I have a MET Trenta helmet that I’m happy with but needs to be replaced soon. I’d like to replace it with another MET helmet, but they’re hard to find in Canada. This happens more often than I’d like, so it’ not just about this particular product. In the past I’ve ordered from various online retailers in Europe, but these days I’m not sure which to trust. For example, I rate r2-bike.com and bike-components.de. I’m in the middle about bikeinn.com, and lordgun.com kind of creeps me out.
I would love if the community had a list of trustworthy online retailers for cases like this where my LBS isn’t an option.
I’ve always been very pleased with competitive cyclist. Sometimes a bit pricey, but their service if you have questions or need something in a hurry has been top notch.
I’d throw in Bike 24 as well, since you’re considering those few German retailers. I’ve been told that Bike 24 also handles regional distribution for some brands in the EU, hence the more competitive pricing. I’ve heard this from a few EU/UK retailers, but can’t confirm if it’s just a rumour (or not).
Most recently, I’ve also started shopping from Varuste. net, which somehow offers quite competitive pricing, and same week delivery to Singapore (where I’m at), for cheaper than the German sites.
UK: I ordered a very obscure part from Lordgun, and it arrived no problem, but I agree that something about their website just seems off. I’ve bought lots of stuff from Merlin Cycles.
USA: Competitive Cyclist, Bike Tires Direct (soon to be under the same umbrella), Modern Bike (good for cheap and some niche parts). It’s been ages since I ordered from Colorado Cyclist—they always seemed reputable but expensive.
bike24 is in europe probably by far the biggest online shop for bike stuff. bike-discount, rose, bike-components, r2, delta bike, biker boarder, bike mailorder are all very trustworthy online shops from germany. I have ordered from all of them previously without any troubles. and i guess they are getting their goods from manufacturers directly or from official distributors. so no worries with legit stuff