Mrs Julian was looking at a couple of Treks (yuuuuuurrrggghh, but hey, its her money…) on Royles, who don’t seem to do Treks by mail order. And neither does Evans, (who also don’t seem to deliver anything else from the trek group).

Is this a liability idiot set-up forks-the-wrong-way-round’ thing? I dimly remember something about bontrager parts not being available mail order either.

Its to maintain the warranty on the bike. There is a warning on the box that if the bike isn’t assembled by a shop then there is no warranty on it.

I wonder if the theoretical drop in sales by decreased availability as compared to ‘mailorderable’ bikes is actually offset by any reduction in warranty claims?
I suppose since treks are available pretty much everywhere that possibly isn’t as much an issue as it would be for less well distributed brands.

Yep Trek don’t want shops mail ordering it.

But some shops may… well the ones I know do but they know me well enough…

Same with Cannondale, not available via Mail Order for warranty/set-up reasons.

Pedalon will deliver the bike made up for a fee.

sspect its more to do with stoping shops undercutting each other, in esence price fixing, which is ilegal, but refusing to warrenty bkes sold by mail order is perfectly legal, ish, they’d have to be able to prove the bike was badly put together and thats what caused the problem.

So do Trek, C’dale etc have a view on DIY fitting of aftermarket parts in relation to warranty ?

Do the other companies, that do “allow” mail-order ?

thread quite recently about this – i’m with thisisnotaspoon – it is restricting routes to market and therefore reduces price competition and the reasoning is spurious – similar to the argument that only a main dealer can service a car to an acceptable standard – as somone pointed out it is explained on Trek’s website – now what really annoys me is that i was looking for a wsd trek to replace one that is well loved but the local Trek dealer is a shop who’s doors i will not darken (branches in Rotherham, Sheffield and Chesterfield) as to the warranty issue the goods have to be fit for purpose irrespective of who tweaked the shifters

having seen how some mail order bikes get set up, doesn’t surprise me that a manufacturer is trying to cover their back. Who gets the blame if something goes wrong, shop or manufacturer?

We’ve bought 3 Cannondales mail order in the past couple of years, from 2 different dealers.

surely the issue is that mail order co’s are not being explicit enough on how much skill is required to put together a bike and how vague the instructions will be – but that isn’t a problem limited to bikes

– i hate extending arguments but the logical conclusion of this is that you will have to produce a copy of your NVQ level 1 in literacy before you can buy a packet of jelly at the supermarket just in case you can’t read the instructions or intend to use for medicinal purposes and what about car parts? ladders? power tools – you have to be corgi registered to fit maintain a gas appliance but you can buy the parts – where is the logic in that?

Not available due to warranty set-up sounds like a line, manufacturers might use it to force shops not to mail order which helps keep prices high and profitable. Of course they’d never admit to retail price maintenance through selective practices, but it sounds like an example of it to me.

We’ve bought 3 Cannondales mail order in the past couple of years, from 2 different dealers.

Yep, bought 2 dales from different stores, mail order. Didn’t realise I wasn’t able to!

Just realised that despite having loads of bikeshops around us, we have no Trek dealers at all.

hi mate , were in sunny devon you from , cos big peaks in ashburton devon have got treks in stock , i was down there yesterday, they may even be dealers ,cheers , hope this helps, very helpful very nice people.

Swinnerton’s do a personal delivery service. They sorted me out with a Gay Fisher Rig. Very accommodating – give them a try.

Trek dont like dealers mail ordering for many reasons, lack of correct set up, incorrect bike sizing, poor after sales servicing, poor warranty service, etc etc. The good news is with 300 plus dealers in England, Scotland and Wales- you can find one or more close to you. Cannondale and Marin are just two other companies running similar policies. Nothing to do with price fixing- the retailer can sell goods for what he wants to after all!!!!!

specialized do similar. Think it started in the states as another trek/ specialized rivalry

Trek got bored of all the warranty claims for badly setup bikes plus they used to get calls all the time along the lines of ‘i bought a Trek online, built it up & its the wrong size. The bike shop wont change it, will you?’ When they say no it makes them look bad too.

J

is this comparable?

http://www.twobirds.com/English/News/Articles/Pages/CC_requires_Pierre_Fabre_allow_internet_sales.Aspx

Specialized don’t do it within a country, but won’t sell internationally. If you want an aluminium Epic (for example), you can’t order one from abroad, you’d have to go and get it from Europe or wahtever!

I see Col’s not mentioned the prime reason according to our rep, which was to stop shops 500 miles away undercutting local dealers. It’s a great idea IMO. Apparently they’ve shut down dealers with massive accounts in the US for sending bikes about the place.

I see Col’s not mentioned the prime reason according to our rep, which was to stop shops 500 miles away undercutting local dealers. It’s a great idea IMO

?why is that a good idea – service at my local Trek dealer stinks and i know the frame size i want?