About buy road bike in Tokyo and delivery to the airport

[cuong.ongtri]

Hi all,

I traveled to Tokyo this February for one week and went to some stores like Y's Road, Blue lug, Cypara... but I had some same problems and could not buy any bike, except Crown Gears store.

1. I am looking to purchase a bike, but the staff says it needs to be maintained before being sold to the customer. It takes 2-3 days. I didn't know that it take too long, plus the delivery day by Yamato (at least 2 days), it totals 4–5 days. Is any other solution that can I buy straight away?

2. They do not provide the Bicycle cardboard. They said that they don't have any cardboard that fit the current bike I order (staff in Y's road said). Crown Gears provided the cardboard for me, but I have to separate the bike and package it and make it in 200cm total size by myself. Do I have to buy the Rinko Bag or something?

3. They do not support to request Yamato or some delivery company to pickup at store and transport it to the airport. After I packaged the bike, I have to bring it together, come back to my hotel where I stayed, and ask the hotel staff to call Yamato.

Is there anybody knows why they cannot support and is there another way to buy easier? I will visit Tokyo again next October, but I am kind of worry.

Thanks all for reading.

 

[jonmanjiro]

... ok I'll bite...

1. Be more persistent. Go to the shop that has the bike you want to buy as soon as they open for the day and buy it, then tell them you'll be back an hour before they close to pick the bike up so get it ready to ride.
2. Ride the bike to your hotel. Get a box from a home center (maybe a bike shop will give you one if you annoy them enough). Pack it up, and get the hotel to ship it to the airport.
3. The shops don't support such requests because its a pain in the ass for them.

Why buy a bike in Japan though? Are they not available in your home country?

 

[kiwisimon]

buy a bike and get it delivered to a hotel very near the airport.
you stay at the hotel and order a large taxi for the box to the terminal?
I usually just took my boxed up bikes on the train.

 

[microcord]

Why buy a bike in Japan though? Are they not available in your home country?

I'm informed (or perhaps misinformed) that the incredibly shrunken yen means that big-brand bikes are now cheaper in Japan than elsewhere. Given the great number of foreign tourists in cheapo Tokyo, I find this easy to believe. (NB What's easy to believe isn't necessarily true.)

Perhaps three weeks ago I walked into my local branch of Buychari, said I'd buy an (18-year-old) bike, and could have ridden it away just ten minutes later.

As it was, I said that I'd buy it, rode home on the bike I'd arrived on, walked back to the shop, paid the money, and rode off on my "new" bike just ten minutes later. When I bought it, I realized that it had a problem. On arriving home, I realized that it had another. Two days later, I rode it to Tsubasa, where a third problem was diagnosed. Less than an hour later, all three problems had been fixed (very inexpensively) and I was riding it back home.

What kind and size of bike do you want, @cuong.ongtri ?

 

[Trek DJ]

1) Shops will/can pack your bike for an extra charge, however this is really dependent on the bike shop. Some might not want to ship it in non-rideable condition as it would present some liability. Once again, really depends on the shop.

2) Most bike boxes are over 200cm, so you will need to use Sagawa. Getting under 200cm will probably require you to take off the fork in most cases a lot of bikes won't fit in a 200cm without some serious disassembly.

 

[Cactaur]

Don't forget shops might not be willing to do tax free for tourists, or if they're set up for it at all. Then when you get home there might be domestic tax as well.

End of the day would the exchange rate still offset the tax?

Possibly if its some Japan only model or somesuch special edition.