I had recent dealings with a couple of companies that I think are worth plugging.
First, I needed a pair of winter riding gloves after mine crawled out of my saddle bag and went AWOL. Cold weather gloves in the bike shops run $60 and up. Looking on line I found some that fit my needs in the $25 range.
The first company I contacted was Leatherup.com. The phone reps didn't have any personal knowledge of the gloves, but one took the time to pull a pair and check them out for me.
After that, I called http://www.openroadcyclegear.com/ and was pleasantly surprised when I got a human on the other end instead of an answering system. Turned out to be the owner and he spent about 15 minutes talking about different gloves and another 15 or so BS'ing in general about bikes. I liked the fact that he knew his inventory and would spend the time on a small order. He said he couldn't match the big store on shipping but would match their price. I gave him my cc number and said not to worry about the price match. The experience of dealing with him was worth the extra couple of bucks to me.
The second company I did business with was Clear Alternatives. They manufacture after market lighting.
The original owner of my '06 Suzuki Boulevard had Clear Alternative lens installed on the bike when he bought it. When a signal light burned out, I pulled the lens to replace it and the bulb head broke off in the lens. The opening in the back of the lens was distorted, apparently from the heat of the bulb, so it was oblong instead of round. Three of the 4 were distorted beyond use without modification/repair. The forth was starting to distort, but the bulb head would still clear.
According to their website I had 2 things against me. The warranty was only 6 months and, if the product was purchased through a MC dealer or shop, the warranty had to be handled through the dealer/shop.
Feeling this was a design flaw in the lenses, I decided to give them a shot anyway. My initial e-mail got only an automated reply and I called them after a week had gone by. The rep agreed that the heat of the bulb should not be enough to cause that kind of damage and told me to ship all 4 to the company. Less than 2 weeks later I recieved 4 new lenses in the mail with a $0 balance invoice. They could have just have easily told me the warranty was out and that they would gladly sell me new lenses.
I would not hesitate to deal with either of these companies again.
First, I needed a pair of winter riding gloves after mine crawled out of my saddle bag and went AWOL. Cold weather gloves in the bike shops run $60 and up. Looking on line I found some that fit my needs in the $25 range.
The first company I contacted was Leatherup.com. The phone reps didn't have any personal knowledge of the gloves, but one took the time to pull a pair and check them out for me.
After that, I called http://www.openroadcyclegear.com/ and was pleasantly surprised when I got a human on the other end instead of an answering system. Turned out to be the owner and he spent about 15 minutes talking about different gloves and another 15 or so BS'ing in general about bikes. I liked the fact that he knew his inventory and would spend the time on a small order. He said he couldn't match the big store on shipping but would match their price. I gave him my cc number and said not to worry about the price match. The experience of dealing with him was worth the extra couple of bucks to me.
The second company I did business with was Clear Alternatives. They manufacture after market lighting.
The original owner of my '06 Suzuki Boulevard had Clear Alternative lens installed on the bike when he bought it. When a signal light burned out, I pulled the lens to replace it and the bulb head broke off in the lens. The opening in the back of the lens was distorted, apparently from the heat of the bulb, so it was oblong instead of round. Three of the 4 were distorted beyond use without modification/repair. The forth was starting to distort, but the bulb head would still clear.
According to their website I had 2 things against me. The warranty was only 6 months and, if the product was purchased through a MC dealer or shop, the warranty had to be handled through the dealer/shop.
Feeling this was a design flaw in the lenses, I decided to give them a shot anyway. My initial e-mail got only an automated reply and I called them after a week had gone by. The rep agreed that the heat of the bulb should not be enough to cause that kind of damage and told me to ship all 4 to the company. Less than 2 weeks later I recieved 4 new lenses in the mail with a $0 balance invoice. They could have just have easily told me the warranty was out and that they would gladly sell me new lenses.
I would not hesitate to deal with either of these companies again.
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