unshiny bike :-(
So sit down grab a brew and let me tell you a story (and a warning)
I have been building a new road bike myself from scratch - Wednesday two weeks ago, I had everything in place (De Rosa frame, wheels cockpit etc.) I just needed to order in the groupset. I went for the Sram Force with a Sram red BB30 chainset. So I dutifully checked out prices and found Shiny Bikes was offering a good deal and fast delivery (next day) - I wanted to build my bike that weekend and was a very excited chappy. Sadly the delivery didn’t come that weekend – I was mellow about it but disappointed – I figured it was the usual Parcelforce laziness – so much for the next day delivery!
By Wednesday the following week I was more than annoyed that the delivery had not come – so I rang Shiny Bikes – apparently they had packed my order wrong but had forgotten to repack it. My call helped remind them they don’t only have to take my money they also have to deliver the goods (problem 1). So I called them the next day to confirm they had delivered it – yes and it would be with me for Friday – yippee. I took Friday off work so I could take the delivery and build the bike overnight and get the BB fitted at the LBS (the bottom bracket is one area I am not going to pay for the tools for).
By 6pm Friday I was sweating – still no groupset! So I called parcelforce – apparently they had a 4 hour powercut in their Coventry office so were unable to deliver that day - go figure? (problem 2 – was a Parcelforce error but hey Shiny Bikes use them – it wasn’t my choice). So there then followed a 2nd weekend with no new bike – and my chance to get it to the LBS to get the BB fitted.
As I was absolutely guaranteed delivery for Monday – I took Monday off work, again, so I could build the bike and get it to the LBS for the BB – things were desperate now as I had a £100 bike fitting arranged for Tuesday. Sadly the delivery didn’t arrive till 6:15 pm so the LBS was closed and I was going to miss my fitting (problem 3). I had to cancel the bike fitting (luckily for me the place doing the fitting were understanding and didn’t charge me a fee (thanks guys).
Anyway I thought – at least the groupset has now arrived so I can build the bike and maybe persuade my wife to take it to the LBS for the BB. I stopped eating when the delivery arrived and flung open the box – showing everyone in my family my new toys – sadly one of the toys was missing – shiny bikes warehouse had once again come to the fore and forgotten to deliver the BB (problem 4) well I thought at least I can build up the bike to a reasonable degree and then get the BB fitted a couple of days later. But Shiny Bikes hadn’t finished yet with their ruining my day – whilst checking through the order I also discovered they had sent me the wrong cassette and 11-25 instead of an 11-28. (problem 5).
So I called them back this morning – “so sorry” they go, we will fix it all. A bit later another call – sorry we have run out of Bottom Brackets and it will take a week to 2 weeks to restock (problem 6) – I have seen how fast their next day delivery is – if they think something is going to take two weeks I will probably be drawing my pension before it arrives! Then just to cap it off they have also run out of the cassettes (problem 7) – this they say they can get in the next day and will post ASAP – I wait with baited breath - NOT! It is incredible that they can allow themselves to run out of stock in the first place but then to sell what they don’t have in stock to a poor punter like me (who pays immediately) is disgraceful.
Just so you know I went to “HighonBikes” and got a replacement BB – I have ordered about 15 things from them and they really do deliver the next day (and it is free). I have a feeling Shiny bikes needs a new warehouse manager – maybe someone who can read and count?
I have bought hundreds of items on the internet, never before have I know such a catalogue of errors if it wasn’t so important to me I would have laughed. Anyway so many errors, I figured they would at least make it up to me with a discount – they did offer me a discount – yeay! 1.3% - Booo! Basically I got the cost of shipping back (which I am sure they are getting back themselves anyway) I have had bigger total discounts in a sweet shop.
I am not one of those angry people but in all honestly I feel like I have been treated like dirt and it has really made the whole new bike thing change from an exciting experience to total misery and a lot of additional cost (I don’t get paid for days off – so I lost many hundreds) a cost that is worth it for something like a new bike but not just to sit at the door waiting for the postman. I have always received excellent service from a myriad of bike sellers – I feel fellow cyclists look out for one and other – Shiny Bikes may be a symptom of the growing popularity of bike – we now have our first person who acts like a second hand car salesman – all in all very depressing. Maybe you have had a good experience with them – I for one will not bother shopping there again! I am going to need to get on my new bike just to dissolve the unhappy memories of what they put me through.
SHOKCER.
What a nightmare. Waiting for parcels is fun for a few days.
Then its just annoying. Hope the bike's beast though.
looks like a when it rains it pours moment. stick to high on bikes or someone else youtrust,wiggle etc. wouldnt use shiny bikes as they seem 'to cheap' if you know what i mean
Use your local bike shop! Or lose it!
Especially if you have take your bike to get parts fitted because you cant
i have more tools than my local bike shops, and the one bike i have bought new, has been riddled with problems the shop cant fix. and then when i saw them double handed tightening my handle bars i asked why they were not using a torque wrench, the mechanic looked at me like i was on crack.
my local shops are run by business men on for a quick buck on the ctw scheme.
i wouldnt trust them with a bike i dug out of a skip.
a prime example, a mate took a shifter in to get it checked out. the mechanic couldnt fix it with his adjustable spanner(no shit) charged him £12.50 for looking at it. i spent 2 minutes looking at it, found a small piece of plastic blocking the mechanism, low and behold it works now.
got to say I have used my LBS quite a bit - I have spent about £600 on parts with them in the last 4 months.
But this new bike was a major purchase and I was on a strict budget. But by shopping carefully I was able to get the bike which would have an off the shelf price tag of about £4,200 (including accessories) for £2,700.
To be fair I think out of a whole bike build getting someone to put the pressfit BB30 is not a big ask!
But I have really enjoyed spec'ing the bike and then building it myself. I read the manual and watch videos on you tube etc and then go do it myself in the garage. It has been real fun and also a great excuse to buy all the tools I need (BB excluded - but really over £100 just for one job?).
I also think that although I have less experience - I take 100 times more care as it is my (p)ride and joy. so if something is even 1mm out I undo it all and start again. Additionally I have a bike with the exact parts I want not what is given to me.
I was able to save about £300 by using Shiny Bikes of RRP - now it doesn't look like such a good save (esp as there are many others who sell at the same or very near their price)- but it has been the only negative experience of the whole build.
In future (though hopefully you and you new bike will live happily together for many years) I'd recommend Merlin for groupsets. I've ordered countless parts and other things from them (including full groupsets) and they always deliver quickly and, crucially, correctly. they have good customer service too (quick to answer emails) and I've not found anyone cheaper for a full groupset yet.
Good luck with the build - hope you get to enjoy it now!
You pays yer money, you takes yer choice. Shiny bikes seem to have some great prices, but I've always they must be scrimping on something to be able to do it. Unfortunately, it's usually customer service that goes first!
I used Shiny Bikes for the Zipp 303's I bought and they were spot on, no complaints at all. I've used wiggle also and had no issues when returning things which weren't quite right.
But I can sympathise with the OP sitting around all day waiting for Mr Postman.
As for LBS's some a shit hot some are hmm, not so good.... Same as websites!!!
Wish i had read this before i ordered something last week. Have had no confirmation, no delivery, not returned the answer messages or responded to email. Had to resort to opening a paypal dispute to get a response. I will never get stuff from them again and will tell everyone i know to avoid them. Hard to believe that such crap customer service still exists
I'd heard a few horror stories about Shiny Bikes, but when I needed a few bits (significantly cheaper than elsewhere) I called them up and asked if they had the bits in stock. The nice lady went off and checked, came back and confirmed they had stock and could send it out the next day, and that's what they did. No complaints at all, polite and efficient service.
Forgive me my naivety but shiny bikes who are they, and why not mention there trading name if you have a genuine complaint they can't sue you.
They are literally across the road from me. I pop over to buy tubes every so often. Should given me a shout, would've been quicker for me to send the stuff to you!
"I can't believe I ate the whole thing..."





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