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Avid Products in Japan

DanBell

Maximum Pace
Apr 26, 2010
285
86
Hi everyone,

I decided to upgrade the brakes on my bike to Avid Single Digit Ultimates. As it's a cyclocross bike with wide rims and tires, these seemed to be the most stop I could get. I asked ProTech to order them for me... in January. They still have not come in. In February, the shop told me that the Japanese distributor for Avid only imports twice a year and said I would have to wait one or two more months. In March, I saw a picture of the brakes I wanted on ProTech's blog. When I called and asked about them, they said the ones on the blog were not the ones I had ordered, and were much more expensive than the brakes I wanted (in fact, they were exactly the ones I had on order). They assured me that they would get them in April and said they would call me. Still no joy.

Two questions:
Avid is owned by SRAM, who make a ton of stuff for road and mountain bikes. Has anyone else had trouble sourcing SRAM or Avid products?

Can anyone turn me on to a shop that can get these for me?

I asked at Nalsima yesterday, and they said they would call somewhere and ask and will get back to me on Friday, so I'm holding out hope that they can track them down, but any help from you guys would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Daniel
 
I have Avid 6 breaks on my cyclocross bike. Very happy with them - better than my Dura Ace breaks on my road bike. None of the issues that sometimes get reported about cantilever breaks. They came with my bike which I bought outside Japan.

Why don't you order abroad? Must be the easiest and cheapest option. Should be easy to install yourself, and if not, some shops will do for you (I can recommend at least one).
 
Agree with Ludwig. Recommend ordering from wiggle.com or probikekit.com from UK. Strong yen, VERY weak GBP, cheap shipping (usually 1,600 jpy for Probikekit and free for Wiggle over ~6,000), no tax, fast (goods typically arrive about 7 days from order),etc.. make for hard to beat combo. About 50% of my orders have had 0 duty fees. Even when I pay duty, its nominal (~5%). Installation should be pretty easy and you can ask LBS for adjustment for nominal fee.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I had a quick look on wiggle, found the brakes but not the levers I need. I'll look a little more thouroughly now. Seems like ordering is my best option. Thanks for the advice.

Daniel
 
I called the shop again yesterday and they had no idea when the parts would come in. I asked if I could cancel the order and they were fine with it. I ordered through Chain Reaction Cycles last night. With express shipping it should get here by Wednesday or Thursday. Even with the more expensive shipping option, it was still much cheaper than buying the stuff through ProTech. Thanks for your advice and help everyone. Looks like online purchasing is the way to go from now on.
 
Alright, my order has been shipped after some concerns about the mailing address being different from the credit card billing address were straightened out. Any recommendations on shops that will install parts you bring in yourself? I've been going to Nalsima for the last few months for various other things and they're always very nice and helpful. Does anyone know if they'll balk at doing an installation with no parts sale?
 
They might charge you the full hour for labor but no shop should refuse to do the work.
 
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