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Conference noted::bicycle

Title:	Bicycling
Notice:	Bicycling for Fun
Moderator:	JAMIN::WASSER

Created:	Mon Apr 14 1986
Last Modified:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	3214
Total number of notes:	31946

2010.0. "Should Bike be purchased in Scotland or Boston?" by GBMMKT::BZLOTNICK () Mon Jul 22 1991 12:55

    A friend's daughter will be attending the University of Edingurgh during
    the 1991/92 school year.  She will be spending 6 weeks prior to the
    start of school touring the UK on bicycle.  Should she purchase her
    bicycle over in Scotland (Edinburgh) or should she buy it in Southern
    New Hampshire.  
    
    Are the prices over in the UK sufficiently higher than in the U.S. to
    warrant the aggrevation of the packing/unpacking involved with shipping a
    bicycle.  
    
    I suppose bicycles in the U.S. start at about $200-300 and go up to
    about $500-600 for a pretty decent Univego (sp).  At $1.70 to the pound
    that would be a range of 120 pounds to 350 pounds.
    
    Appreciate your advice.
    
    Regards,

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
2010.1	flying with bikes	DANGER::JBELL	Zeno was almost here	`Mon Jul 22 1991 14:50`	23
	> Are the prices over in the UK sufficiently higher than in the U.S. to > warrant the aggrevation of the packing/unpacking involved with shipping a > bicycle. According to my brother-in-law, the bike prices in London are in pounds almost the same as the dollars cost in the U.S.. According to him, a $400 bike would cost about 380 quid. In fact, the local bike shop wanted to have me buy a Cannondale at US retail prices, take it over as checked luggage, and sell it to them for 25% more than I paid. Packing a bike to take on a plane is not hard. If you're using the airline's box, you just have to turn the handlebars and reverse the pedals; the wheels can stay on. (There's usually a bit of extra room too to stash tents and foam pads too.) On most international flights, the bike can count as one of the checked bags. It might be cheaper to take the bike on the plane and then mail the books at the special book-rate. -Jeff Bell
2010.2	Will buy bike in Southern New Hampshire	GBMMKT::BZLOTNICK		`Mon Jul 22 1991 18:04`	10
	Jeff, appreciate the advice. I'll forward your note to my friends daughter and I'm sure she'll purchase the bike in New Hampshire based on your note. The prices tend to be pretty competitive abound here and based on what you say it will cost significantly more in the U.K. I understand it costs more to buy a Japanese bike in Japan than it does in the U.S. So, I guess we have it pretty good here even if we complain a lot. Regards,
2010.3		ULTRA::WITTENBERG	Uphill, Into the Wind	`Mon Jul 22 1991 19:46`	12
	I'd recomend buying it here for because you can get it set up and make sure that everything works and is comfortable well before the trip starts. You can probably get the shop you buy it from to pack it up for you if you ask them when you buy the bike. It doesn't cost them much. I like to make all the changes to my bike for a trip and then ride it 100 to 500 miles before the trip starts to make sure everything is right. I don't want to ride it much more than that because then I'd start worrying about things wearing. --David
2010.4	Go for the U.S. price	VOGON::REEVE	Underground boring specialist	`Tue Jul 23 1991 06:14`	22
	>================================================================================ >Note 2010.0 Should Bike be purchased in Scotland or Boston? 3 replies >GBMMKT::BZLOTNICK 19 lines 22-JUL-1991 11:55 >-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > start of school touring the UK on bicycle. Should she purchase her > bicycle over in Scotland (Edinburgh) or should she buy it in Southern > New Hampshire. > Well, I spent a couple of weeks in Santa Clara and saved �350 on my Cannondale SM-700. Does that give a feel for the difference? Basically, to determine the U.K. price, take the U.S. price and convert the $ into �. For Cannondales, this is even worse! SM-700 $705 or �800! So, if you are spending any amount of money on a bike, be sure to buy in the U.S. if possible. Yes, it is definitely worth the effort. Also, on international flights, most airlines do not charge extra for transporting the bike. Pack it in a regulation bike shop cardboard box, pad it as well as you can. Ask for more details if needed. Just make sure that it won't slip around inside the box. Tim