The time has come to retire off my old Marin Bear Valley and get something new. I really want to stick with Marin but the trouble is i'm less than impressed with my local dealer. They have an odd - often unhelpful - attitude towards their customers, and in the past I've had problems with their workshop. I'm not alone in this experience. So given this I don't feel inclined to give them my business. How important is it to buy locally? There are plenty of other maintenance workshops around that can help me out with maintenance, but they're not Marin dealers. I was thinking of getting a boxed bike over the internet and giving to a local workshop to set up, check etc. What do you think?
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 Why not buy it over the web and set it up yourself? You would be amazed at how easy it can be. BTW where in the country are you?
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Good point. It's just that I've often heard it said that it's good to use your local dealer so that if you have problems, it's sort of their responsibility to get them sorte out. Whereas if you buy from an online dealer, you have to return the bike to them which is an expensive pain. And they're not really geared up for post-sales support. But in reality, how often do significant problems arise? I'm in Cambridgshire btw.
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not very tbh and Marin Warranty is second to none - plus if you sort it yourself when you get it, you generally know how to sort stuff when it does go wrong. Go on, take the plunge! I built my bike from the frame up save for headset fitting and it runs like a dream
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 ah the mountains, hills and dales of Cambridgeshire eh?  I spent most of my childhood round that way . . . Whereabouts are you? /end thread hijack/
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 You might havea bit of a problem buying a Marin from an authorised dealer over the web. They used to have a policy where they wouldn't allow them to be posted/couriered out and even if you bought one on line you had to pick it up from the shop. This may have changed now but it certainly used to be the case.
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why not ask whichever LBS you trust to get one for you - they'll usually have a contact
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Thanks all for advice. Feeling a bit more confident about buying online. Will also chat to my LBS. 
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 I have the same dilemma about my local Santa Cruz dealer piss useless
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 you want to buy a marin.... 
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 My Pine Mountain frame is still going strong. Bought it in 1998 - me first proper bike, like.
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seabagg - name and shame your rubbish dealer! There are plenty of Marin dealers in Cambridgeshire who can help as i believe the pinkster is right - Marin actively discourage mail order bikes.
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 why not ask whichever LBS you trust to get one for you - they'll usually have a contact Not that easy, whilst LBSs can often get bikes from the niche manufacturers that don't have a dealer network most mainstream companies will not supply to dealers outside of their network, kinda undermines have dealers!
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If it's the dealer I think you are talking about then don't worry. They always give me corking deals to reward me going back time and time again. Now my riding buddy gets good deals too. Internet shops can't sort you out with a spare bike on the day of a race.
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