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Wanted to order new pads on the weekend for the track bike, phone two local bike shops to see if they were in stock, both had them, both similarly priced at just under £60 a pair. Now I'm in no hurry for the pads so I looked on Sportsbikeshop.com and found same pads for £40 and change!

Now, I have no issues supporting LBS's and I don't mind paying a little bit more (helps me sleep at night) but £20 difference for a set of pads?!!! Probably the British in me -but I don't like to 'haggle' over prices

Anyway, they're on route from Sportsbikeshop including oil for less than the pads from LBS!!

my nearest bikeshop is 45 mins away sadly. given the distance and time, it all gets bought on line. the zed is nearly 40, so the dealer wont be stocking bits .

car parts and oil mostly from the local motor factor. oem bits for the car are special order from classic parts in sweden. online does give access to european suppliers. no complaints.

use a local place to supply and fit bike tyres though.

read a story recently suggesting oil on ebay couldnt be trusted. fake shell synthetic and mobil 1. fake news?

sniffipn wrote: ↑Tue Aug 28, 2018 6:35 am
read a story recently suggesting oil on ebay couldnt be trusted. fake shell synthetic and mobil 1. fake news?

Interesting, because I also saw a report about 'fake' NGK plugs on eBay.

I, too, prefer to support local bike shops (LBS), but as you say, they can be far from competitive. I am an ongoing customer of Sportsbikeshop and actually have an order in the system at the moment!

I also prefer to support Honda dealers for service etc (I don't have facility or equipment to do much of my own) but I feel they are far dearer than a privately owned workshop. I guess we end up where the service is best - regardless of cost.

i do a lot of my parts shopping online. mainly because parts supply in sunny northern ireland is sh1t.. oil and stuff like that i always use the local small bike shops nearby.

I have this issue at work. There's no way I can supply Pads as cheap as places like sportsbike shop, I tend to tell many of my customers that they can get them cheaper and I can fit them if they like, I'll always give them a price so the choice is theirs. I think of it as good customer service I think on things like pads buying power (quantity) makes the difference.
with stuff like plugs I advise people to stay away from the likes of ebay as have had many bikes in with dodgy plugs bought from there. If you really must then buy from a big name seller ss shop or MandP, Demon tweeks etc..



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