Bought a bike online

[Andrew]

I have been looking for a new bike and went to Competitive Cyclist thanks to Kevin F and found a Cervelo R3 on sale with DA for US$3499. I did some quick checking (Canada Customs, UPS) and consulting (thanks Barry M) and discovered the need to pay 13% duty plus the obligatory hst ($875 total), plus brokerage and shipping $200, local bike fitting $112 for a total of about $4700. It worked out to about $600 savings, but likely would find a local ride in the future. You could broker the bike through the clipper and save a few bucks.

Competitive has a sweet web site www.competitivecyclist.com.

(The person taking my order did not level with me about the duty when ordering, although other staff knew that all Canadian bike orders pay a total of 25% in tax.)

[EricS]

Duty on a Canadian bike. Bummer. Even if it were made in the states it should be covered by free trade.

I bought a Titus (made in the US) and only paid HST. Also the brokerage fee can be avoided by shipping USPS. Is that an option? Or is it too late?

Sounds like a sweet ride though!

Eric