Online shop with good prices on Tubus kit (even better than SJS)

[JWestland]

http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/search/find/?q=tubus&fb_source=message

Tara lowrider for £10 less new, and some more racks. Haven't used them (yet) but seems like a good deal, especially as even second hand Tubus kit on e-bay doesn't go for really cheap, £20-30 off seems to be the most you can get.

They also ship world wide, but prices are in £ so maybe it's not cheaper if you're not in the UK

[julk]

Jawine,
you will find a lot of sites which are cheaper than SJS,
e.g. Spa will deliver you the Tubus Tara for just £2 more than Rosebikes.

Buying from a UK based shop makes it so much easier to return items or get service when there is a problem.

I buy from a variety of sites, but I have had excellent service from SJS and will continue to use them as one of my main sources.
The variety of touring bike stock SJS hold far outstrips other sites.
Julian.

[Pavel]

It is nice to have places which do rock bottom prices, but I have to say that after the service I have received from Thorn - I don't care if I spend a bit more to support a rare company such as SJS is.  I have confidence in them, and I want them around!  Keep in mind that I speak as someone from the US, where the shipping is a killer.  Still, I view it as penny wise and pound foolish personally to shop only at the impersonal discount houses.  I've had some trouble free dealings in the past with the big mailhouses, but also a couple of nightmares which, come to think of it ate up a couple of years of the pennies saved, so I'm now of the opinion that there is more to satisfaction that a few cups of coffee worth of savings. 

[Andre Jute]

The price that matters is what it costs delivered to your door, component and postage together. The price that really really REALLY matters is how much of your time is wasted by that rare problem...

[Danneaux]

And...don't forget...a very gentle reminder...Thorn/SJS Cycles have been kind enough to provide this Forum for us. It would be great if we in turn could patronize their shops. Given the quality of interaction, information, and resources available through the Forum, it would be reasonable to occasionally pay a small difference to fund that.

I love a bargain as much as the next guy, but there are things other than price alone that can make a difference.

SJS Cycles has long been my "local bike shop -- online". Even with postage, their prices are often lower than domestic (US) shops, online or otherwise. They not only give great service and reasonable shipping times, they actually have the parts in-stock. I can't count the number of times I tried to buy similar items from my local bike shops -- complete with distributor lists, order numbers, phone/Fax numbers, offers to pre-pay in full, all to make it easier -- only to have my efforts rudely rebuffed as "not worth our effort". I've never seen such an inventory as deep in stock or wide in scope as SJSC's...I just don't know how they do it. What's best is they even carry the small replacement parts. Most of the major online discounters only carry complete, popular components, and then only as they are available cheapest (that and bulk-buying is how they maintain such low prices). Break one of their parts, and you've got to buy a whole new one. Break or wear something out that was purchased at SJSC, and it is likely they'll have a replacement part even years later (i.e. pump parts and gaskets).

Just a happy customer.

Best to all,

Dan.

[jags]

yeah sjs are hard to beat for quality service every time very helpful friendly staff.
i sent three guys there way in the last few years  each bough top of the range raven tour bikes and each said the service was fantastic from start to finish..
i only hope robin thorn pokes his nose in here  sees this post and give my a nice big discount on my next purchase

[Andre Jute]

i only hope robin thorn pokes his nose in here  sees this post and give my a nice big discount on my next purchase

Hey, Robin, this fellow is so committed, you can bump your prices 20% just for him -- and he won't even notice!

[JWestland]

Just testing the water It seems sjs is the place to go then regardless as you say no use saving a few quid if service is great

[jags]

Hey, Robin, this fellow is so committed, you can bump your prices 20% just for him -- and he won't even notice!

Only just seen this very good hobbes 
but he should really give me something anything
i did put 3 customers his way  all bought top of the range ravens.

[Andre Jute]

Only just seen this very good hobbes 
but he should really give me something anything
i did put 3 customers his way  all bought top of the range ravens.

Heh-heh. I got your discount the time I bought a Brooks B73 for fifty quid, half price!

[jags]

how did you manage that always great to get a good bargain.
cant remember when i got one.

[Andre Jute]

how did you manage that always great to get a good bargain.
cant remember when i got one.

A few years ago now, as the saddle is just nicely broken in. I think they were clearing out some old stock that wasn't moving. Or the box might have been missing, as the saddle arrived here in a sealed Brooks-labelled plastic bag, without any further packaging, whereas other Brooks gear I bought at the same time was nicely (if dully) cartoned. Anyway, the saddle was perfect for me (for my weight and on-bike posture), and I wouldn't otherwise have bought it (it has an undeserved reputation for swaying on its springs -- it's a bullshit street myth), but at that price I thought I could experiment, and the B73 has since displaced the Cheeko90 seat as my favourite bike sitzplatz. The much-missed American bike guru Sheldon Brown told me the B73 is the most instantly comfortable of the Brooks saddles.  -- Andre Jute

[jags]

nice one andre just what the doctor ordered.