Online shopping has come far from being an emerging trend to predominant behavior for netizens. The booming digital market and the cacophony of buyers and sellers in it reshaping the way we shop. Purchasing a bike is no exception. Fingertips shopping from the comfort of your couch makes the amateur, as well as professional bikers, go online for shopping.
While competitive pricing acts as the main factor, a wide selection of bikes and hassle-free returns also play their roles to attract consumers. However, buying online is still not a cakewalk for everyone, especially non-professionals, to get the right bike. Finding the right geometry, assembling the bike on your own, and of course, if any issues crop up right after the delivery – these factors can be decisive. But if you still want to give it a try, here’s how you do it.
Find The Store That Has The Bike You Want
Finding the right bike is the first step, to begin with. The rule is pretty simple: you see the catalog, you choose the right geometry and model, and you buy. Now, this is where the shortcoming of the offline market becomes visible. You may not get your favorite brands or the right specifications after browsing the in-stock bikes of your local bike shop.
In that case, the online market offers you a wide selection of options to choose from and promises to deliver to you quickly. Bianchi, Cube, Canyon, Wiggle, Ridley: some of the global leaders in the online market offer complete bike setup with easy-to-navigate sites and clean UI helps you choose the right specifications easily. First, you have to develop your criteria and which brand you prefer. As mentioned before, multiple online manufacturers are there that sell their bikes using the direct-to-consumer model. While some of them are expensive, depending on brands, some stores offer competitive pricing. Whether you look for a budget bike or a high-end one, this should trim the list further to save time and effort.
Select The Model You Want
It's always better to know what you’re looking for and shop accordingly. This is the basic trait we have developed while shopping, be it online or offline. Do thorough research on the brand and the model you want and whether this fits your budget. Aside from the groupsets, you will notice multiple build options that determine your bike’s quality and durability. This happens when you start browsing carbon bike models and the quality of your carbon fiber makes all the difference.
The higher the carbon resin modulus is, the lighter the bike, and that impacts its aerodynamics. You can see builds as manufacturer builds, store builds, and custom builds in top online stores. While manufacturer and store build offers ready-to-ship models, custom-built bikes can be built from scratch. This means that even the frame can be manufactured according to your requirement. Non or semi-professional who want a basic ready-made bike can therefore concentrate more on bike geometry and groupsets, instead of custom bikes.
Select The Size You Want
Choosing your size can be the most challenging part while purchasing a bike online. In the offline market, you can always get a demo or test ride before opting for a purchase. This gives you more freedom to select the perfect size. But for an online store, you can no way order a bike without knowing the right size. Sometimes different manufacturers have different geometry in their bikes that can be tweaked than that of other brands of the same size. This is where your stack and reach ratio comes in handy. Your stack and reach numbers can determine the suitable size of your bike when you compare them with the bike’s geometry you want to purchase. Compare. Almost every bike available to be purchased online has its geometry info for the consumers. To attract more customers, online sellers now offer live chat and phone support with expert suggestions and advice for a smooth online shopping experience. Call them to have a discussion about your stack and reach information and the recommended size of your bike. You can also use the Fit Calculator tool of CompetitiveCyclist.com to measure the perfect size of your bike by giving them some basic information about the length of your arm and legs.
Buying Online – Pros And Cons
Online bike shopping has its pros and cons. The biggest advantage of buying online is the price. Online prices are too good to miss out on. If you get the same model online at a lower rate than that of your local bike shop, why would you shop offline? Plus, limited-time deals are there that could also significantly lower the bike price. It doesn’t make sense, does it? Quicker delivery is another factor that convinces consumers to order online and get it delivered to their place soon. Want to see more models and color options, here you go!
Online stores have a plethora of options to choose from with valid warranties from the manufacturers. Someone who knows a thing or two about the bike assembly can therefore go for an online purchase to save money. But online bike purchase can also be a tricky one especially when you cannot try the bike you want to purchase. This is why a portion of niche riders still prefer to purchase from an offline store where they can try and buy. Other downsides of online purchasing include complicated assembling, replacement, and repairing hassles where your bikes may need to send back to the manufacturer with shipping fees.
Despite the customer-friendly service of traditional bike stores and retail chains, the temptation of online pricing and extensive collection is simply too good to ignore. Aside from complete amateurs or newbies, people know a thing or two about how to fix stuff on their bikes, how to assemble them, and what’s the size they prefer, and going online might be the right call for them. Although you can keep shopping from your local stores to encourage small businesses and help your local cycling community to grow.
