The growth in e-commerce has meant that local bike shops now have the opportunity to sell their products all over the world. Testament to this is www.chainreactioncycles.com. This once small family run bike shop in Doagh Co. Clare is now the biggest bike shop on the web. The down side to this is that the other small cycling shops around the country are suffering as a result. CRC ship free to most countries and because of economies of scale they are also very price competitive. It would be a terrible shame to see the local bike shop go out of business. I recall that I was once going on abroad for a mountain bike holiday and at the last minute needed a spare chain rivet. Luckily I was able to spin down to Hollingsworth Cycles and get what I needed in a half an hour. CRC could not have topped that. So please support your local bike shop, and at least give them half your business. To see our full list of cycle shops click here.