Best bike shops online?

I was going to buy a Ridley road frame from Excel Sports until I found a Kestrel on ebay for less. Excel doesn't carry Felt, but they seem to have good closeouts on a lot of frames and bikes.

I thought I saw somewhere here that you can't buy Felt bikes online.

That would be incorrect, the closest I've found is one shop that wouldn't ship the bike.

I think Felt dealers can't post prices / sell the bikes online. So you wouldnt get a warranty if they are not a dealer. But they might have a loop hole not showing prices or something.

A Felt dealer will lose their franchise license if they don't sell their product in their store. True with Treak, Specialized and Cannondale as well. You simply can't buy a Felt (reputably) on-line unless used from a private party.

As for retailers, I like Excelsports a lot. Good stuff, fair enough pricing and excellent customer service. Bikeman.com is good to me too.

That's really bass-ackwards & dumb. I don't know why they'd have something against online sales...though apparently it's only stateside because I can get the bike shipped from Wiggle(which is in the UK).

It's to protect the LBS. Brick and mortar stores cannot compete on margins with a web based seller. If you have no Felt dealer near you, go to the shop you like and see if they can get you the bike. Felt may be getting big enough that they don't have to do this anymore but most of the smaller companies will sell a single bike to a shop if there is no dealer for that brand within a reasonable distance.

But they're still getting their money either way. Not only that, they'll let people sell bike parts & frames online. It's just the complete bikes, which is even dumber. I can sit there and buy every piece of this bike & put it together myself, and chances are I can do it cheaper with a little patience. They may think they're helping the stores, but they're hurting the end-user in the process. It's short-sighted & frustrating.

No, they're maintainging brand integrity and value. The name means much more.

First reaction (honeslty): Would you rather have Felt or Bikesdirect?

You're shopping for Felt, right? My question is answered. The brand has a panache, class and appearance you desire. The brand is worth something to the consumer MORE than simply a cheap, 1-time transactional price..

If you commoditize it by selling cheaply or through unsupported distribution channels (you're buying the LBS relatrionship more than the bike if both parties do it right), the brand loses value.

Also, your LBS loses sales and then the dealers you DO have run because that brand is bringing them nothing. Diamondback once meant something, now it's at Dicks. Schwinn once meant something, now it's at Wal-mart. 2 examples of brand dilution which ruined a reputation.

Yes - it is hard enough for an LBS right now anyway, with the economy being what it is.  Through our soponsorship, Kuota sends our bikes directly to our dealer and they assemble and fit them.  This keeps them in the loop and keeps us as returning customers, since there is really very little sale value to Kuota or the LBS.  My instruction to team members is that we patronize that shop unless we are left with no other choice. 

I'm not going for a bike because it's a Felt, I'm going for a Felt because it happens to be the bike I want. I've ridden Trek & Specialized in the past & I test rode a Cervelo after the Felt. I don't give a damn what the name on it is; it could be called a Flaming Dildo Rocket & I'd still buy it if it met my cycling needs.

I already have the LBS relationship via the service department, I don't need the bike sale to create or maintain that. In fact, this protectionist policy is actually damaging my relationship with the LBS; I'm at the point where I'd rather hit an international site & pay for shipping just to get around this ridiculous policy. This doesn't even touch on the fact that every site I visited to look at online purchases is backed by a brick & mortar store.

Refusing to allow online sales is simply creating an opportunity for another company to gain easy market share. They're cutting off their nose to spite their face.

Maybe they wouldn't be struggling for business if they didn't mark up the bikes 30%+ and double the dealer price on components.