Just a consensus of availablility/reputation/pricing of online retailers. Plus, good or bad experiences. Anyone?

e Bay would be top of my list because you have many mini store to choose from and price is good and you can always check the rating of the seller .

over this side of the Atlantic I have to say a good word for Parker International, really helpful on the phone or email, good service and totally reliable in my experience.

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Gravitas est meus Hostilis
Painted Roads Cycling: http://www.paintedroads.com
Words: http://mikesimagination.wordpress.com

Over the years I've bought lots of gear from variuos U.S. mail order shops, but I always phone in orders (I always have questions to ask), as well as lots of Ebay purchases. Never been screwed, never had a mailed package not get to me in a reasonable time frame. Even returned some stuff like clothing that didn't fit & got refund, even Canada's sales taxes that had to be paid (from Revenue Canada, not the retailer). Bought shoes from a shop in Ireland (found on internet) & got in 7 days! Spend time on the internet & you can find very good pricing. Location doen't matter much.

Never had a problem with the Big Four, but you can usually find things cheaper:

Nashbar
Performance Bike
Colorado Cyclist
Excel Sports

I've also had great experiences with:

Universal Cycles
Bike Tires Direct
Pro Bike Kit
Dan Donnelly/Crit USA

Also remember that bestwebbuys.com/bikes is your friend!

The only place I had a big problem with (had to get the credit card company involved) was Price Point.

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Self-Proclaimed Resident Master Fattie - Vicious DC Slither

I have used bikeparts.com its a shop in Golden, Colorado a few times. Happy with them.

Probably will haunt the auctions a bit as well.

Online purchases are good to save tax too I suppose.

That's only presuming you don't pay the state "use" tax which most U.S. states charge on purchases of items which would have a state/local sales tax if purchased from a bricks and mortar store in the state, but for which you paid no sales tax. The use tax is generally equal to what the sales tax for that item would have been.

Now since you're obviously not a tax cheat and Georgia has a use tax, then I can only conclude that your statement does not apply to yourself, but is unselfishlessly meant to benefit people who do not live in a state with use tax.

Online retailers I've used and have been happy with the service.

Australia

Cecil Walker Cycles
Dean Woods Direct
Torpedo7 Aus

USA

Wise cycle buys

UK

Pro Bike Kit
Total Cycling
All Terrain Cycles

Swiss

Bellati Sport

One I haven't used but heard good things from those who have - UK -Chain Reaction cycles

i have had nothing but good experiences with comobike and probikekit

There are so many it's hard to list but these tend to be my favorites:

probikekit
ribble cycles
aebike
starbike
total cycling
fairwheel
bike tools etc
prendas ciclismo
bikejerseys.com
ebay

For the US I always start with qbike and bestbikebuys to see who has the lowest prices, but usually wind up on ebay. For tires the UK is nearly always the cheapest source.

I wish parker international still sold to the US because they were great.

Thats odd, isn't it? Maybe they "burn more rubber?" Must be the bloody cobblestones.

Find a low price and some e-tailers will match it. (usually not an e-bay price).
Bike price engines
http://www.qbike.com/Road-Bike-Buying-Guide/
http://www.bestwebbuys.com/bikes/index.cfm
UK http://shopping.outdoor-equipment-review.com/index.php out temporarily
http://www.eyebike.com/ JensonUSA-Nashbar-Performance bike only
http://www.bizrate.com/bicycles_equipment/ mostly MTB & BMX

Search for coupons.
Maybe 10% off entire order or free ship.
Free ship cuts the ship % cost of a $50 order.
Imagine 10% off a Campy crank..
coupons
http://www.whatsyourdeal.com/forums/search.php
http://www.bikeforums.net/forumdisplay.php?f=228 users report if coupon worked
http://www.techbargains.com/coupons.cfm Adidas coupons and other seemingly unlikely coupons.
http://www.bikewebsite.com/Otherbikesources.htm#Updated
In general search engines like google, altavista, etc: type:
shopname+coupon nashbar+coupon
brandname+coupon adidas+coupon (yes, Adidas does coupons)
brandname+itemname+coupon Avid+coupon
Any shop, any mfg, any item can have a coupon.

itemname+closeout
Any shop, any mfg, any item can have a closeout.
itemname+rebate
I advise limiting search time vs potential money saved (-10% of order) or its not worth the value of your time.

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Equality for Cranks.

On ebay I know The owner of Nonstop Ciclismo pretty well & just had a really good experience with Masherz as well. Both have online stores. I have had a few online retailers take quite some time to ship items. Usually it coincides with them taking a long time to answer your questions. Most all of my experiences have been good with online retailers. Nashbar & Performance are good when they have hot deals but they can zap you with shipping costs. I try to get a feel for the company before I purchase anything by sending an email to see if the will answer in a timely manner & how well they try to answer your questions.

I have found http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ very good, providing they have what you're after. The price match service they provide is very good indeed and the delivery is free and very fast.

Fairwheelbikes.com is by far the best I have ever dealt with. They have nearly anything you could want in stock - if something isn't in stock they can get it quickly. Customer service is 2nd to none as well. Can't even remember when I ordered from anyone else.....