David Kitchen

And what do I even mean by that?

Well what I’ve been longing for is an on-line store that I can use for the majority of my purchases. The problem I seem to have here is that my purchases are so varied. I also suffer because I am fussy about which sites to use as they have to be designed well and have high usability in mind.

So, what on earth am I looking for that I feel it doesn’t exist?

1. Product Range

I want to be able to purchase Rapha clothing from the same shop that I purchase Brooks bar tape and Campagnolo spare parts. And it needs to have wide enough a range of items that they’ll have tools like the Campagnolo chain tool and crank pullers. Yet they still need to stock the core items so I can pick up Michelin tyres at a reasonable price.

The problem with product range seems to be that a lot of cycle shops do exclusive deals with their suppliers, and this reduces the number of choices for the actual customers. Example: Rapha have an exclusivity deal with Condor in London, no-one else is able to sell Rapha items. So not only do I lose out because I can’t pick this up in the same shop I purchase the other stuff in but I also lose out because there is no competition in the market regards Rapha’s range, the only competition is to purchase any manufacturers clothing.

So under product range I’m looking for the equivalent of a cycling warehouse that stocks “one of everything” at best or can get anything to order (and shows that on it’s site).

2. Design

I use Linux at home, and Windows at work. When I am around friends I sometimes use Mac’s. I use Firefox on nearly all of these, or Internet Explorer if I’m forced to.

Now a well designed site will look and feel the same on all browsers on all operating systems.

Too often do I see Flash used on a web site, which I can’t see on 64-bit Linux as Adobe and Macromedia have not released a 64-bit Flash player.

Or there’s the great Condor web site that has images instead of text… Images! This is a WTF? of such magnitude that I can scarcely believe they’ve actually done that.

Or there’s the reliance on JavaScript that is written for Internet Explorer. I find myself wondering why I can’t see a product image and then it dawns on me that I can’t see a product image because a popup should’ve opened and the code to do this won’t run in Firefox because it was written for Internet Explorer.

All I want is a site that degrades elegantly, has the full product range available to all browsers, and shows the product information clearly.

3. Location and Taxes

There are some good sites. Unfortunately they seem to be outside of the UK. And there we have a problem as I’ve learnt through experience that to purchase from them means paying a local sales tax that shouldn’t be applicable (I don’t live there), as well as paying the UK sales tax via Customs (fair enough) and a Royal Mail processing fee for the UK tax (not fair enough at all). So any benefit of purchasing abroad is wiped out on anything below a full bike. Unless the cost makes the fees a small percentage of the cost, there is little benefit purchasing from overseas.

Delivery time is an aspect here as well, as a UK shop would be able to deliver in one or two business days. Ordering overseas can take weeks.

Finally there are consumer rights. Thankfully we have some but they only stretch to our borders so we don’t benefit unless we purchase from this island.

So that’s what I want, an on-line bicycle store that stocks a full range of items, great usability in all browsers and based in the UK. Anyone know of such a thing?

PS: Things I currently want to buy from such a store: Rapha Softshell Jacket, Campagnolo Chain Tool, Crank puller, and Bagaboo Messenger Bar.