larry@decvax.UUCP (Larry Cohen) (07/22/83)
I really wanted to mail this directly to the author but it did not quite make it there ... so here it is on the net. I have done business with Peddle Pushers, Bike Nashbar, and Performance Bicycles. All of them are reliable. In fact I have had much more success mail ordering than I have had going to bike shops (thats too bad because I would prefer to go in and walk out with what I need) They seem to differ in speed of service and variety. The Peddle Pushers was by far the slowest but they have some good deals. (Almost a month for deliveries it seems). Bike Nashbar has a wide selection of components and are fairly quick (2 - 3 weeks). Performance Bicycle in North Carolina (or South.. I dont remember off hand) is my favorite. The have a lovely catalogue although their selection is not as great as Nashbar's, the service was very courteous. Three out five orders I placed with them took less than a week to arrive (that is fast!) the other two took less than two weeks (they apologized for the slow service). As to which components you should buy for a $500 dollar bicycle... this really depends on what you want to do (race, tour, or both). In any event the Suntour Superbe components are Campy copies (very good ones at that) at half the price. These are generally made for racing. The Suntour Tech line looks real good for touring. I personnaly dont care for Shamano (sp?) stuff. They same to put out a new product every year and its tough to get replacement parts. Campy is great stuff. It lasts longer than anything else so this may justify the high price. Good luck, Larry Cohen decvax!larry