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just popped on and its seems like there is sod all left TBH
Yep even the truing stands have gone. I think this weekend will be the end of an era.
Just noticed the delivery times from earlier this week are 26th march. I should have gone next day, but hey-ho.
Jeez, what’s wrong with me. I logged on to verify the reports that the website is falling apart, saw that it indeed it is, became convinced they won’t be there by Monday morning, but spotted a bargain shacket in my size and ordered it…
can’t believe it’s nearly over. Trying to workout when my first order was. My nukeproof neutron pedals on the old 26”er are I think at least ten if not fifteen years. Not sure.
Yeah, the bunch of bits I was going to order this aft have now gone. See ya CRC.😔
Just had a quick look at emails and it looks like my first (of many) CRC order was Nov 2011, a pair of Ritchey Comp Bar Ends 🤣. I don’t want to know how much I’ve spent with them over the years. It’ss shame to see them go
My order from Monday just shipped today. Wiggle quoted a March 18th delivery so seems like they’re just giving realistic delivery estimates.
fair play to the team there, they’re doing a fine job in awful circumstances. 💪
Just had a quick look at emails and it looks like my first (of many) CRC order was Nov 2011
Mine was well before they had a website. They used to print the entire stock list across several pages of MBUK, MBI and the like
I think my first Chain reaction order was back in 2001, it was a Titec x wing seatpost. I was 15 at the time. I remember ordering after school and it arriving the next day, I also remember the stock list in MBUK planning upgrades with friends at lunch break. Goodbye chain reaction, thank you for the memories.
From literally everything a cyclist could want (and more) to just 16 pages of random bits left. The last few bits I wanted have disappeared from my basket and I'm not sure if my 2 recent orders will go through before they finally go under.
Despite all the recent bargains it feels very sad, not sure where I'll go to buy all my cycling bits from now on!
From literally everything a cyclist could want (and more) to just 16 pages of random bits left. The last few bits I wanted have disappeared from my basket and I'm not sure if my 2 recent orders will go through before they finally go under.
Despite all the recent bargains it feels very sad, not sure where I'll go to buy all my cycling bits from now on!
I think the good ship Wiggle has sailed.
Yeah, my first CRC order was back in 2001. It was when I was getting back into MTB after a bit of a hiatus when at uni. I was on the beach on holiday reading MBUK and I vividly remember planning mail order purchases out of the stuff listed in a double page spread ad in the magazine.
Thanks and goodnight, Chain Reaction Cycles.
Hope the staff are all doing as well as they can be.
Super sad. An ending. I sold to CRC when they were a shop in Ireland and I sold to Butler when they were a shop in Portsmouth in the 90s so also the end of some of my personal journey in the UK, selfishly.
What a desperately sad crying end.
Do many of you still have orders processing still ?
How did they come to merge(crc/wiggle) i was buying from both beforehand, probably CRC more to be honest as i was initially more of an mtb rider. Were both retailers bought out and then merged? I did remember thinking at the time, they are a real juggernaut and going to have a stranglehold on the market which i guess they did have for a good while and the situation we are now in was unthinkable then. I have used many other retailers too but they are my favourite for sure having such a wide range of choice and some good home brands for spares and bits and bobs always competitively priced. Free delivery was always a bonus too but that nudged up onto a minimum spend and over the years.
Do many of you still have orders processing still ?
Yes a Hope pro5 hub ordered on Monday 🙁
I'm waiting on a £40 order placed Monday. Paid by CC but just read that protection only applies over £100 but can try a visa dispute instead if it's gone under.
How did they come to merge(crc/wiggle)
I've got a £30-ish order paid via Paypal still processing.
My first order from CRC was for bits to build up my Kinesis Maxlight XC in about 2005 (Think the frame was from Merlin) age 15 or so.
Looks like everything Brand-X, Prime and lifeline has been taken of the site
‘Only’ a £20 order placed on Tuesday - said I should get it before next Friday and heard nothing since. Hopefully it’ll get through but the signs aren’t good
It feels like the whole wind down has been well managed so I don’t see any reason why it should crash to the end. They’re obviously winding up the site, the existing order well will be fulfilled and then it’s the end.
I don’t see why the administrators would want to finish with a bunch of small creditors.
Fohn stock looks to have gone as well
I got swept up in sale and bought some stuff I really shouldn't have. Im just a sucker for what I think might be a good deal :(.
Got a horizon Pro wheelset for £130 which I thought seemed a good shout but I didn't really need it at all tbh.
I'm a nightmare when there's cheap stuff going.
Where’s Noel when you need him?
The bids for existing stock are likely to be for the £4+m of stock in transit on a slow boat from China. The last report from the administrator mentioned it somewhere in the detail. I can’t imagine anyone getting frothy over the rubbish selection of odd sized shoes or externally routed dropper posts still available unless they are for pennies on the pound.
My last order shipped tonight so I wish the remaining staff good luck for the future. Thanks to Wiggle I’ve got enough £50 10 speed winter drivetrains to last me a lifetime, which is not a good sign for future demand.
I'm a bit disappointed I missed out if the £45 wheel truing stand but I think 8 made out pretty well with all the stuff I got.
Is there going to be a swap shop thread? Do we think the stuff they've still got in stock now will end up on eBay?
If anyone sees that wheel jig pop up anywhere, let me know please.
@onzadog, I briefly looked at the turning stand the other day, there were loads on eBay which looked identical from the photos for only a little more money (about £60 IIRC), so I decided I don't actually need it now (along with everything else I don't actually need but bought anyway over the last few weeks).
Had one final order just for the sake of it, some more nukeproof jockey wheels for a fiver, even though I've already got several pairs, and a horizon pro front wheel for £45, don't need it and there's no torque caps for it but it was too cheap to not buy it, it'll probably help a mate out in an emergency need a wheel by this weekend situation.
Do many of you still have orders processing still ?
Yep. One from CRC on 11th March and one from Wiggle on 14th.
Both still processing. I paid the extra for next day from Wiggle in the hope that it might get despatched quicker and may e nudge the CRC order along at the same time.
Dont think that's happening now!
I think there's something dunky goo G on with the site(s) with the lifeline and Fohn stuff. I had a few items in my basket in both sites and they've disappeared.
Not gone out of stock, just not in my basket any more. Can't find the using the search either.
Managed to find a link to one which was a down jacket for the missus. Page loads, shows as in stock but I get 'error adding basket' do I reckon they must have done something behind the scenes.
A lot on the weirdness is due to the site design. It's micro services iirc so your seeing the delay in consistency update between the various moving parts.
Do many of you still have orders processing still ?
Slightly different experience here to @bens....Ordered wheels from CRC late Thursday night, standard free delivery, apparently out for Parcelforce delivery today (actually put a dri release lomg sleeve for £9 in same basket, and that also seems to be out for delivery today albeit as a separate package)
Still have a Wiggle order from 11 March showing as "processing" though. Looking back, all my orders through CRC came through fairly quickly (though one did take 7 days), only ordered one through Wiggle and that seems a bit stuck...still hopeful it'll be out in next few days
I've still got an order processing from Tuesday. Most of it i can do without but I really need the dropper post cartridges, so fingers crossed!
I'd just persuaded myself to order one of the truing stands as I've got 3 wheels to build, but procrastinators never prosper 🙁
Definitely feels like the end of an era. I remember getting my mum to send a cheque to pay for stuff from their ad in MBUK in about 1998
I was watching a few lifeline bits with plenty of stock that have gone.
I had two orders from Monday on processing that have shipped over night but I didn't get an email just update on the orders page.
The fella who posted on the homepage article did say bargains till middle of March and it'll be closing so perhaps it was a case of sell what we can until day x.
I suspect I've made my final order with Chain Reaction. I first ordered from them in early 2000 and was amazed that you could order something on Friday and have it arrive in Aberdeen the following day! Sad times!
I had two orders from Monday on processing that have shipped over night but I didn’t get an email just update on the orders page.
Yup, same here - worth checking your orders page.
I suspect the things they could pull together into organised bins/lots are why prime, lifeline, brand-x have disappeared.
It's probably fairly easy to sell 1000 dropper posts to a smaller shop / bike brand like Planet-X or Bird. Ditto Prime to one of the smaller road brands, etc.
Spooky... I think they might be listening in...
After my earlier post where the Wiggle order was still saying 'processing', it's just been delivered and now shows as shipped on the website.
Still no sign of CRC from the 11th though
I've got a few orders processing, it's the most I've purchased in a few years, but for me the heyday was back in the 2000's and early 2010s. I remember ordering something in the afternoon and it was in my hands by 7.30am the next day, I remember taking the package to work to open - that's when the post used to come early as well, would've been about 2008. I remember the MBUK ads from the 90s, they've basically kept me going through the 90s until now. Without the bargain prices I'd not been able to upgrade my bikes over the years, but I think it was easier about 15 years ago as almost everything you could get would fit any bike you have. 1 1/8th headsets and steerers, wheels were pretty much the same unless you had a 20mm bolt through, casettes were all the same fitment, you're purchases were based more on what quality of part you could afford - LX or XT cassette, FSA or Hope headset. I don't upgrade my newer bikes like I did back then as standards and fit are all over the place and after trying to figure out what fits I just think the part I've got will do fine! Quite sad to see them go, I wonder what they will become? Everytime they had a big sale I'd be on the phone to friends saying 'what have you found?' Remember the flood sale too, didn't they add things every now and then?
Cheers guys ,the status of my order from the 9th has been changed to dispatched so happy days
I have enough road clothes to see out my cycling days I recon!
Feels like we are vultures picking of the last bits of meat
I need some 99p headsets don’t I?
Slightly different experience here to @bens
If you’ve just ordered one bulky item going via Parcel Force then the pick logic in the warehouse management system may see it as an easy order to fulfill to reduce the volume of orders in the order well so jump to the top of the queue.
The majority of orders in the well will be likely be something big- ish supplemented by a mass of cheap bottles, headset, bottom brackets, etc. Slower to pick as it’ll be a journey around the warehouse to get the items and going via a cheaper/slower delivery service (Evri) so they’ll just be being pulled from the order well in a sequential order.
Just got my last CRC order and added up what this sale has cost me. I have spent just under £300 but got 3 good jackets/helmet/dropper/pedals/tyres/ shifter/ headset/ tools and some other spare bits. Full retail (if it ever was that) is claimed to be over £1,100!
Thankyou to everyone at CRC.
Last order just changed to shipped. Thank you Chain Reaction staff for seeing this through.
Relieved to see my last outstanding order (wiggle) also now marked as shipped just now, but the wheels that supposedly were out for delivery today look to have stayed sat at the Parcelfarce Bristol depot all day instead (even had that overwhelming feeling of disappointment when a Parcelforce van came up the drive but dropped something at our neighbours instead...). My excuse for watching most of Milan San Remo was that I had to stay in for the delivery. First world problems when compared with what the Wiggle/CRC staff are dealing with. Hope they all get sorted
I caved and bought the last XTR 11 speed cassette and after ten days of Evri telling me they were going to deliver it, then saying they aren't going to bother trying because it's too big, they've now told me they're sending it back to CRC. So I've missed out on that. Plums.
I'm still waiting for 3 orders from crc whilst a wetsuit I ordered from wiggle was cancelled. Gutted as it for my lad to use this summer. No doubt it'll be on eBay for twice the price.
I'm hoping that posting on here will move my Castelli jacket to dispatched ..
I’m hoping that posting on here will move my Castelli jacket to dispatched .
same here with my Castelli Longs. 🙄
And my XT cassette…
Just got my last order of Primavera 28 wheels. Found a return slip inside from someone called Derek who bought them on the 6th March 2024 and returned them on the 8th. That explains why they became in stock again
I'm just looking at the Urchin pedal service kit, by the look of it the bearings at least are compatible with DMR V12 Mk2 and Vaults, I'd imagine the pins are a similar size too. Either way for 99p they look alright even if it is budget bearings. The only review says they fit the Horizon Pro's as well.
Merlin churning out GX AXS for good.prices (ye olde version for a normal mech hanger - not t type)
Be aware need to add a battery, charger, and clamp for the shifter
Uber20 gets 20% off everything.
Site went funny and that posted too soon. 20% code above for uberbikes
Chanced one last order on the 12th, £35 and most of that is for a couple of Fohn bits so can't see it turning up. Have messaged CRC but no response. Ah well, was always a risk when picking at the bones. Hope all there can find decent jobs to move on to.
Still processing. In some ways I'm relieved that it's done. This is not the order of a man in sound mind.
As an aside, I like the idea of the AXS thing posted above but that still seems like a lot of money to just get rid of 1 cable and have to charge a battery. Or are there any other benefits in addition to the aesthetics?
I really do not need another 12 speed cassettes and more ZS56 headset lowers, stem spacers plus water bottles - even if they are a bargain at a shade over £20 with free post....
Keep repeating it.
@nickfrog I bought a bike with t type on it recently (by accident, CRC Vitus bargain). I was very skeptical of the electric shifring....but I've got to say I am a total convert. It's the effortless precision of it.
Chanced one last order on the 12th, £35 and most of that is for a couple of Fohn bits so can’t see it turning up.
Putting an order in on 12th was not chancing it... rookie behaviour. I put orders on 15th & 16th with stuff that was just in my basket and not even on the website anymore ...thats chancing it 😎
I've still got things in my basket that don't appear anywhere and was tempted to put the order in!
Strangely, when I access my basket it asks me to remove some items as they're out of stock but the other items are still there and I can increase the quantity.
I think I'll see what happens tomorrow morning, I can't see either of the stores being open this time next week if I'm honest 🙁
@nickfrog I bought a bike with t type on it recently (by accident, CRC Vitus bargain). I was very skeptical of the electric shifring….but I’ve got to say I am a total convert. It’s the effortless precision of it.
Sounds good and a no brainer in the circumstances. However now that you know how good it is would you still upgrade to it on your next bike if that came with cable GX? At a cost of £400 minus selling on the old GX for say £100 so £300 net?
Are those brandx cassettes any good?
Just received my dhb softshell in XL but it's too big for me.
We could do with a swap shop on here.
My bargain Giga 297 frame has just arrived, I'm hoping the carbon and X2 shock don't cause too much trouble.... At £470 I thought it was worth a punt.
Are those brandx cassettes any good?
I hope so... I bought 2.
Haven't fitted them yet.
Got a BX one on my turbo trainer. Shifting isn't great and it's a bit noisy but I'm only running a cheap SRAM chain and deore 11sp shifter so not really much of a comparison!
last deal I can find on the site - 27.5" inserts for cheap https://www.wiggle.com/p/nukeproof-horizon-advanced-rim-defence-ard-pair
I’d spotted those inserts too, but reviews are poor, suggesting they stretch then annoying rattle in the tyre and soak up sealant. The old adage, but cheap, buy twice, might be applicable.
ok stock is back up and some things have been decimated in price, but gone out of stock as well - shimano kit down to under a fiver. Good luck hunting!
I'd say that's it as everything remaining looks out of stock. A sad end for a company that has provided for so many over the years.
I assumed that one of the bigger shops (Planet X, Merlin, etc) would swoop in at some point and scoop up all of the remaining stock for pennies on the pound in a big “I’ll take the lot of your hands for £x” style.
Will wait and see if the 2 outstanding orders come through. Am hoping they do
My 2 orders from last Monday showed up with evri today.
Bit of a weird one because I'll be sad to to CRC go but until the recent sales I'd barely used them for the last 2-3 years. Back to Tredz, Sigma, Bikeinn & Merlin for me now.
Sad times - for us as consumers of late and over the years. Been using CRC for probably over 20 years 😕.
Hope the employees get sorted sooner rather than later.
Anyone else kind of feeling relieved that we can stop checking this thread soon? And then…..maybe…just going back to buying kit when we need it or want it?
I think I agree with that sentiment. My Prime wheels and £10 dri release top eventually arrived today from CRC, ordered last Thursday evening. Both will get go9d use, but neither arguably needed Still waiting for my last Wiggle order, showing as "shipped" on Wiggle order page, but still says "were expecting it" on the Evri tracking page (despite it also saying itll be here by tomorrow) ...fingers crossed as has some Oakley lenses id been after for a while...
Will wait and see if the 2 outstanding orders come through. Am hoping they do
Most recent FB post on both CRC's and Wiggle's page said they'd fulfil all orders placed. That was 6 days ago and I'm hoping that remains the case - I've got an order that's not moved past the progressing stage since placing it on the 13th.