Originally Posted by Lozzo

Don't moan when your local bike shop isn't there for you to buy that set of spark plugs or battery you desperately need in future. Online shops are killing the bike trade by making people like you think the high street shops are blatantly profiteering. It's really not like that, there's actually very little clear profit once you take out the overheads. We've been over this time and time again on here.

Just look at how few bike shops are left in your area, then think about how many online shops there are selling bike spares and kit. All that online stuff has killed the shops and when you need something desperately you're going to have a job finding a shop that stocks it soon if you keep supporting the online places and not your local shop.

Besides, when you've ordered that Arai online without trying it on, don't be surprised when they tell you to do one when you're trying to return it. Don't be at all surprised when the online shop isn't there in a year either. Go to a proper shop and you can try before you buy. We don't do returns on helmets for safety reasons unless it's a bona fide warranty problem, but we make sure the customer is 100% happy with the one she or he is buying before we take their money.

I wouldn't dream of buying a helmet online, not in any circumstances.