Buying a bike in Melnbourne - Any Tips!

[Jonny J]

I've been in Aus for 3 weeks & my bike is lagging a few weeks behind me in a container somewhere between London & Melbourne.

Now here's the thing, I didn't get round to upgrading my bike before I left the UK, over there I would have gone into one shop that would stock Trek, Giant, Colnagi, De Rosa, Bianchi, Specialised etc...

Unless I've missed a trick, there seem to be dozens of decent looking outlets here but they tend to stock a couple of brands only? Do you guys go from store to store checking out stock & will they let you test ride before you buy over here?

Having commuted into the city of London every day for many years saving thousands of English pounds maybe I deserve something special & reckon $5k Aus should do the business.

Azzurri is a brand that we don't see in the UK? Any experiences of their worth would be welcome, I see you can get a "Forza" with Dura Ace for around 4k in town, I think I might put that up against the Giant TCR Advanced?


One last thought, these tram lines look lethal!!!

See you on the Beach Road soon...

[europa]

If it's something special you want, why not get a custom made bike. There's a bloke in Melbourne that builds them, can't find the link now dammit, and then there's Hillbrink and Velosmith (in Tassie). The cream of the lot is Llewellyn in Qld but your 5 grand will just buy a frame from him (for properly brazed and lugged frames that are valued world wide).

Richard

[europa]

I've been in Aus for 3 weeks & my bike is lagging a few weeks behind me in a container somewhere between London & Melbourne.

I know it's mean, but I had to have a quiet chuckle at that

The shops here all seem to stock one or two brands. There is the occasional one that does more, but I'll have to leave recommendations there to the locals (I'm in Adelaide). The quality of shops varies from bloody awful to very good so going to lots, fine tuning your mony balony detector and just comparing products is the only way to go. Some will let you test ride, others will insist that you buy an ill fitting, inappropriate bike with little more than a supervised sit on it (yes, a bloke here tried just that on me). Not all shops do a proper fitting either, something to look out for - the shop that sold me my Trek520 not only do a proper fitting (took over an hour) but included it in the price and were happy to do the three or four extra visits it took to fine tune the beast. So take your time and look lots

Richard

[stryker84]

No idea about the different brands nor shops, since I shopped for my bike in a lower price bracket than you are, and also for a different bike category (flat bar roadie). However, the general consensus is to shop around, check out your local shops, then check out those further afield, and get a feel for the prices, and the range of product knowledege / service quality in each of them (i.e., people who actually know about bikes in general, rather than bike shop/brand salespersons).
Plus some people here might give you recommendations on a few depending on your wants, or where you're located.

Most decent stores will let you have a test ride, if you leave some form of identification/security behind (usually your driver's licence, or similar), else they let you ride around the carpark. I personally would prefer not to buy from one that didn't let me ride it round the block at least, but you may feel different.

As for tram tracks, usually not a problem, though don't try riding along them like you're a tram, you're liable to get caught between them and possibly slicing you're tyres open. And always try to cross them at a 45 degrees angle or greater. And with even more care when they're wet (they get slippery).

[LuckyPierre]

Azzurri is a brand that we don't see in the UK? Any experiences of their worth would be welcome, I see you can get a "Forza" with Dura Ace for around 4k in town, I think I might put that up against the Giant TCR Advanced?

Azzurri bikes are Australian designed, built (like countless others) in Asia and sold through a national chain of 'tied' resellers. I like them - the bikes seem well built, ride pretty well (although I've probably ridden less than 200kms on them) and are very good value for money. The Jan / Feb issue of Bicycling Australia reviewed the Azzurri Primo pretty favourably. The business model is a bit limiting, because you can get funny looks from shops outside the chain when you are looking for service.
A disclaimer - I use the local outlet as my preferred bike shop because their attitiude to service is excellent, so I guess I am favourably disposed towards them anyway.

[bigbuzz73]

Hi Johnny,
Welcome to the greatest country on Earth!
Mate, I recently purchased a new Bianchi from the Bicycle Superstore in Traralgon.... about 150 Klms east of Melbourne. Robert was fantastic to deal with and his service left the Melbourne shops I went to (5 in total) for dead. May be a bit far for you to travel, but well worth the trip.
I hope I don't get into trouble from the site Moderator for giving a "plug"... my apologises if this is not kosher.
Regards, Wayne

[commi]

If you haven't already, I'd suggest joining the Bicycle Victoria forum at http://www.bv.com.au/forums/

and this is a list of shops:
http://www.bv.com.au/find/4/

I don't know that much about bikes but my shop freedom machine sells cool looking and expensive bikes.
http://www.freedommachine.com.au/frame_welcome.htm

[merida901]

I am just about to start working in the family business.

Rays Bicycle Centre

My father has run this business for 35 years and i am just about to start there. we carry a great range of different bikes. I will be at the Preston store.

[europa]

Ah well, that's one store to scratch off the list

Richard

[sogood]

merida901 is a moderator!!!

[merida901]

merida901 is a moderator!!!

Hey they don't have to come if they don't want.

Only stating the store sells stuff.!!

Ah well, that's one store to scratch off the list

Couldn't agree more!!

[sogood]

I guess supermod trumps mod.

[mikesbytes]

I guess supermod trumps mod.

No one has longer posts

Burn plenty of Glycogen
training log

[Jonny J]

Thanks for the tips folks,

After a good look around I ended up going for a Pinarello F4:13 from a store in St Kilda East.

One more question, can I get to see the Tour de France on regular TV over here or will I need to put a few bob Mr Murdoch's way?

[beauyboy]

Hi and welcome to OZ
I think SBS runs it but that might be during the weekend of during week days.

Donald

[europa]

For the past decade, SBS have run a half hour highlights package every night, plus two or three of the big mountain stages mostly live. Last year, they had every stage live from about half way the stage through to the end, plus the highlights package. Lets hope they do it again this year (funding is the issue, not committment).

Richard

[Mulger bill]

I am just about to start working in the family business.

Rays Bicycle Centre

My father has run this business for 35 years and i am just about to start there. we carry a great range of different bikes. I will be at the Preston store.

Nice to know...

Hmmm, discounts for forum members? *innocent look*