During the winterperiod 2024 - 2025 I bought quite a lot of
general, bicycle- and camping- replacementparts since it was end-of-life for them.
I actually have to buy some stuff every winterstop which is caused by the short lifetime
in the burning hot sunshine.
But I can only do these jobs during a long-stay (winterstop) since I need a pickup-point (-adress).
This year it concerned All major, expensive equipment.
Which is not bad anyway since the materials each were several years old,
and are many days per year shaking, bumping and rattling at my
OnTheRoad 4.0 🖱️
and/or they suffer from the burning sun for very many hours every day.
The tent (every tent !) is the exception since they only last one year (summertime) here.
Then the flysheet falls just apart, or rips literally and doesn't stop doing that.
Even the strongest ducttape does not grip then anymore, outside nor inside,
and so I then have an instant problem.
There are two types of materials, those for the summerseason when cycling and camping and
those contributing to my winterstop when staying in an appartment.
So I bought a tent, a camera, an airfryer (2x), a laptop (3X), a saddle, a campingchair,
a longsleeved undershirt, a gps and a phone.
The bad thing is that Spain has no specialized shops* in whatever outdoormaterials.
Let alone local shops*, except maybe for i.e. the Decathlon* and maybe-maybe-maybe a Sprinter*.
However they* are only stocking the most general parts, and must order "your" parts online intercompany.
Concerning bicycles there are (maybe, somewhere) only sportbicycle shops,
so for mountainbikes and roadracerbikes.
In practice you will be completely depending on online info, online shops and "secret" transporters.
When it comes to electronics hardware there are no international qwerty-keyboards to have.
Not at any spanish site of all the main online shops, let alone locally, so you have to order abroad.
My buying-history during this cycling-winterstop :
- As usual the tent broke down just few weeks before the end of the cyclingseason.
The sun tears and rips it into pieces, and the material then refuses to hold any tape.
I bought a tent at amazon and it arrived without any problem and within few days.
- I bought a wardrobe, a wok, a package of 24 bottles of Duvel (yes !!!),
and some bottles of real soysauce and oystersauce.
These all arrived from amazon without problem and within few days.
- The screen of my beloved Panasonic FZ1000 camera had died this summer.
And I couldn't find one anymore anyway anywhere.
So I bought an alternative new camera in july last year ...
That camera however was not up to the FZ1000 in several (all) ways, something I knew on forehand.
- But I kept on searching and then, purely by accident, I happened to find a new FZ1000 online
at a shop in Spain.
I bought it immediately and it arrived without any problem and within few days.
- It arrived without any problem within few days.
- This camera really makes me happy, that's why.
- I tried to sell the lesser one online but got no response.
I then donated it to the local school.
- Amazon-airfryer 1 malfuntioned after 2 weeks and the pickup was handled oké by seller (1).
- But, as expected1, a discussion started about me not having cleaned the basket.
Ofcourse I did't since it is no part of the problem nor of the investigation.
The refund then came quick and the process was oké.
- Amazon-airfryer 2 malfuntioned after 2 weeks and the seller (2) bricohogar
plus his carrier CTT have no idea where they left the package
that I had returned to the official pickuppoint.
They even asked me (!) if I knew where the package was.
"We can not refund you if we have no package".
I threatened amazon with deleting my account to never return, and "suddenly", just one day later,
seller bricohogar had received the package.
- But, as expected2, a discussion started about me not having cleaned the basket.
Ofcourse I did't since it is no part of the problem nor of the investigation.
- After some 4 weeks of arguing without arguments by the seller the refund FiNaLLy arrived.
- Btw : seller (1) resold my order to seller (2) without notice who then messed this up completely.
- Amazon-laptop 1 was stolen by amazon's (!) carrier Paack.
A full 4 weeks of lying and cheating was what followed by Paack.
Trying (they said) to deliver but they were in the wrong town (even twice), by two different drivers,
shouting drivers who called me and then disappeared.
One even threatened me : "If you want your package ...".
- They were even so stupid to email that they had put the package
"at the balcony, as I had agreed upon".
However there is no balcony ...
Paack then put the status simply to "delivered" in the amazon-system.
Refund then was oké after 1 week, but only after having caused me 8 hours of work
(with 2 hours of hilly cycling) to organize a mandatory Guardia Civil report in the next town.
- Amazon-laptop 2 was almost stolen by the same (!!!) carrier Paack but I managed to threaten
them so much that they eventually delivered it.
This after 1 full week of lying and cheating by the carrier.
- However it had the wrong (spanish) keyboard.
The refund was oké but only after 2+ weeks of discussions.
- Aliexpress-laptop 1 arrived after 3 weeks instead of 3 days,
and without any logistical information, but is oké now.
Seller removed the add probably to avoid my review.
- Btw : Portugal, Spain, France and Germany and more do not sell
international qwerty keyboards anyway ....
- These items arrived without problem from Bike24.com.
- But I had to return the way to large t-shirt and the return-trouble began.
I packed it, had the DHL-returnlabel printed in the biblioteca,
put it on the box and cycled to the (only) official DHL-shop (situated in the next town at 6kms).
- There the package was refused !
I don't speak spanish and the returninstructions stated it would be accepted at any DHL-shop worldwide.
Not so (here) in Spain ...
I used my phone's translator but the woman was speaking abacadabra (in spanish).
She eventually explained me to visit another shop here in town, so I cycled over there.
That shop is not marked as being a DHL-point, nor the shop itself, nor online.
The woman there accepted the package in first instance, but then made clear she could not handover
a returnticket as proof.
They have no digital equipment over there ...
- She explained that if I wanted some proof I would have to bring the package to their second shop,
somewhere else in town.
That shop is also not marked as being a DHL-point, nor the shop itself, nor online.
But since it was raining now and siesta-closinghour was near I refused that.
We made an agreement that she would take care of that in-town transport.
- So I left the package behind, without any proof nor code.
- I contacted the german seller Bike24 to explain this, and they refunded me without discussion
(so without having received or even tracked the package).
That is what I call superservice !
The official DHL-label was still not active (activated) in their system so the package
is most lickely just hanging around somewhere locally.
- But after some days my package showed up online, so in the end all was well.
Nor just not my feelings ...
- That is why I like DHL* and prefer to order in Germany for that.
They have never ever caused me problems and offer great logistical information.
- However DHL Spain is rather unpredictable, see part 2 (link below).
- I needed new glasses since the one's I have are 10 to 15 years old now.
- Real problem was that two pair of them that I bought just before starting YesTrip
were very bad concerning sight.
- The one that was oké concerning sight was at least 15 years old and completely worn out.
- So I asked for a recommendation of a shop, visited it and bought 2 pairs.
They did a very extensive check and measurement, I payed a 20% deposit
and one week later I got an email (yes !) to confirm their arrival.
- I cycled over there and all was alright.
The total cost was € 780,-, including 20% discount for the glasses.
- I am very satisfied with them.
- End of october 2023 a thief stole almost all my small electronics out of my tent.
Including my two gps-es and so I bought a secondhand one online in spain.
However that seller cheated on me with a damaged one that also did actually not function.
I managed to get it running with some updates but the mechanical damage got worse.
I ordered a new keyboard (at aliexpress) and installed it succesfully,
but it was not at all watertight anymore.
- I very strongly prefer the Garmin 60CSX which however is no longer produced since 2009,
so new one's are very rare nowadays.
- In november 2024 I found a new one online at ebay in the USA, but it's seller suddenly raised
the price by € 50 to € 190.
Shippingcosts would add another € 50 and so I quit ...
- In january 2025 another new one showed up at a spanish site and I ordered it immediately
paying € 165.
It arrived without problems and quickly and is 100% oké.
- Since it actually still is the best gps ever produced you can still buy all spareparts for it.
I put on a screenprotector rightaway.
- After 4 years of hard work every day my phone was still doing very well.
Especially the battery was still functioning oké, which is quite a miracle.
However that could change easily in the long cyclingseason to come
(during which the deliverytime is the problem).
Since I had lot's and lot's of troubles with Amazon I ordered a new phone and a case at Aliexpress.
- It was shipped from France and arrived in about 8 days without problem.
- The case was shipped from china and also arrived in about 8 days without problem.
- The (all) shippers from Amazon were complete idiots .
They messed up every delivery and/or return.
- Only Seur did a normal job for a return.
- Especially Paack is the worst company I ever had to deal with, they were lying All the time
and stole my first laptop.
And almost also the second one ...
- This season the shipper from Aliexpress was always Ecoscooting and they never failed.
- However they always failed in Cordoba during my winterperiod 2022 - 2023.
- I don't know if that was or is a local coincidence.