i havent bought anything off merlin for quite a few years (xtr front mech for £12 about 8 years ago)…but as i was looking for a cheapish set of cranks i thought i’d have a look on their website…found some nice LX (M580) HT2 cranks and b/b for £50 (potential PSA?)…reasonable price i thought…had a pair of these on the DH bike so i knew they were good…so i bought them…they arrived this morning stuffed in a brown box (not original shimano one) and minus the usual shimano paperwork….its a good job i know how to fit them….
am i right being a bit fussy about what wasnt in the box or should i just look beyond this and marvel at what i did receive in the box?

OEM kit isn’t supplied in a nice Shimano box.
OEM kit is cheap.

yes merlin have sold grey import equipment for many years. you got them cheap because they were destined for manufacturers builds and for what ever reason got sold to merlin to knock out cheap sans box.

if you want to be fussy pay a bit more and support your LBS – youll get retail boxed items to chuck in the skip and everything

i realise that its probably easier to package in a conventional box as opposed to the shimano box and as for the instructions….like as if i would have read them anyway!! 😯

flame suit…..ON!! 😆

Oem stuff arrives at the seller bulk packed, that’s why its cheaper.

You can always download the instructions.

OEM stock isn’t it.

edit, very slow fingers/typing.

my mech came in a plastic bag and no box
he did place it into my hand to be fair 😀

reminds me of when i was a kid at xmas always preferred playing with the empty box rather than the present inside!

if you want to be fussy pay a bit more and support your LBS – youll get retail boxed items to chuck in the skip and everything

ermm….spent £850 in there on Saturday on various bits and pieces….is that enough support? 😆
they didnt have the cranks i wanted in stock and i wasnt prepared to pay £80 for a set of deores… 😛

your 850 quid didnt get you a box for your lx cranks did it ?

reminds me of when i was a kid at xmas always preferred playing with the empty box rather than the present inside!

😆 i know the feeling…my little lad wants me to build him a periscope out of the marzocchi fork box!!

your 850 quid didnt get you a box for your lx cranks did it ?

no but it got me a nice big box for the forks i bought and another box containing the rear shock….. 😉

print off the instructions and put the cranks and instructions in the box the forks came in :d

problem solved :d

@ trail_rat – good thinking batman!! 😆

I bought an XT cassette recently, it came retail packed with instructions. I was most surprised, I think that’s a first in 7 years.

I bought a set of wheels this week from Merlin. Original Shimano box (very nicely packed).

I bought those cranks for my son from Merlin, was quite happy how they came and certainly wouldn’t have described them as ‘stuffed in a brown box’.

They came in a decent quality box wrapped in bubble-wrap – and for £50, with BB, a bargain.

Recent purchase from Merlin (Tiagra chainset) was sent in full retail packaging. I’ve received a few items from CRC in just a plastic bag (and a little scuffed / scratched when it arrived). So no they don’t always package like that but sometimes they do.

I’ve got an Alfine chainset box in the shed.
You can have it for nowt.
You’ll have to collect it though.
Welcome.

My Havoc carbon bars came in two jiffy bags taped together to make one long one. No box 😯

My shifters came in a proper Shimano box. My chain came wrapped in cling film. 🙂

Got my hollow tech BB in a nice Shimano box

goes outside looks at recycling bin full of unwanted and unneeded packaging wanders back in scratching head – sits down to see if really can learn mandarin from the 26page toaster instruction manual

I ordered an XT groupset from Merlin last Friday…. was on my desk (in Sydney) this Tuesday. Well impressed.

I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the box to find that every component was “consumer” packaged (or whatever the opposite of OEM is). I know it makes no practical difference, but it adds to the “new toy” feeling 😀

another excellent Merlin experience: wheels will be ordered from them next month

and here lies the main issue facing most LBS’s these days, they can’t get this kit at these prices. Merlin assemble bikes so can along with quite a few others it seems.

Time for the suppliers to even up the playing field for all retailers. There is still a place for OEM – generally sold at a huge discount to get them “in” to a market, Shimano can sell a drive train close to cost knowing that they will pick up 3-4 retail mech sales from that sale, maybe a few shifters. Selling that on to end users is great for the consumer but not for long term stability.
Most LBS’s would love to be able to get hold of stuff at those prices!

I got some xt brakes from them at a huge discount a few years ago. Came in a Hope box. Just bought a SRAM Red shifter which came in its retail box. I guess it just depends

I have some Shimano boxes somewhere I can let you have for a modest consideration

I bought a n XT 2 x 10 group set from Merlin for £450 including brakes !!! As the guy on the phone said of course it’s OEM . If you have an attactchment to cardboard boxes with Shimano on them you will be disappointed !!!

I got a VERY cheap 150mm RCT3 Revelation from Merlin and it just came in a brown box with none of the extras.

Good job really I wasn’t hoping to ride any of the extras anyway. 😉