Finding a review of a bike from a given brand is usually pretty easy. However finding out about the buying experience from a brand can be a bit more of a challenge. Often bikes are sent to reviewers through marketing channels and they don’t need to go through the buying process. We during this bike shortage we went “secret shopping” for a new bike from a relative newcomer to the U.S. online market: bikesonline.com.
While bikesonline.com has it’s roots as an Australian consumer-direct retailer, since 2019 they have been making a push into the North American market. They are the exclusive source of Polygon bikes in the United States. Polygon is one of only a few bike brands that own their own manufacturing facilities and thus don’t farm out the production of their bikes to others.
Just like YT, Canyon and Fezzari, bikesonline.com makes Polygon a consumer-direct competitor in the United States. You can check out their full history here: Bikes Online History.
The Ordering Experience
Even having a bike in stock at this point is a mark in the pro column for most retailers these days. For this purchase, I was shopping for a bike for my son. We needed a 27.5″ full suspension bike in size small. Because Polygon owns the factory for its bikes they’ve gone to extra lengths to keep bikes in stock during these times of supply chain issues. We were able to find a Polygon Vander T7 in stock, which is a bike that Polygon has specifically fast-tracked for pandemic production.
This isn’t a bike review article, that will be separate. But when shopping there were a few things that made the process more pleasant. First off, the bikesonline.com site was organized logically to try to find the type of bike I was looking for: Full Suspension, 27.5 wheels etc. They even had a sorting mechanism that bubbles up bikes that are actually in stock. There’s nothing more frustrating than hunting through 20 or 30 different listings for bikes just to see them all out of stock.
I had never ordered from bikes online before and had never ridden a Polygon so it did feel like a bit of a risk. However, bikeonline.com has a 14-day return policy that includes return shipping and pickup. They spell out exactly how this works on their site. This set my mind at ease that if I pulled the bike out of the box and it was not at all what I hoped for we could box it back up and send it back.
Shipping
Bikesonline.com provided regular updates on the bike be prepped for shipping and then actually shipping out via FedEx. There was one snafu initially where FedEx had an issue with the mailing label not being scannable (no fault of bikesonline.com). When I contacted bikesonline.com about this issue they were quick to investigate and ensure that there was a resolution from FedEx.
It took 8 days from time of ordering to the bike arriving on my doorstep. I was very pleased the shipping process overall.
Unboxing
The bike came in a standard bike box with really only the front wheel, seatpost and handlebars not attached. I did appreciate that a minimal amount of cardboard was used inside the box. Everything arrived in good condition and was secured mainly with velcro straps and foam bumpers.
In addition to the bike itself. The box also included a separate box of accessories and manuals. This box also included the tools needed to assemble the bike. A very nice touch. The tools included a pedal wrench, a simple torque wrench, and a set of bits. I actually used these tools during assembly just to see if they would hold up and they did just fine. They may not be the highest quality but they are a step above what many, many people have in their garage.
Assembly
After unboxing the bike, assembly was really straightforward. The supplied tools handled all the needed steps. The box of course came with the reflectors that are required by law and a couple of niceties like a bell and demo pedals.
The shifting on the SX eagle drivetrain was spot on out of the box. The front brake caliper only needed a very minor alignment. It would have been nice to see a shock pump included as I suspect that this is many people’s first full-suspension bike. However, I definitely haven’t ever gotten a shock pump from a bike shop with a bike purchase either. Setting pressure in the shocks and tires were the only tasks that required external tools.
Conclusion
Buying the Polygon T7 from bikesonline.com was a really great experience. The shipping was fast. The communication was good and the bike arrived ready to ride. Keep an eye out for a review / bike check coming soon!
bought my Vander T7 7 days ago, no tracking number available yet. 🙁 I am In Massachusetts.
Check-in with them and see what’s up. They were fast in getting back to me when I contacted them.
I live in Ridgway, so it was fun stumbling on your article (I’m also looking at ordering a bike from these guys, but the prices feel too good to be true) hope to see you out on the RAT.
Ha! Just down the road! Upcoming reviews are going to have some photos from RAT. My experience was very positive.
Matt, this was the only way I knew how to find you. I am working in Montrose today and brought the MTB with me. Where can a Dirt Merchant like myself find some good riding?
With the heat I’d head up to the whole uncolada shuttle area or the buck trail areas. You can find those trails on mtb project. If you’re going in the evening lower spring creek loop is awesome
Been trying to order a bike from bikesonline.com but no one will return a call. Left voicemail during business hours (no one is ever available to answer your call), emailed a couple of times, went through chat to leave a message for sales as I have questions and very interested, but cannot get a response. Unfortunate!
I just ordered my bike from these guys, a Large Siskiu T8. It took about a week for them to get back to me regarding some of the questions that I had. The estimated shipping date for my bike was last week and unfortunately the bike did not ship on the date. They are VERY clear that the shipping date is an estimate, so I’m not too surprised. All of this to say, I think that bikesonline is a covid-casualty. They currently exist in a space that is incredibly high demand, and I think they’re having staffing issues. I’m a little bummed about the experience so far, but very excited about how good the deal was on my bike.
I also bought a T8 Online in PreOrder. Shipping date was meant to be last week. I sat on chat for hours trying to contact them and nobody ever responded.
I sent an email requesting an update on shipping date and a couple of days later they responded (2 days before my bike was due to ship) that all is on track and it was ready to ship on the shipping date. I’d assume if they’re telling me that it will ship in 2 days, it’s because they have the bike and components ready to put together and put in a box.
Since then… Nothing. No response on phone, Chat or email. I understand if there’s an issue, shipment is slow or whatever the problem… They just need to communicate. COVID shouldn’t have stopped comunications. You don’t need to be in an office to answer chats or emails.
It’s a shame, kind of ruining their name before they really even get going.
I have to tell you that everyday that goes by that my bike doesn’t ship it gets more and more painful. I am curious if they have given you an updated shipping date? I think that the delay here is especially painful just because new bike day is very exciting and then to have it delayed indefinitely is especially disappointing.
Welp looks like you’re never going to get it. I just got emailed that they never had the bike and they MIGHT be getting a shipment in October.
I bought a Polygon Siskiu T7 last summer after waiting for it to come back in stock. I’ve been generally happy with it on moderate to aggresive trails here in the Syracuse NY area, other than some unpleasant ghost shifting. Just found out that the SRAM SX Eagle Derailleur is basically a piece of garbage and now am hoping that BikesOnline does the right thing and replaces it.
Check your b-gap. A lot of problems with Eagle come down to adjustments / cleaning.
Bikes Online did not install Deore as advertised. When I researched the components, I found the Huffy bike (the cheapest bike in the world) uses the same components for $900 less than the $1000 I paid. . I guess they expected me to be as dumb as dirt and would accept the bike without noticing or complaining what they did.
I’m interested what bike did you guys and what drivetrain was on it?
Matt: did you ever post a review on the Polygon you purchased? I’m considering a purchase and would like to get a sense of how nice a bike they sell, or not!
Hi Larry we don’t have a full review up yet. However I would say overall the value is really good.