gabelny

Just got my new bike from bikesdirect.com. I got a Dawes Lightning 1500 54cm road bike. It even came with a free clip-on aero bar. I am very satisfied with the bike, it arrived within 5 days of ordering and everything was correct on it. Easy assembly - had my LBS tune it and they loved it. The bike features decent Shimano components (sora front DR and Tiagra rear DR) and is very smooth. Carbon fiber forks and aluminum frames. The components compare to the Trek 1000. It's just a nice simple 24 speed road bike, nothing special. Hate all you want on bikesdirect.com but there are many of us who actually have awesome experiences with them. I was satisfied and would recommend them to anyone. It compares to many much more expensive bikes. There are many roadies who will snicker because they spent $6000 on a bike and think their bike is better, but it's ok because I will just outride them on a $500 BD bike.
Kidding - I ride just to ride, not to act like I'm better than others.

mijome07

Me too.

gabelny

Represent! Your bike looks great, I hope it's been good to you since you got it in May.

mijome07

Thanks. It's been fantastic!

StephenH

Okay, here's the part I don't understand. From the Bikesdirect website, I find:
"Bikesdirect.com is the brainchild of David Sander, a 44-year-old Texas entrepreneur whose roots in the business go back to 1985. Over the past 10 years, Sander has helped put together the Houston-based 35-store Cycle Spectrum chain, with sales estimated at $17 million. Bikesdirect is a separate enterprise, a nine-month-old company with four employees that draws its goods from Cycle Spectrum's massive inventory but otherwise operates independently."

Okay, so up here in Plano is the local Cycle Spectrum store (and coincidentally, also the BikeIsland place, but I digress). So suppose I buy my bike from Bikesdirect, have it shipped to my house, then haul it back over to the Cyclespectrum store to tune it. How is that better or cheaper than just buying the thing from CycleSpectrum in the first place?

-=(8)=-

Ive built a BikesDirect bike with just a multi-tool.
Getting a BD bicycle out of a box and ready-to-ride is a very
basic process. Really. There is no need to take it anywhere if
you have even a minimal familiarity of tools/bikes.

gabelny

Well if you have a CycleSpectrum near you then it would not make sense to purchase a bike from the website. If you can get the same bike and same deal in the store, then that's great.

the bandit

Nice bike, hope you enjoy it.

I am going to get a new road bike this winter, maybe I'll look into this. That is a very good deal.

gabelny

If you want a nice affordable bike that has top components I highly suggest it. I don't want to completely skew you towards it though, so do your research on here to see what others have had to say about bikesdirect. Some people have bad experiences, but the same goes for every single item you can purchase on the market; someone will always have a bad experience. But overall the general consensus seems to be good.

Rogue Leader

I'm a fan,



however I felt compelled to rebuild the bike with better components after 6 months



Nothing wrong with it, just didnt fit the use I discovered I had (and I had no clue what I was buying). If I were to go back in time, I would just buy a better BD bike in the first place. Service has been great, and the bike was great as is.

gabelny

The galaxy looks like a pretty bike. New components looked nice as well. Nicely done

Grasschopper

Ohh ohh..here is mine...not really stock, I bought the fork and frame off of someone who had purchased the bike outfitted with Record.

Big M

How do you go about sizing? I've measured myself using wrench science, but I'm still wary about buying online without experienced help. Bikes Direct says to write with your measurements and they will help. After sending my height, inseam, arm length, etc, I got this generic sounding reply:

"Sizing is personal preference so I cant tell you what size to buy but I can give you some tips.

Please check out the geometry sizing chart and compare to bikes you have ridden.
Be sure you have enough room when you hop off the bike.

Smaller bikes will give you lower handle bars and more aggressive handling.
Larger bikes will give you higher handle bars and less straddle room.

The final choice is up to you!

Thanks"

gabelny

what i did for sizing was go to my local bike store and have them size me, instead of trying to do it myself. i was sized at about a 56cm, but the bike i felt most comfortable on was a 55cm. now some of the bikes on bikes direct, especially the dawes bikes will have large size jumps. my bike, had a jump from 54 to 58. they have what's called the guarantee fit system and it sizes you by height only. i got the 54 cm and it fits fine. most of the other bikes have better options for sizing though. but your best bet is to go to your local bike store and have them size you!

mwengel62

Great looking bike. I'm considering one of these. It specs out almost like the Fuji Newest 2.0 for a lot less. I believe it uses the exact same frame as the Fuji.