How it rolls to you

We do not ship anything from this page, and that is worth being clear about before anything else. Here is who does, and what arrives.

1. You open the listing

   Every price and every stock state here points at one specific listing for that model and colour. The tab that opens is where the order is placed, under that store's own delivery terms and timescales.

2. The carton leaves a warehouse

   Ours, in most cases, or the store's own if they hold stock. Either way the box is the one the model was designed around, which is why bikes arrive 85 percent built rather than flat-packed into something smaller.

3. What turns up

   One carton for almost everything. A 24 or 26 inch bike comes in a box about 54 by 30 by 10 inches and is genuinely heavy; the thirteen-in-one slide is bulky rather than heavy; helmets and pads come in a box you can carry under one arm.

4. Before you cut the tape

   Walk round the carton and look for a crushed corner, a tear, or a wheel shape pressing through the card. Photograph anything you find. It takes a minute and it is the difference between an easy replacement and an argument.

5. Unpacking

   Lay the parts out and count them against the sheet before you start. The small bag of fixings is usually taped inside the frame tube or under the seat, which is where it gets thrown away with the packing.

6. If a part is missing

   Write to us with the model and the part. We hold spares for the whole current range and we will post one without sending you back through the order process.

Timescales, tracking numbers, delivery windows and anything about a courier are visible on the order page of the store you bought from and are not visible to us. We would be reading the same screen as you, more slowly.

Keep the carton for a fortnight if you have the space. Boxed and unused is the easiest thing to send back, and the first two weeks are when a change of mind happens.