Hi folks

Got a mate who’s just moved down to Australia and is looking for a few buts and peices. He is out in thre back of beyond so needs an online shop.

I’ve done a quick google but nothing stands out. So has anyone got any experience of good online bike shops in Australia

CRC will deliver to Australia. Free delivery on most orders over £250 (vat fee as he’s in Aus too) and as long as the order is under $1000AUD there should be no import charges or taxes either.

They offer DHL express which is super quick or the free option is Parcel Force International most times and is about 5 days for delivery.

I’m pretty certain Wiggle do a similar deal don’t they – both a better option with a weak pound.

Torpedo7 or Cell bikes are local (depending where they live), but frankly if you are in need of urgent parts get friendly with the LBS and gasp at the prices or wait a week or so and buy from Wiggle or CRC etc as they deliver to Aus. For some reason the bikes seem to be reasonably priced here but the spare parts are crazy prices – I’m told Aussie bike shops can buy Shimano gear from the UK cheaper than their wholesalers – makes for interesting discussions I would imagine!

A lot of us in Oz use CRC & Wiggle rather than local online stores. There are local ones, but why use them when there’s less choice, they’re more expensive, and they still charge postage and it takes about a week to arrive! Wiggle do free postage to Oz for orders over AU$80, and CRC have so many customers over here they now bill direct in AU$ (don’t lose money on the exchange) and have Oz specific promotions – tell you’re mate they are doing 20% off with an Australia specific code at the moment…

Whoa, really, what’s the code and where do I get one? 20% off everything?

Oooops! That’s Wiggle who are doing the 20% deal for Oz customers at the moment, sorry.

Code is 20OFF-CYCAUS and its 20% off list, and you have to spend over AU$150. It’s running until the end of this month.

I am emigrating to Brisbane in January so have been trying to check this out too. Was planning to buy a new On One mountain bike, and a Planet X road bike when I am out there, as without VAT the bikes cost over £100 less including delivery to Oz. Any idea how much the import charge/tax may be if I do get stung?

Whinosp – anything you import into Oz that’s over AU$1,000 value, will be charged 10% GST and an admin fee (and that includes your personal belongings when you emigrate!)

Though bikes are indeed cheaper in the UK, once you add delivery charge (Wiggle & CRC free delivery thresholds don’t apply to bikes) and GST, you’re usually pretty close to being the same price. And it all depends on where the dollar/pound rate is by the time you’re over here and ready to buy. Finally, you have to factor in you’ve you’ve got a ‘grey’ import, so may have problems with warranty and second hand value – the model specs are different in Oz & some common brands in the UK just aren’t well known over here.

Components are different – they are about twice the price in Oz, can be shipping free, and don’t attract GST if you split your orders into less than AU$1000 bundles – and an XT crank is an XT crank no matter which country you bought it from. Thats why so many of us buy components from CRC & Wiggle these days, but very few buy whole bikes.