Mountain Biking

mrk said:
HOLD UP!!!!! I have been reading it all wrong. This DHL invoice is for a watch I bought from France back in January! I have not received any customs invoice for the forks :D

My bad!
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Christ, I was thinking something dodgy had gone on with the VAT there :p

Thrown in an order and had an invoice anyway, seems to have all the correct commodity codes applied to it which seemingly comes back 20% vat and 4.7% duty as it's not EU point of origin. Now if this can also be missed, that'd be lovely too!

I mean it's still 20% cheaper than a UK seller even after factoring in these costs, and arguably better because no UK sellers seem to have stock anyway.
 
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jaybee said:
This VAT stuff has killed it :( Buying parts from Germany was just the go to place for back up. I always found UK stock *** at the best of times over the last decade, let alone with the state of the world now.
I'm going to have to go read up on it, but I thought I read that if it was under £135 then there are no charges? But then making several purchases is going to add up on shipping.
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The way its supposed to work, under 135 there's no import duty and VAT is to be collected at point of sale, hence why lots of retailers are refusing shipments under £135 to the UK as they don't want to do HMRCs job for them, unsurprisingly. Over 135, vat and import duties are collected at customs, most couriers pay this for you then bill you (plus their handling fee, typically around 2.5-3% with a minimum value of £11-14)
 
Odd, most stores seem to be over £135 only as then they sell without any VAT or duties. Does require some paperwork and the invoices need commodity codes but you'd expect that's less work than having to collect VAT on behalf of the UK.
 
Invertigo said:
The way its supposed to work, under 135 there's no import duty and VAT is to be collected at point of sale, hence why lots of retailers are refusing shipments under £135 to the UK as they don't want to do HMRCs job for them, unsurprisingly. Over 135, vat and import duties are collected at customs, most couriers pay this for you then bill you (plus their handling fee, typically around 2.5-3% with a minimum value of £11-14)
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got a crankset from bikeinn last week, shipped from spain. cost was just over £200, invoice stated £170ish including postage and then import charges which equaled 20% vat.only payment was the original payment to bikeinn. doesn't sound right going from what you say, doesn't matter to me as i was struggling to get any and the cost is good
 
bigfoot4616 said:
got a crankset from bikeinn last week, shipped from spain. cost was just over £200, invoice stated £170ish including postage and then import charges which equaled 20% vat.only payment was the original payment to bikeinn. doesn't sound right going from what you say, doesn't matter to me as i was struggling to get any and the cost is good
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Hmm, well I guess a retailer can prepay the VAT and import duties if they chose to, I just figured none of them would bother. Generally easier for them to just let the couriers deal with it and charge the end client.
 
bigfoot4616 said:
all abit confusing.
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Yup, I have absolutely no issues at all with the whole vat+import duties thing dealt with it plenty from USA with no issues I may add.
However, somehow everything coming from the EU is 10x more difficult and inconsistent. I will not be ordering from EU until things have smoothed out, at the moment its all entirely inconsistent and feels like complete pot luck. Its like companies have completely forgot how to trade...
 
bigfoot4616 said:
stock levels at the moment don't leave much choice somtimes if you want a useable bike, racing starts again soon and i really don't want to be racing on my old bike.
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I've found that a lot of local bike shops have a lot better stock level than online stock levels suggest.
To build up my clash the other week, a quick trip to a "nearby" LBS proved a winner. I went with every expectation of leaving disappointed, I left with armfulls of kit that I needed. kit that was out of stock in most online stores. It has reinforced the whole support your local LBS argument for me. I'll be returning soon for more upgrades.
 
the ones local to me don't, been in to both my LBS's recently and they are both struggling for stock. niether of them tend to keep much stuff in stock at the best of times though.
 
steve45 said:
I've found that a lot of local bike shops have a lot better stock level than online stock levels suggest.
To build up my clash the other week, a quick trip to a "nearby" LBS proved a winner. I went with every expectation of leaving disappointed, I left with armfulls of kit that I needed. kit that was out of stock in most online stores. It has reinforced the whole support your local LBS argument for me. I'll be returning soon for more upgrades.
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There is no such thing as a good LBS near me. I don't care what people say but their stock is poor always and always has been. Occasionally I will find somewhere that supposedly stocks what I want, but yet they don't have it right now and can order it in, for a price much higher than online. It's not like its niche parts either. Very frustrating.
 
So I threw on a set of Shimano MT520 brakes yesterday with RT66 rotors and metal pads. Yeah, a whole lot better than the stock Tektro M275s, to the shock of nobody. Much more power as you'd expect, but also way more modulation and control, plus the levers feel infinitely better than the Tektro ones.
 
Got my first couple of rides in on the new Vitus this week, such a nice ride compared to my old bike though I guess that's to be expected!

Do you guys insure your bikes? Thinking given the value and the fact it's cycle scheme i should probably do it but might just add it to the home policy.

Looking forward to actually hitting some trails with it but i'm woefully unfit so sticking to easy rides for now!
 
Temujin said:
Got my first couple of rides in on the new Vitus this week, such a nice ride compared to my old bike though I guess that's to be expected!

Do you guys insure your bikes? Thinking given the value and the fact it's cycle scheme i should probably do it but might just add it to the home policy.

Looking forward to actually hitting some trails with it but i'm woefully unfit so sticking to easy rides for now!
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3 bikes are on my house insurance. Negligble increase by doing so.
 
I didnt realise just quite how popular e-bikes were... I was up Whinlatter on Saturday, I'm not even exaggerating when I say that at least 75% of the bikes on the hill were E-Bikes. I've no real problem with E-Bikes, but i really do wish the riders would learn some trail etiquette and manners. There were a few decent lads, but some were just arrogant and impatient *****. I shouldnt be expected to just jump out of the way on a steep narrow climb. I keep climbing whilst I have the momentum and pull over when its safe and convenient to do so.



Temujin said:
Do you guys insure your bikes? Thinking given the value and the fact it's cycle scheme i should probably do it but might just add it to the home policy.
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I have kit and contents insurance that covers my bikes, which reminds me actually I need to ring them and get my latest build added on there. Thankfully havnt had to use it yet, not for the bikes anyway.
 
Speaking of EMTBs I'm liking the look of some of the newer lighter bikes like the Orbea Rise, seems to be a good balance between the both. The M20 rise is only a couple of Kg heavier than my Genius and I'm sure would be more back friendly when it comes to the climbs.
 
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