JayC

Well.. they were pretty quick to make things right with the first two incidents. Its almost worth taking the risk for the price.. I was going to have the 29'er shipped straight to my LBS and have them assemble it so I never had to touch it until it was ready. Either way, LBS owner bailed me out of that.

covenant

All I can add is: make sure they get the color right.

I ordered a slate gray Windsor the Hour and received a silver one. It was kinda funny...the packing label said gray....but the box itself said silver.

sced

I bought a Bottecchia Team Euro which was perfect from the start, and a Windsor Fens that came with a machining defect on the middle chain ring. A few Emails and three days later I had a new chain ring. The Fens is also a great riding bike. My son and I swap between the two because we are very close in dimensions. Both were price specials (even by BD's standards) and the value is remarkable. People can blubber all they want, but BD is a clearly innovative business, a small version of Amazon.com.

ovrrdrive

Hot damn.

I ordered my Windsor Knight Monday for $799 and they just raised the price by $100 today. I finally had good timing in something.

rower

From checking around BD's listing of MSRP is pretty close to the real thing, maybe slightly over the top, but
definetely in the ball park.

Jerseysbest

Are you f'in kidding me?

Either a troll or an egregious attempt to get BD back in the bikeforum's spotlight.

Arrowtalon

These threads are starting to taste like old pizza.

I gave this "challenge" to dcbikeguy when we got in a tiff a while back. (He really is a decent guy, but tempers flared.) It is a legitimate test of bikesdirect.

Put all marketing claims aside--from both retail junkies and shills. Take a BD bike--any you choose--and look at the price and specs. Look at everything--brakes, crank, fork, wheels, all that. Now take a retail bike of your choosing at list price or even in-store non-sale price.

I have not found a retail bike yet that compares to a bikesdirect price for similar spec'd, similar quality bike. In all these threads, I've never seen an example of this posted either. If anyone can provide an example of a lower priced bike with identical or better specs as a BD bike of the same price, I would honestly like to see it, because it would speak very well for the retail company selling it.

What I usually find is that buying a road bike from BD saves a couple hundred bucks after you account for tune-up cost and service.

Some argue that BD frames are lower quality. I haven't see any evidence for this. They provide similar weight, similar ride, and similar durability as a retail frame, but are generic.

Arrowtalon

When I got my Trek 4300 with matte silver, the sales guy wrote down gray. Looking at two Allez Elite's in the store yesterday, both blue, I noticed one was decidely darker blue than the other...

hokiesean24

I am with you! I am new to this forum and was pointed TO BD by this forum. I am already completely turned off by all the whining and witch hunting going on towards anyone who mentions BD in a positive light. I havent been around long enough to know the back story, etc etc, so whatever....

Is it possible that the shill-hunters themselves are actually LBS shill/owners/fanboys?!?! Oh, what the hell exactly is a 'shill'??

Ih8lucky13

WOW, two whole days on this forum and you are already fed up with the BD haters.

hokiesean24

Its like every other thread... I guess its frustrating b/c I am newb trying to learn about the sport and reading the threads that have pertinent information for someone trying to decide on bikes, differences in component groups, best deals, etc etc etc. Inevitably, BD comes up in nearly every one of those threads, and it immediately turns into a witchhunt. I have been able to extract some useful information out of some of them, but in doing so I have had to sort through a ton a pointless posts meant to crucify someone for either dealing with or being a 'shill' for BD.

In 2 days I have determined this much. BD has good deals on bikes. They have some miscues with shipping damaged items, wrong colors. Issues are usually resolved. They dont always have the best communication with the consumer. So, buyer beware. If its worth it to save a few hundred bucks and risk it, do it, if not, then dont.

Ih8lucky13

No Problem. I would come here on BikeForums as well and shill for BD if they took me off of the deep fryer at Mcdonalds.

hokiesean24

Haha. I hardly think it would be benificial to quit my day job.

theetruscan

Damnit man, don't you know that the seal + lightproofing from a can is better than a bottle? It lacks style, but it keeps your beer in better condition. Also, lower package weight = lower shipping costs = cheaper good beer.

But, yeah, aluminum bike frames suck.

Arrowtalon

I feel you. These threads are less than accessible. The bottom line is that Bd offers good deals that are worth considering for most people on a budget. There are people that don't like BD because:

1) they don't like their marketing tactics
2) they are a retail seller or are affiliated with one
3) they need to justify their own overpriced purchase by beating down other options they didn't consider

Don't get me wrong. I'd love to be able to walk into a bike store without worrying about price, get a carbon fiber frame customized for myself, and be done with it. It simply isn't economically feasible for me.

What gets my blood going is when people on here beat down BD and then start spouting all the marketing crap that retail companies come up with or start making unfounded remarks about BD bikes being poor quality. That leads newbies down the wrong path, and it's sad.

patentcad

Whatever boys. I saved thousands on my Fly Ti MTB (paid about $2K, closest thing I've seen out there is $5K +). My experience with BD couldn't have been much smoother.

If the BD fans here are shills then the Rutick anti-BD types are SHRILLS.

P.S. I am an unpaid spokesman for BD. I'll let you know if I ever start getting checks for my threads and posts.

Aikidoka

Hi,

Hokiesean24, you are correct in that these forums can be a very frustrating place regarding BD. The "misinformation" is hard to sort through at best. BD will take back any bike you buy if you don't want/like it for 30 days. To my knowledge, most bikes shops won't. You’re covered. Just check out the bike carefully upon receipt.

My recommendation is the same to everyone…research, test ride (if you can) and read everything if an on-line retailer. Make your decision based on realistic bike reviews, make your decision, order the bike, check it out thoroughly, ride it and if you like it, forget what anyone else says.

My 07 BD Motobecane Le Champion SL-FORCE is without question the best bike value I could find and the more I ride it, the more convinced I am it’s the best road bike deal I’ve ever had. In over 30 years of road bikes…I think that’s saying something.

AbsoluteZ3RO

Oh you got paid. We all did. It's in the form of a 50 percent discount on our bikes. I still haven't seen anything come close to the price of my Evoke. So far the cost of doing things over the net is that I've had to adjust my FD and RD and ask for a new bolt for my stem (which I got the next day after sending an email).

On topic of the thread, the BD website isn't funny, it's downright pathetic. I can only guess that they are working to make it better.

Banzai

I can't believe I read this entire thread...I should be doing something productive right now.

I hope the OP got banned, or at least suspended...others have for lesser annoyances. I think 4 out of 9 pages on this were his shrill rantings.

Gotta say, Mike's replies in all the BD threads have really impressed me with him. He has refused to get into p*ssing matches, and has come across as very professional.