Is Chainreaction average at best?

[shhhteve]

has anyone noticed how average chainreaction prices have become??
or is it just me....

like the advertise all these massive sales and markdowns but only markdown the rubbish no one buys
yet all the key components are just the same price...

then they have the 'take $15' off slogan
which only applied to 'sale' items...

they are still cheaper then local bike shops
but i remember having discount codes you could use on all products
and genuine sales....

 

[pink poodle]

They take a fairly large amount of money off me each year. I have noticed their prices are slightly higher. They also seem to deal less in really cheap old season good quality gear. where as they used to often clean items like last last last season forks for 80% off etc. Our beloved dollar is also not trading so well. I guess basically what I'm getting at isn't we nationalised all mining 10 years ago and put the dollar onto the Gold standard rather than floating it, and then also had a domestic and an international currency bike prices would probably be better.

 

[angrybadger]

I'm surprised they're still as cheap as they are.

 

[stirk]

They are still cheap enough and my initial go to shop.
Although shopping around you can find certain items at much better pricing, even our local online shops can be more competitive and regularly get my dollar over CRC.

 

[Mywifesirrational]

There still got some good deals on various products, but now days I have a close look at all the UK and German sites to work out the best deals, sometimes you can save significantly by searching, depends if that time is valuable to you.

Has the Euro dropped similarly to the Aud, the German sites (excluding the delivery cost) have some ripper deals constantly.

 

[teK--]

Even taking into account AUD slipping against GBP, CRC's pricing over the recent year blows when compared to other suppliers in Europe. Wiggle, Ubyk, Evans cycles, Bike24.

As the OP said, when they have sales it is on the crap that no one wants. They used to give vouchers with large orders occasionally, give free DHL courier shipping on large/expensive orders, and offered store-wide discount code campaigns.

Have actually been doing a lot more shopping lately with MTBD and Pushys.

 

[pink poodle]

^ same here for pushies. The speed...mostly order Monday, receive Wednesday. I've recently restocked grips, cables, brake pads on my fleet (15 bikes). This would've traditionally been a CRC order, but pushys smashed them on price, and I had my stuff in 2 days.

 

[teK--]

Once the GST kicks in for low cost imports it will further close the coffin for CRC. Plus a lot of their suppliers are screwing them down and stopping sales to Australia so their product range is becoming more limited.

 

[SummitFever]

CRC, Wiggle and Torpedo7 were all better in the past. There used to be some truly amazing deals, probably because they were buying distressed or over-supplied stock outside of the usual channels. The super-value stuff would often arrive without packaging etc.

On Monday I bought some XTR M9000 brakes. Cheapest price was Evans Cycles for $183 an end delivered. CRC was about $30 and end more expensive. Evans don't offer any shipping options, but I was amazed when the brakes arrived this morning after I'd ordered them Monday evening! They were also the full retail packages with all the spares and mounting hardware you'd expect to get.

 

[Haakon]

Havent used CRC in a while now... Mostly still Wiggle, but Merlin seems to be an option now too - got a killer deal on hydro disc/shifter set for the roadie that was here in very short order.

Never really need things quickly, but it is good to see Pushys and MTBD are closing the gap fast on the overseas suppliers.

 

[hifiandmtb]

CRC is still ok for some things. Just picked up a Park Tools spoke tension gauge & other service stuff for much cheaper than locally.

 

[...G...]

CRC are definitely not as competitive as they were four or five years ago, although I still get some things from them.

Bike24 is my current favourite.

 

[mtb101]

spent a grand around xmas time at crc, all arrived within 7 days, great prices (considering aussie dollar) delivered to my door, still much cheaper than local - can do all my shopping at work, compare prices etc, can't see me ever going back to old style shopping.

 

[steve jobs' pancreas]

Just one big ol hairy paradox to me

 

[steve jobs' pancreas]

Maybe even a contradiction

 

[jbg]

Found stores like tbsm and pushy's have the same price on anything that crc do.
Bought a set of pikes from crc a couple of years ago as they were $200 cheaper than any local shops and online stores. Took 3 weeks to arrive with the "free shipping" option then I was stung with a $220 customs fee.
Had to return something with tbsm and it was sorted and replaced within a week with all postage covered.
N.S Dynamics was the most impressive with supply and postage. Don't know if their shop is nextdoor to an auspost depot or not but I ordered a maxle stealth off them at 3.30pm and it was in my Melbourne po box at 8am the following day.

 

[Knuckles]

Found stores like tbsm and pushy's have the same price on anything that crc do.
Bought a set of pikes from crc a couple of years ago as they were $200 cheaper than any local shops and online stores. Took 3 weeks to arrive with the "free shipping" option then I was stung with a $220 customs fee.
Had to return something with tbsm and it was sorted and replaced within a week with all postage covered.
N.S Dynamics was the most impressive with supply and postage. Don't know if their shop is nextdoor to an auspost depot or not but I ordered a maxle stealth off them at 3.30pm and it was in my Melbourne po box at 8am the following day.

NSD are stupid good with service/delivery. Ordered some custom made shock hardware, and had it the next morning. Don't think it could have gotten here faster if they'd climbed into the car after hanging up the phone and driven it down to Melbourne themselves.

I find I'm using the local onlines more often now, as the service is just so much better. I think it's a legacy of the ubercheap friends days. The locals just couldn't senseably compete on price so they lifted their game with awesome customer service. Nowadays I'll always hit up NSD, Pushys, MTBD, TBSM, T7, Cycling Deal first, and unless there is a massive difference in price, one of them will generally get my clams.

 

[madstace]

I find I'm using the local onlines more often now, as the service is just so much better. I think it's a legacy of the ubercheap friends days. The locals just couldn't senseably compete on price so they lifted their game with awesome customer service. Nowadays I'll always hit up NSD, Pushys, MTBD, TBSM, T7, Cycling Deal first, and unless there is a massive difference in price, one of them will generally get my clams.

+1. The locals definitely do CS way better than CRC/Wiggle these days (maybe not so much T7), and even before our dollar went to shit, seemed to be doing a good job of being competitive $$$ wise. I've only used CRC once for a small order since a calamitous order Xmas '14 where they almost couldn't have been less interested in sending the part I actually ordered, and haven't used Wiggle since the Shimano brake debacle of 2011 (although in part that's due to a seemingly increased focus on roadie stuff/less MTB stuff). Have used Bike-discount.de a few times and they're pretty good, shipping just takes a while.

 

[Minlak]

Tbsm / pushies / bikebug / mountain bikes direct all get a nice chunk of my money. I however love hope stuff and have to get a lot of it from over seas as it's just not stocked here.

 

[Jezza K]

If chain reaction sold underwear I would never need to go into a bricks and motor store again