Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - LBS vs BikesDirect @ $400 Pricepoint

At my $400 pricepoint, the bike below is what my local shop recommends. I know that it's not going to be as good as a the Kilo Stripper or WT that I've been looking at on BikesDirect but I want to know if I'm looking at a major difference in quality here or is it pretty minor? I want to support my local shop but if the difference in quality is too great, I'd just order from BD and support the shop by going to them for all future work. Any advice is welcome. Thanks!

http://citybikes.com/product/11jamis-beatnik-74632-1.htm


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRoy1wT3NYI

seems like a decent commuter? probably has a more relaxed geometry then the kilo
but i am liking that concor style saddle
then again you can easily set up a kilo to be a nicer commuter
but the downside to that jamis is the cranks aren't a spider and chainring set up so riding fixed is a terrible idea and I feel like this is just another rebranded version of a retrospec or something generic of that nature.
Go with a Kilo, windsor, motobecane, dawes. all decent for their prices

The frame on that is hi-ten steel it's cheap and prob heavy I would rather get a chromoly Bikes direct frame.

Thanks guys. Tough call. I really wanna support the shop but its hard when I'm on a tight budget and would have to spend $300 more to get a comparable bike.

The frame on that is hi-ten steel it's cheap and prob heavy I would rather get a chromoly Bikes direct frame.I won't go so far as to say the Jamis is a piece of junk, but Wal-Mart sells this for $ 150 or Amazon sells one similar for $ 219 and we never hear the end of it ?

Then why not get a motobecane track or windsor hour? they run for like $280 + tax and shipping. Why would you pay $400 plus for that thing. Sure supporting your lbs is a great thing but sometimes you got to save some money

Then why not get a motobecane track or windsor hour? they run for like $280 + tax and shipping. Why would you pay $400 plus for that thing. Sure supporting your lbs is a great thing but sometimes you got to save some money

Well that was my reason for starting the thread. I wanted to know if it was anywhere close to the same quality as what I can get on BD for the same price.

Guess I'm getting my answer...

I say wait and save until you can buy the Sputnik or any other 4130/520 bike locally.

That's what I did. I originally walked into Big Shark for sizing reasons to then buy from BD, but after a test ride, I decided to just buy there. I like dealing with people face to face.

The personal advice, options that I could test ride, knowing the bike was suited for me and after sale benefits (free wheel truing) were worth the extra few hundred dollars to me. I don't plan on ever parting out or selling my first fixed-gear bike, so I'm glad that I took extra steps to make sure this is a bike I want to keep for life.

Well that was my reason for starting the thread. I wanted to know if it was anywhere close to the same quality as what I can get on BD for the same price.

Guess I'm getting my answer...
I'm not too sure of any bikes at most lbs's that could match a price of something on BD but if you'd rather be able to inspect the bike in person then maybe what GMJ said is right. Save up and get something better. Or another option is maybe find some friends or friends of friends who have BD bikes that maybe you could just ride around on who knows. The quality of BD bikes is pretty nice considering the number of people who are satisfied with their rides.

You don't have to buy a bike from your lbs just to support them. Most of the money they make is from tires and tubes and stuff like that. Buy complete online and buy all your upgrades tires and all that from your lbs.

or buy online and have them assemble it $$$$$$$$$$$$$ shops dont make much money off bike anyway, the money is service and all the other stuff people buy for their bikes

They don't make much off of cheap bikes but as an authorized dealer, every bike they sell counts. It's not just per price, it's the quantity they sell.

If you really want to buy locally, nothing wrong with the Jamis. It's not crap.
No bike shop can compete with bikesdirect or other internet sales, so you have to decide whether the value added by an LBS is worth it.

If you want to support your LBS, buy a bike from bikesdirect and get parts from your LBS. For example, you can get a SST, or windsor, and if you decide you don't like the handle bars. Best place to get them locally anyways. Get some new tires from your local shop too. You get the idea.

LBS make plenty of money off each bike. Just because the internet bikes are considerably less in some cases, doesn't mean they aren't making a decent profit off those too. But it just gives you an idea of how much it will cost to walk in and have that bike the same moment you test ride it or see it on the showroom floor. They have to stay in business. The LBS up the street has been around for 30 years, they must be doing something right with the pricing ?

if you can walk in with cash, you might be able to get a lower price. or at least haggle for them to take off what you would pay in tax.

ride it. if you love it go for it.

i had a Sputnik and think the Beatnik is nice for the price.

If you have talked to the LBS a fair amount, done a fitting, taken a few bikes for test rides, etc, you have already taken advantage of the "value added," to the bike by the shop. Other parts of this are correct assembly of the bike, stress relieving/truing the wheels, potential warranty work if necessary, etc. I get super bummed out when people go to shops to size a bike or try on shoes/clothes and then buy online at a cheaper price. At the same time, you will get a better frame for the same money by buying online. It's up to you to decide if the trade off is worth it.