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 2019-01-12 6:37 AM |
 36 |  Subject: Bikes DirectHas anyone used BikesDirect.com to purchase a bike? Just curious to see if it is decent site and how much assembly is needed. It says all bikes come 90% assembled. |
| 2019-01-12 10:00 AM in reply to: #5253832 |
Member 1930    Southern Illinois | Subject: RE: Bikes Direct I bought my very first road bike from them. If I remember correctly, it came assembled except for putting the front wheel on and the pedals (it has been many years now). The directions were sufficient that I was able to finish assembly, even though I didn’t know squat about bikes at the time. Be cautious and read everything carefully!! I ended up with a bike with shifters on the down tube, sometimes called suicide shifters—for a reason!! It wasn’t clear in the photo and the info available on the website didn’t mention it at all. At the time, I didn’t have any idea what to look for. Also—and I’m sure you’ll hear this from others. Be sure you are getting a bike that fits you. Nothing, not even said ice shifters, will make you more miserable and hate riding more than an ill fitting bike. |
| 2019-01-12 2:10 PM in reply to: jdwyer02 |
Expert 849 Evergreen, Colorado | Subject: RE: Bikes Direct I bought my first fatbike from them a few years ago. Great value if you're just looking to try out a sport, but if you're serious about triathlon and think you'll have the bike a while, I'd suggest finding a quality used bike instead. They do come mostly assembled - I just had to put the handlebars on and the front tire. The frames are mostly made in the same factories that make brand names, so they're fine. BUT BUT BUT, they really skimp on components. A bike may boast SRAM or Shimano shifters/derailleurs/brakes/etc. But the hubs and bottom bracket and headset and chainrings will be crap. I was constantly having to have my headset fixed. My rear hub needed service within 50 miles. And the kicker? My front chainring completely wore down within 100 miles!!! My shop said they'd never seen anything like it. I sold it for super cheap a few hundred miles in, and bought a name brand bike, and haven't had any troubles since. I think if you're good at doing service and replacing parts yourself, it'd be a cheap way to go. But if you don't do maintenance yourself, expect to find yourself in the shop more often than you might with a Specialized/Trek/Cannondale, etc. |
 2019-01-12 5:12 PM in reply to: #5253845 |
| Subject: ... This user's post has been ignored. |
| 2019-01-14 9:15 AM in reply to: drfoodlove |
Champion 10641 Tacoma, Washington | Subject: RE: Bikes Direct Originally posted by drfoodlove Be cautious and read everything carefully!! I ended up with a bike with shifters on the down tube, sometimes called suicide shifters—for a reason!! Wow... Suicide shifters? Seriously? That's more than a bit melodramatic. Years back they were just called "shift levers". |
| 2019-01-14 9:23 AM in reply to: 0 |
| Pro 15498 | Subject: RE: Bikes Direct When "10 speed" bikes became a deal back in the early 70's all we had were down tube shifters.......and we didn't wear helmets. Oh.....the horror. Edited by Left Brain 2019-01-14 9:26 AM |
| 2019-01-14 2:50 PM in reply to: Left Brain |
| Member 617 Franklin, TN | Subject: RE: Bikes Direct LB, I remember those days! Although I think my Schwinn Super Sport had the shifters right by the stem. Helmets, nah...don't think they were around until many years later. |
| 2019-01-15 11:06 AM in reply to: jdwyer02 |
| 1 | Subject: RE: Bikes Direct I used them to purchase my Kestral Talon. Its not the best tri bike, but pretty darn good especially for the money. The crazy thing is that my LBS uses bikes direct. They charge a $100 assembly fee and I get free maintenance for life. They are slow, so I would only use them for this service during a down turn. If you know what you need, then yes Bike's Direct is a great deal. |
| 2019-01-15 7:53 PM in reply to: djpeteski6 |
| 36 | Subject: RE: Bikes Direct Thanks for the responses |
| 2019-01-18 2:35 PM in reply to: jdwyer02 |
Master 2438 Gilmer Texas | Subject: RE: Bikes Direct I have bought at least 3 and have been very happy with them. In one case the bike had scratches and BD offered to pay for me to send it back for a different one or offered me 200 refund I took the refund. my current bike came from a large bike shop who matched the BD price kestrel Talon, |
| 2019-01-18 4:12 PM in reply to: drfoodlove |
Pro 6577 Melbourne FL Gold member | Subject: RE: Bikes Direct I've purchased 4 bikes from BD, 1 for my Bro (flatbar), 2 for neighbor firends (hybrids), and a Gravel bike before GB were such a thing. Bro and mine were easy enough of put together as long as you have "ultimate set of tools" (channeling my inner Jeff Spicoli!) Seriously a basic set will do, if not go to harbor freight! I took mine and my brothers to a LBS that I have a good repour with to get fine tuned once up and running to make sure everything was TQ right and adjusted, I didn't want to deal with it. |
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