

This maybe an option

 

https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/70389-giant-tcr-advanced-2008-med-price-added/page__p__1024568__hl__giant__fromsearch__1#entry1024568

 

and it's in Durban, just take into account that it's got an ISP (integrated seat post)

 

1.66m tall. That bike is SCHWEEET! Not sure if I would be a small or a medium. My mtb is a medium frame and thats a Giant Anthem...so maybe the same for Giant road bike?

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1.66m tall. That bike is SCHWEEET! Not sure if I would be a small or a medium. My mtb is a medium frame and thats a Giant Anthem...so maybe the same for Giant road bike?

 

That Giant is a MED, so I'm thinking that it should fit you but you'd have to go & have a look.

The trick is the ISP.

 

Bike shops can sometimes get upset but that's their problem.

They shouldn't charge you more than R500 to put the bike together. I had a bike put together the other day and the bike shop charged me R200.

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Some food for thought, if you had to bring in the bike "in parts or taken apart" then you'd only pay 14 or 15% VAT and a clearance fee.

SARS are becoming wise to this tactic, so it may not work - I personally wouldn't rely on it happening when doing cost comparisons.

 

If you have to choose between a bike with very good components but a so-so frame and one that has a very good frame but not so great components, go for the frame. It's easier to slowly upgrade individual components over time, but you're pretty much stuck with the frame.

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That Giant is a MED, so I'm thinking that it should fit you but you'd have to go & have a look.

The trick is the ISP.

 

Bike shops can sometimes get upset but that's their problem.

They shouldn't charge you more than R500 to put the bike together. I had a bike put together the other day and the bike shop charged me R200.

 

ISP? :unsure:

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ISP = integrated seat post

 

Normally one would need to buy a seat post to put on a frame but these days there are some frames which have molded a seat post onto them. They called frames with ISP.

 

If it's a frame + seat post one can adjust the seat post by lowering / raising it but if the frame has ISP one normally needs to cut it so that it fits correctly. The problem comes in when one wants to sell the frame/bike.

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