[Closed] Furthest you have travelled to buy a bike?

Unless it's a very special £700 bike, I wouldn't bother. Something else will come up nearer. On the other hand, if you're in a rush and you don't mind spending on a tank of fuel, why not? Combine it with a ride in another part of the country?

Where is the bike? In the past there have been a few volunteers on here to go and check stuff out for members / buyers.

A kind member on here who I trusted went into Halfords in Edinburgh (I'm in Brighton) and paid for a bike for me after I sent them funds.

Maybe there's someone on here who could help you?

Where is the bike?

Worthing.

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On the other hand, if you're in a rush and you don't mind spending on a tank of fuel, why not?

To soften the blow, I have negotiated to have that subtracted from the sale. So it's costing me the time mostly.

Thank heavens you were not negotiating with a tradesman

about 100 miles each way for kids bikes but i went to whinlatter afterwards so not the worst day trip.

There's some nice riding on the Downs around Worthing 🙂

(I would offer to help but this weekend is not good for me)

I asked the Q due to this:

http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/edinburgh-currie

I'm sure if you posted "Anyone in Worthing could do us a favour for a Beer/...." then you'd be quids in.

(I would offer to help but this weekend is not good for me)

Thanks for nothing, Luke 😡

😀

I had someone drive up here (Glasgow) last week to collect a velomobile, from Norfolk. The last velomobile went to someone who drove up from Brighton.

320 is not that bad, but try going by train it would probably be a lot easier.

If they're going to the Big Dog the following weekend and you can wait then I could be your man 🙂

I drove from Rye ,East Sussex to York for this[img] [/img]

I should add I do have previous, as I rode my motorbike up to Preston to test ride a Rock Lobster from Merlin Cycles, then rode home and ordered it 8)

320 is not that bad, but try going by train it would probably be a lot easier.

After the last time I tried to take a bike on a train, I would rather ride it home.

Plus, it's 2 changes and more than petrol cost...£67 return.

Do you think the seller could be dodgy or you just want to see the bike first? I've bought and sold stuff for more than £700, from/to random strangers...all using Paypal. Why are you averse to using them? Doing it that way, as well as using a tracked courier, is there really that much that can go wrong?

I'm always more bothered about buyers, rather than sellers (unless a deal seems too good to be true).

I love it ? Worth the time and the petrol.Had a shocking toad in the hole at a little chef near Notts?

Do you think the seller could be dodgy or you just want to see the bike first? I've bought and sold stuff for more than £700, from/to random strangers...all using Paypal. Why are you averse to using them? Doing it that way, as well as using a tracked courier, is there really that much that can go wrong?

Don't think they are dodgy, but as many cases on STW have shown, you cannot always tell. I would just like to have recourse in case something did go wrong such as bike not as described/doesn't turn up.

I suppose there are worse places to go than Brighton. Unless the sun comes out again, then it will be stacked.

I went down to the outskirts of London to pick up my Turner. Google tells me it was 155 miles each way. I went on the train, caught up with some reading, played some angry birds, it was nice. Had to change at Stevenage though......might miss that bit out next time 😯

12 miles, and then a ride on the trails in the hills from the shop, and the shop is in the hills so not far (made a great demo ride too before purchasing) 😀

Other bikes have been shops in town wherever I've been and a frame delivered to me at home.

Someone I knew I think bought on ebay or something and then arranged to meet the guy to collect using cash from a motorway service station. Very dodgy. Have heard of people getting mugged doing that and end up with nothing or even a kick in the head.

Personally I wouldn't buy from ebay/gumtree and possible not pinkbike. ebay/gumtree especially as the odds on it being nicked, damaged, dodgy or just plain problems with the deal are very high.

Baghdad, Iraq (from the US). The army sent me there. I bought a BSO-kinda bike at the PX.

[img] [/img]

North Leicestershire to Southampton for an XL Dr Jekyll, took hours and he didn't even offer me a drink. Ended up driving up a footpath as well. It was a fun adventure.
I wouldn't think twice about travelling miles for a decent bike.

Sheffield. From Huddersfield.

Hth

Drove to Wales to a Halfords that had the last one of two white furys and they wouldn't transfer it, bought my Blur LT2 from a Guy in the North East and funnily enough a Cube XMS from a guy in ...worthing Sussex
All these from Notts( in a company car using their fuel, company no longer trading and was already going tits up so I thought make the most of it)
Wouldn't hesitate for the right bike

I think the serious question here is why you would want to return to P'boro 😆
HTH

What you getting?

160m round trip (and an unplanned jaunt over Gatescarth and Harter Fell) for a Specialized Enduro

We had no intention of riding that far...just took a wrong turn at Longsleddale really!

Just do it if it ticks the boxes

Birmingham to That dirty London for a Cotic X, but i was going to a gig at the RAH so two birds one stone

It's a day at the seaside innit?
Go to Brighton for the day then pick the bike up in the evening.
I can think of far worse places to go.

I had a four and a half hour round trip (Stafford - Bristol) to sell a bike. We met half way from where he lived, so we both had about a 4-5 hour drive. Can't you get the seller to do the same ie meet half way?

It will be this Saturday. TDF route from Leeds to Harrogate, 130 miles 😕

What you getting?

Abuse 🙁

I think the serious question here is why you would want to return to P'boro

Paypal goods is a pretty safe way to pay for stuff IMO, you have general recourse for making a claim if it goes wrong.

My questions would be:

Where did you see the bike?
Have you spoken to the seller?
Do they know everything about the bike?
Do they appear to know about bikes, and ride?

Posting by CityLink is about £40 fully insured, or you can pay about £15 to send it via a Local Bike Shop.

I wouldn't waste my time for a 600 mile round trip for a £700 bike, I'd get it couriered and pay by PP Goods. Done this *loads*, and never had a issue with goods. (Gift is a different story, unless you're confident I'd stick with Goods).

i went from Helsinki all the way to Stockport for a bike, a few weeks ago now. Tbh, it was quite a faff

There's a guy I follow on Twitter who flew from London to Sydney just to be measured for a bike.

It was a Baum but it still counts?

On the reverse side of things - someone drove over 150 miles to pick up a bike from me and wanted to pay by cheque!

He completely failed to grasp why I said "err... no thanks - cash please!" - and I sent him on his way without the bike.

I drove 200 miles from Manchester to Innerleithen to pick a bike up from Alpine Bikes there. But can you think of a better place to be when you've just taken possession of a new bike? We made a weekend of it 😀

I've done a 400 mile round trip to get a bike. Friends went from Brighton to Inverness to pick up a car.

I went from Exeter to N. Wales to collect a bike.

Honestly, if it's the bike you want, just ask yourself 'would I pay x for the bike + fuel?' If the answer's 'yes' then do it!

yep drove to Carlise from Bristol and back (via a trail visit at Kielder) to buy my bike - 600 mile round trip

but my folks live in Hexham so i suppose its cheating as i stayed the night with them

A guy I ride with got the train from Harrogate to Dover* and back in a day to pick up a bike.

*might have been Portsmouth, I forget

East Fife to Infinity Cycles in Durham (about 170miles each way) to make sure I was getting the right size Scott CR1 road bike; great service and I was fully assured I was buying the right size. They also matched a deal that another bike shop was doing.

Kent to Wales to pick up an Alpinestars Al-Mega in the 90's... 8)

Being a fan of Trek Bikes (apologies for the foul language 😳 ), I've always had to pick up bikes I've bought.

Furthest - 550mile round trip to Wheelies in South Wales - for certain reasons had to pick up and turn around and come straight back not chance to test in the local vicinity.

Nottingham to Ulverston to pick up a frame once (420 mile round trip). I did however stay over at my bro's house for the night who lives near there so killed two birds with one stone.

I'm driving 200 miles to deliver one on Monday though :-0

While on a camping holiday from Brighton I managed to slowly edge us towards Bristol so I could get a look and probably buy an Overbury's Pioneer. My friends finally relented and we turned up to find the shop was closed on Wednesdays. My friends haven't stopped laughing about it to this day and that was 1987. I ended up going to Roberts instead and getting a custom built White Spider built.

Egham to Penge.

I drove from glasgow to london to pick up a roadbike. . I was driving a car that returned 65mpg and hooked up with some pals I hadn't seen in a while so killed 2 birds. 🙂

Guy I ride with went to Jeff Joneses home in the US to buy a bike from him. When the dollar was weak he did this several times.

I can't top Tang, and in fact my last bike was a 5 min stroll. I did however sell a bontrager race or a couple of years ago, chap from France drove over to collect

A few of us down here in Worthing could check it for you, might know the seller! That's a long way for a bike, I've driven further for rare VW parts though..

Did Doncaster to Bridgwater once, but combined it with a furniture swap with relatives who had just moved house to Clevedon so killed two birds with one stone. Oh, and more importantly, the mother in law was staying at our house that weekend. 🙂

we drove to north ****ing wales from devon to look at a puppy..
then drove back the next month to collect the ****ing thing

Ironically I'm contemplating driving from Sheffield to Peterborough for a 1980s road bike.

Glasgow to Preston to see what size rock lobster fitted. I had it for 7 yrs though 🙂

I sold my 5 on here in response to a wanted, to a buyer in London, using PayPal. Lots of pics, some mails, a couple of phonecalls and both happy with the deal.

Wirral to Nottingham for a bargain 2012 five frame off here.
Just got it back today from orange after a repaint so it,s definitely been on it's travels. 😀

Many years ago, I drove from Lancaster down to London and back in a day to pick up two brand new, boxed bikes from a sponsor. I was knackered for 2 days afterwards, that amount of driving (in the shit car I had back then) was horrendous.

Just for an update. After a bit of negotiating, it looks like we are going to meet up half way on Saturday.

A few of us down here in Worthing could check it for you, might know the seller! That's a long way for a bike, I've driven further for rare VW parts though..

I have faith in the bike/seller...mostly just being over-cautious. Thanks for the offer, though.

Ironically I'm contemplating driving from Sheffield to Peterborough for a 1980s road bike.

I thought I was the only person in P'boro with a bike? 😡

Edit: Ended up driving to worthing and back. With traffic jams and the torrential weather/flooding etc, it was about 6.5hrs of driving.

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All the way from Lymington to deepest, darkest Dartmoor.

Made a weekend of it - it was great.

60 miles each way to Cannock and back. Then I ended up selling the frame a couple of months later. I'll only pick somethng up if I can find something worth riding nearby otherwise it seems like a waste of time and petrol.

I'll only pick somethng up if I can find something worth riding nearby otherwise it seems like a waste of

It's why I got a CX bike, Tom.

Similar terrain to you, i.e non, so I reckon a CX is ideal for road/gnar bridleway action.

But did you get the boik? And Jamie, you [i]know[/i] you're not the only one round 'ere with a boik. Tsssk.

If it helps, I drove to Bridgwater from Pbog for a tandem, Pbog to Choke on Stench for another tandem and Pbog to Ludlow for my road bike so....lots of driving 🙂

<edit> oh cx bike you say? I have one of those for sale, just £650. Top end stuff and everything you know.... 🙂

Tell me more.... 😡

Just winding you up. Calm down dear. 🙂

So what did you get for the Mighty Green Wheel?

Just winding you up. Calm down dear.

I know, I know. I use that emoticon for mock anger.

Anyway, it's a Boardman CX. Just built it back up this morning, but wondering if I should pop to a LBS tomorrow to get the stem torqued up properly*. As it's the first time I have had a carbon steerer, so my ham fisted tightening efforts may not be appreciated.

😡

*I ain't got a torque wrench.

I drove from Gothenburg, Sweden to Leeds to pick up my Langster! To be fair, the trip was work related though.

They're usually about 5nm. Ritchey do a little torque key that clicks at that. Terry's (Paul's?) in Deeping had some last time I was in there. Be about the same cost as the LBS doing it. BTW, who do you use locally?

Ritchey do a little torque key that clicks at that

Hmm. Might pick one up....will probably still take the bike down there as well, just to give the once over.

BTW, who do you use locally?

For anything I cannot do, which is usually stuff that requires expensive tools/wheels, I use Terry Wrights.

...saying that, the when I just wanted a spoke replacing on a road wheel, I went to this guy:

http://www.cyclesurgery-peterborough.com/

Didn't know until I got there, but turns out he is deaf and blind. Made a lovely job of it.

If I can't do it myself, I use Bristows. Been going there since they opened (1980).

If I can't do it myself, I use Bristows. Been going there since they opened (1980).

My issues with Bristows, and it's more my problem than theirs, is they are always booked up 2 weeks or so in advance. So if you need something doing in a couple of days, or want something quickly checked, then you're out of luck.

For example, if I went down there tomorrow and asked them if they could check the Boardman's headset/tighten stem with a torque sometime today, they would require me to book it in. Which is fair enough, but a pain to wait 1-2 weeks for a 5 min job.*

*Again, like I say, it's not their fault for being busy, and I am aware if they did this all the time they wouldn't get to the booked in jobs, but just means I have to go elsewhere. Which is a shame, as they are nearest to me.

200+ miles on the M6 last friday, setting off at rush hour...5 hours total including collection, so could have been much worse.

Immaculate (used twice) Cannondale Trail SL1 (to be Ms Shackleford's first bike) paid around 1/2 the retail price so well worth the trip.

It's why I got a CX bike, Tom.

Similar terrain to you, i.e non, so I reckon a CX is ideal for road/gnar bridleway action.

I considered it but then thought it'd probably just be the worst of both worlds. Plus I'd rather just be riding faster on the roads next to the fields I'd be riding through. Northamptonshire bridleways are guff for riding.

I was a little bit worried that might be the case, and is why I went second hand. So if it doesn't work out, then I can sell the bike on and not lose too much/any cash.

Kettering to barrow in Furness and back in one day.

Purely as it was listed on the bay and was properly silly cheap.

.

😡

Confused? 🙂

I've not had to move from the laptop for my last 2 bikes.

At Easter we met a chap near Bristol to pick up my lads Spesh Hardrock. We were down that way for the weekend anyway.
A chap off here drove a fair distance to pick up my Cougar road bike. Hope your enjoying it mate, as I really miss it. 🙁

Sold a memory foam mattress to a chap off here, who drove up from Bristol way. Met just off the M5, at a McDonald's by the West Brom ground. We had a few strange looks...

Sold a Sofa once, for £60 on EBay. Chap sent a man-with-a-van chap up from Kent to Staffs to collect.