# Where to buy LOOK in Melbourne, Australia?



## cavinsoo (Apr 2, 2008)

Hi, does anyone know a very good place (good pricing) to buy a LOOK in Melbourne or anywhere in Australia? I'm looking for 586 Medium.

Thanks


----------



## Marz (May 14, 2006)

Lygon Cycles in Lygon St Brunswick East has Look, Casati and Giant. Their service is without peer, especially from Paul the proprietor.


----------



## dougydee (Feb 15, 2005)

The Freedom Machine sells them. They have stores in Prahran, Port Melbourne and Brighton
http://www.freedommachine.com.au
Haven't bought anything from them but have dropped in to look at there frames when I've been in the area.


----------



## LOOKFTW (Jun 12, 2008)

Go melbs!

Theres a place on Nth Road, Ormond, which sells looks at pretty sweet prices...

last time i was there i saw in insane looking 595 ultra in the window, i asked the guy in there how much he was selling the frame for - 6k - pretty competative i thought.

Where ever you go its worth going into a few different stores a few times, chat get to know the guys in there. They are so much more likely to give you a sweet deal if you get along with them.


----------



## Marz (May 14, 2006)

OTOH, Bellatisport in Switzerland has these frames for almost half what you pay in Australia but warranty might be a problem if you have to spend money shipping it back there and back.

http://www.bellatisport.com/shop/category/159/product/780/Look_KG_586_Origin.html


----------



## reedy (Apr 9, 2006)

I do know that Freedom machine has a 586 medium in stock------but what still gets me is that they still sell 595 etc for $6000 Aus. Where you look at the USA and you can buy one for $3500 US. ----------------------BUT . I could have sworn the Aus dollar has climbed to 96cents and has been around the ninety`s for a while now. Do they think we are all idiots? Someone is making a bucket out of this. The price should have come down. The Aus has climbed on most currency`s. Good luck.


----------



## LOOKFTW (Jun 12, 2008)

There are pretty hefty importing fees associated with bringing in high end frame which contribute to pushing the prices up.

I bought my 595 from the US and had to cough up a fair bit to bring it over, was then hit with an importing fee. Still worked out better, cost wise, wasn't all that much though.


----------



## axel (Jun 3, 2006)

I'd second Bellatisport - they're pretty cheap and shipping is cheap(ish) too ($2.5k for a 585 is pretty hard to ignore). I know there's also 10% gst hit and then another import duty (not sure how much) on top of that for frames and forks. Wheels and other components don't attract the additional import duty - just gst and only if your order is over $1k. If you ship with UPS or DHL you'll really get slugged as they start to calculate gst and other duties from the $250 mark + their "fee" on top AFAIK - avoid them like the plague. LOOKFTW do you know how much the additonal duty was?


----------



## slowdave (Nov 29, 2005)

You also need an importers licence $40 but good for multiple use. Also postage from the airport customs to your door, no pick up avaliable anymore, even if you have paid to have it shipped to you door. If you get the bike from a registered look frame dealer you pay rrp if you get the bike through another shop not frame dealer (not pedal dealer they are not the same) you pay additional 10% just because. This is because the aussie importers place a fee on the shops group sportif, avoid the door ***** she is a know all, speak to one of the reps they are knowledgeable and good to deal with (David was good with me)


----------



## Marz (May 14, 2006)

I bought two NOS Merckx frames from South Africa and as the cargo including shipping came in over $1000 I had to pay customs and GST, but I don't know this importers licence you speak of. I picked them up at the airport and had to pay a cargo handling fee of $70 as well.


----------



## LOOKFTW (Jun 12, 2008)

axel said:


> LOOKFTW do you know how much the additonal duty was?


It was around 8% of the "insured" price of the bike - which was US4,700. All up i ended up paying $AU700 for postage. Abit more than expected due to the fixed seat post and the bikes inability to fit into a standard bike box.

I used Fedex - which was a really fast, clean service. I was able to track the bike on every step of its transit - which took 5 business days and was delivered to my door.

Overall i was pretty happy with it. Especially when i think of the aussie retail price of the bike.


----------



## Pizzaz (Jun 11, 2008)

I just did some research into this (looking at buying a 586) and the prices off the 'net were good enough to make me question my loyalty to my local!

Pushbikes valued at over $1000 attract duty at 5% of the Australian dollar price - usually this is the insured value in $AU. Customs also have the power to increase this if they think the goods are undervalued (so insuring your $8000 bike for $999 may not work besides being risky if its lost or damaged). You then pay GST on the purchase price _and_ the duty (so much for an end to double taxation). Anyway, by the time I worked it through, a bike that was $7500US (ish) turned into a $9600 bike delivered to my doorstep.

After conversations with my LBS, I can probably get close to that (say $10K) which IMHO is probably worth the peace of mind from being able to deal with the guy down the road (especially when we're talking about things which require hacksaws to adjust seat height!). Apparently the distributors can be leaned on quite a lot as there hasn't been any significant change in their pricing for the last 3 years despite the aussie battler rising to nearly 0.98usd!

Having said this, my idea is to get things like the pedals and the saddle from overseas - under the 1K mark and significant savings to be had on the smaller parts (e.g. look carbon TI pedals can be found for about $300US and they're over $500 here)


----------



## Marz (May 14, 2006)

Buy the frame then get everything else at Probikekit or Totalcycling or any of the myriad online companies and build it yourself. There is no duty or customs (so far) or GST on bike parts, or I've been lucky.


----------



## Marz (May 14, 2006)

A friend bought a Record groupset which cost way over $1000AUD and didn't have to pay any extra beyond shipping.


----------



## acid_rider (Nov 23, 2004)

Australian importer for Look used to be Group Sportiff(e). Do a Google search for their web site and they have a list of dealers there.

But ProMotion in Ormond (North Road, near Ormond train station) and Freedom Machine (also has Brighton store now in Church St) sell Look. Fitzroy Cycles used to sell LOOK too but not any longer, I think.

When I was shopping for Look I found Freedom the most expensive and hard to get any discounts. ProMotion was also not far behind, i.e. also expensive. And the reason the OZ prices are so far above US prices given AUS$ is almost on par with US$ (95 cents US?) is because the distributor/importer is ripping you off and then the bike shop adds their margin on top. AUS$6000 for 595 frame (or Colnago C50) is simply stunning. That is USD$5500! And even in Euro at 0.61 the price is silly!
Have a look at prices of TIME in Australia and then see what www.chainreactioncycles.com sells them for! And chainreactioncycles is also making money on the sale! Or see the price for Deda Newton or FSA parts or Michelin/Conti/etc tyres in Australia. We are being ripped off by fat Australian importers/distributors! I now buy on-line whenever I can. Internet has been very liberating. There is no reason why Australian prices are so high apart from importers greed.


----------

