BikesDirect.com..Good bang for the buck?..or not?

[Painkiller]

Got in a couple bicycle assembly jobs this week that came from from Bikes direct. this bike was touted @ a savings of $500, to that I say thank God. It is a Windsor 1.0 Hybrid. Best attribute is a pretty frame. They claim 90% assembled. I wish it was about 30% assembled. Nothing I hate more than cables cut to short and not tucked properly, the wheels are way out of true. When they tout this is over a $600 dollar value..MMmm. I see about $150 to $200 value which means they paid to much in my book for the component level of this mode.l Has anybody here ever ordered from them? If so, tell us about it.
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/windsor/rover1.htm

[Painkiller]

The second bike is a mans Gravity Dutch. Again boasting a $650 bicycle @ incredible savings. I say it is in the same league as most any dept. store bicycle in the $150 to $200 range cut and dry. Over inflated trumped up value @ bargain prices which from these two are still a rip off! I would have to believe that the local LBS bike in the $400 range would be a much better value.
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/gravity/grav_dutch_xii.htm

[nfmisso]

Hi PK;

I have not ordered from BD; but have been looking awfully hard at:
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/windsor/tourist.htm
and
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/gran_turismo.htm

The word on the street is that BD is considered a good value if you have the tools and skills to re-do everything. In the past, they seemed to be focused on the higher end bike; and now they recently introduced ones like you worked on at a much lower price point.

This one looks good to me also:
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/windsor/oxford_deluxe.htm

I would not purchase, nor recommend purchasing the ones you show above.

[Painkiller]

Hey Nigel, the Motobecane looks okay I guess, but i would have a hard time buying a bike I could not see first. So far these two are a 2 thumbs down. the things one has to do so family can eat beans this week. The no name rims look the same on the Windsor and Gravity lots of fluctuation around the rim surface and the seam skip is bad. the gravity's seat has something bouncing around inside it. one of the rims has something rolling around inside of it and I will have to pull the tire and tube and strip to get it out. The seat well, that will be up to the owner to send it back if he wants. The sad part about these two is I always offer a 30 day post tune-up and quite frankly, I could care if I ever saw bikes like this again. The crankset on the Gravity looks like something off a Walmart Mongoose in the $90 range. The Zoom forks, OMG ! nevermind, I will save my carpel tunnel on that.

[nfmisso]

(07-06-2013, 09:56 PM)painkiller Wrote:  ......The Zoom forks, OMG ! nevermind, I will save my carpel tunnel on that.

I have 1 1/8" threaded Zoom forks on my green GT ....................


They are worth the $1- I paid for them (new)..........

Maybe.

[Painkiller]

$1 is a good price if they are better than the Zoom on these bikes.
Again Bikesdirect boasts these bikes @ almost a $700 value. I did some research and walMart offers bikes from $200 to $350 with much better components than these two. Thats what gets my goat the most, When the guy who called to ask how much to assemble these bikes he said they were compared to $6 to $700 bikes and he paid around $250 for each. On the following pictures try to picture a $650 to $700 bike? No way. After these two bikes I would never consider a bike from Bikesdirect @ any level. Great Marketing, tell people they are worth over 3 times what they paid and suck em in. These bikes would be hard sell for $100 today once they came to look at them. I would not even resell them and muddy reputation for selling good quality used bikes, and these are brand new. How bad is a bike when Walmart is a much better value.

[Painkiller]

I hope they are happy with their new bikes. The fenders that came with the Gravity were light and fit up easy enough. Neither bike came with a chainstay protective strip. The kickstands were nice. very upright riding positions on both. I would say that professional assembly is required mainly because of the extent the wheels needed dished and trued, plus the derailleur hangers were way out of tolerance. Bottom line is what they are is what they, but what they are not, are $650 to $700 bicycles as claimed by Bikesdirect. In my book very misleading. I am glad I did not buy them. I am glad I got the opportunity to finally see and assemble a couple offerings from Bikesdirect. Hopefully my last, but what the hell. I get to eat beans this week and hope to have another life long customer.

[nfmisso]

This one (and my green GT) has the same crankset:
http://khsbicycles.com/bikes/2012-khs-models/vitamin-a/

[Painkiller]

Sorry to hear you have that same crankset Nigel,

Just when I thought the bikesdirect saga and info was over.This happened. I called the guy up and said come pick up your bikes, it was a morning call. When he came around 5pm I went to get the bikes and one had a flat tire, I am like thats about right, totally out of my control he bought the bikes and of course the tubes and tires were already installed. they had air when I final check pointed the bikes.I sent him home with one as it was late in the day already. this is what I found. I guess its true, the cow did jump over the moon! Being the the customer oriented guy I am did not charge him for a new tube or extra service, I would rather have a solid customer in the future than argue the fact that it was purely a manufacturing error and merely showed him what it was that caused the flat. Loose shards of punchings. No wonder they are no name wheels. One tip for you Nigel since you were looking at a couple bikes from these people. Make sure you find out exactly the name of the components such as rims, hubs, and the like before you jump in. these two were no where near the proclaimed $650 to $700 value. I truly was astounded by this claim, and would have to believe that everything the sell would mimic this experience. I have been around the block a time or two when it comes to bikes and I say look elsewhere!

[DaveM]

Is there anyone at this point who sees an advertisement that says "Now $XX.XX, a $XXX.XX value!" and doesn't assume that the second number is just marketing bullshit? I don't think that's unique to bikesdirect. Any place where things are permanently "on sale" is just selling things at the real price. You get what you pay for.

[Painkiller]

this guy was not aware, I honestly think he thought he was getting a deal. But from my observations these bikes were worth about $75 to $100 less than what I think he paid, thats the sad part

[arthurhurley14]

Hello Pk;

I know this thread is about a year old, but I greatly appreciate your expertise in bike repairs because it helped me change my mind from almost ordering from BikesDirect. I found the bikesdirect website out of frustration because I'm a college student on a budget in need of a good bike. I almost said decent but that's not good enough, and my limitation on the price of a bike is roughly $450. I was looking into the Gravity Dutch (sadly, in hindsight) but before I made that purchase, I ended up doing extensive research and this thread was actually one of the last things I found. When I read it all, I felt like a fool because I'm very interested in bikes but I realized there's a lot more to it than I thought, if I was looking to get a good bike... That's why I thank you for this very helpful thread.

Honestly, I feel as though my lack of experience with bikes will be my downfall, and I was hoping to ask of you, if you may, to guide to me to a more reputable website where I could possibly find a bike that possesses around the same traits as the Gravity bike, but just a better quality Surely, I'm asking more than I should, but I would really like to have good bike, and not become a victim to some marketing BS.. Any help that you can possibly extend to me, will be incredibly appreciated. And another thing, I would go to a bike shop if I could, but the town in which I attend college doesn't have a bike shop since its so rural, and I'm 80 miles away from the nearest city... But that aside, thank you sir!

[Painkiller]

welcome to bicycletutor Arthur, The main point about bikes direct is this. forget about what they say the real value is. it is closer to what they are selling them for if not a bit less. need to know how tall you are and your inseam measurement, what style bike you want, what your location is and that would help me guide you better. In your price range I would avoid bikes with disc brakes and front shocks if possible. I must tell you that the newest bicycle I have in my personnel stable is a 1997 down to 1990 or so. I have roughly 12 bikes in this range, all pretty nice and would not trade them for a new bike at all. Maybe I can help you with a nice dependable higher end used one in your budget. update your Bio with your location or send me a private message if you prefer

[nfmisso]

Hi Arthur;

Here are a couple Alb. CL ads that have potential:

http://albuquerque.craigslist.org/bik/4363420074.html this one would really good if it fits you and is in good shape - worth fixing up.
http://albuquerque.craigslist.org/bik/4363421159.html I like this one also.

Note: no suspension, chrome-moly frame.

[arthurhurley14]

Oh, hello Nigel, thank you for finding those ads for me, I am considering them.. It'll be a while before I can leave to Albuquerque though since I have classes and labs all week. But they do look promising and in good condition at a very nice price.. hmm, haha I'm also still trying to decide from a couple of the bikes that painkiller had recommended to me.. I'm very thankful for your help with this!

[nfmisso]

Hi Arthur;

It would help greatly if you provided your trouser inseam.

Mine is 30/32 inches, and for pavement use I look for bike frames that are in the 21-23" (53 to 58cm) range. My bikes range from early '80's to mid '90's.

[arthurhurley14]

(03-10-2014, 12:27 PM)nfmisso Wrote:  Hi Arthur;

It would help greatly if you provided your trouser inseam.

Mine is 30/32 inches, and for pavement use I look for bike frames that are in the 21-23" (53 to 58cm) range. My bikes range from early '80's to mid '90's.

Oh, alright well my inseam length is about 32-33 inches and im 5' 11", and i believe I'm looking for roughly the same bike frame size as well

[nfmisso]

(03-10-2014, 12:44 PM)arthurhurley14 Wrote:  .. my inseam length is about 32-33 inches and im 5' 11", .....

The two CL links I provided are a bit on the small side for you then, unfortunately.

If you want a challenge that would end up with a truly excellent bike:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Trek-930-Mountain-Bike-Frame-USA-Made-Vintage-20-OX-Comp-II-Cro-Moly-/360870711871?pt=US_Bicycles_Frames&hash=item540592123f

Here is another, free shipping, and he is a shop with a good rep.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1989-large-gt-avalanche-MTB-tange-prestige-U-brake-first-gen-deore-new-parts-/251238370449?pt=US_Bicycles_Frames&hash=item3a7ef94c91

[fishboy316]

Hi arthur, Try jenson america. You may find something there. Are there any shops around you? My shops here will help locate a bike that will come close to what you want. Some even have used bikes. Just sayin. I know several guys who have gotten bikes from jenson. Also ask about last years models at the lbs. Worth a try. I went into a local place which has Jamis bikes and he dropped a bike that was $700 to $350 without me even askin!
Keep looking!
Bill