is it worth it or is it a scam
12-26-06, 09:23 PM
#1
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is it worth it or is it a scam
https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...spirit_pre.htm
alright i've been looking into a nice racing bike for an upgrade thats price is realistic i found this i have two questions-does anyone know anything about this website or anything about motobecane and do you think it's a scam?
alright i've been looking into a nice racing bike for an upgrade thats price is realistic i found this i have two questions-does anyone know anything about this website or anything about motobecane and do you think it's a scam?
Last edited by mtcycle09; 12-26-06 at 09:37 PM.
12-26-06, 11:08 PM
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It's not a scam, looks like a decent deal to me.
BikeDirect seems to churn up a lot of bad feelings around here. Sure, the frames aren't the best and the parts spec has a few shortcuts in it, but still.....they are amazing deals. I've never heard anything bad about actual dealings with the company. Most people just seem upset that they have purchased the rights to some historically famous brand names and used them on bikes that they import.
BikeDirect seems to churn up a lot of bad feelings around here. Sure, the frames aren't the best and the parts spec has a few shortcuts in it, but still.....they are amazing deals. I've never heard anything bad about actual dealings with the company. Most people just seem upset that they have purchased the rights to some historically famous brand names and used them on bikes that they import.
12-26-06, 11:18 PM
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Buy it, that bike it top notch, and the frame (from what I've heard) is made in the same factory as the Pedal Force bikes that everyone is circle-jerkin' over. The components are awesome, and you'll never find as good a bike anywhere else, probably not even Ebay. The only things tha tneed to go are the tyres/tubes and the saddle. Everything else is top-notch stuff.
12-26-06, 11:49 PM
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They have another bicycle on pre-order and its a MUCH better deal. There is a thread about it around here somewhere...
It's a Bottechia frame with FULL RECORD for like $1,650, that barely covers the Record gruppo, let alone the rest of the bike (frame,saddle,seatpost,stem,fork,handlebars,wheels etc).
It's a Bottechia frame with FULL RECORD for like $1,650, that barely covers the Record gruppo, let alone the rest of the bike (frame,saddle,seatpost,stem,fork,handlebars,wheels etc).
12-26-06, 11:55 PM
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Originally Posted by Briareos
They have another bicycle on pre-order and its a MUCH better deal. There is a thread about it around here somewhere...
It's a Bottechia frame with FULL RECORD for like $1,650, that barely covers the Record gruppo, let alone the rest of the bike (frame,saddle,seatpost,stem,fork,handlebars,wheels etc).
It's a Bottechia frame with FULL RECORD for like $1,650, that barely covers the Record gruppo, let alone the rest of the bike (frame,saddle,seatpost,stem,fork,handlebars,wheels etc).
12-27-06, 12:07 AM
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Originally Posted by jrennie
the picture of the otter makes me laugh every time I see it.
12-27-06, 12:27 AM
#14
Ride it like you stole it
Originally Posted by operator
Except bottechia isn't the old botecchia which makes it as worthless as rebar.
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12-27-06, 12:29 AM
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Originally Posted by slide13
It's not a scam, looks like a decent deal to me.
BikeDirect seems to churn up a lot of bad feelings around here. Sure, the frames aren't the best and the parts spec has a few shortcuts in it, but still.....they are amazing deals. I've never heard anything bad about actual dealings with the company. Most people just seem upset that they have purchased the rights to some historically famous brand names and used them on bikes that they import.
BikeDirect seems to churn up a lot of bad feelings around here. Sure, the frames aren't the best and the parts spec has a few shortcuts in it, but still.....they are amazing deals. I've never heard anything bad about actual dealings with the company. Most people just seem upset that they have purchased the rights to some historically famous brand names and used them on bikes that they import.
12-27-06, 05:48 AM
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It is not a scam. I paid $1500 for a bikesdirect bike about 6 weeks ago (full DA with ritchey on this exact same frame - then branded as a Mercier - also an old dead brand name). It is a great frame and a great deal.
It comes in a box and you have to put it together, but it is not hard.
I dislike the branding they do, but for different reasons. It does not bother me that they buy the rights to dead names and use them. It happens in every industry and odds are the people who are honked off about this have at least one other product in their life that has the same history (meaning it is a name of a company that went out of business). These companies did not make it, their name has some value.
Anyhow, I dislike it because these names do not have any value to me. I am new to road biking and I do not care about past brand names. Plus I dislike it because I have to listen to people tell me 'you know that Mercier has nothing to do with the company that once was'. This is why I stripped my Mercier stickers and put on bikesdirect.com stickers I had made. I just answers questions for me.
Anyhow, as far as Mike acting like an idiot . . . I see it differently, I thought the local LBS honk (will not name him) looked like the jerk. I am biased, so take that will as much salt as you need. I have a bike from there that I love. Mike communicated with me a ton before and after the sale and was very helpful. I will say that he was much more helpful and lower pressure than the LBS folks I saw (which is just my local sample, clearly this is not the case everywhere).
It comes in a box and you have to put it together, but it is not hard.
I dislike the branding they do, but for different reasons. It does not bother me that they buy the rights to dead names and use them. It happens in every industry and odds are the people who are honked off about this have at least one other product in their life that has the same history (meaning it is a name of a company that went out of business). These companies did not make it, their name has some value.
Anyhow, I dislike it because these names do not have any value to me. I am new to road biking and I do not care about past brand names. Plus I dislike it because I have to listen to people tell me 'you know that Mercier has nothing to do with the company that once was'. This is why I stripped my Mercier stickers and put on bikesdirect.com stickers I had made. I just answers questions for me.
Anyhow, as far as Mike acting like an idiot . . . I see it differently, I thought the local LBS honk (will not name him) looked like the jerk. I am biased, so take that will as much salt as you need. I have a bike from there that I love. Mike communicated with me a ton before and after the sale and was very helpful. I will say that he was much more helpful and lower pressure than the LBS folks I saw (which is just my local sample, clearly this is not the case everywhere).
12-27-06, 06:49 AM
#17
SLJ 6/8/65-5/2/07
I'm assuming you're new(ish) to roadbiking so let me add a little to Indygreg's post and give you some info if other people ever give you gas about your "Motobecane."
Moto was a French company that also built Mopeds and started sometime back in the 1920s. They went belly up sometime in the early 90s IIRC and now BD has bought rights to the name. During the 1970s and early 1980s they were a very successful imported brand in the US. Many "older" riders (yours truly amongst them) can cite a Moto as their first "real" bike. That's why there's some resentment when people ask about the new Motos b/c they're not the real Motos we remember. Nor is it a real Moto like the 1978 Gran Jubile I bought awhile ago for nostalgia's sake. Same is true of the BD brand Mercier. The Bottecchia story is different as they lost the right to use their own name here in the US. Same is true of the much more sanctified name of Masi btw but BD has nothing to do with that.
Now, none of this is your prob, you just want to buy a bike...
I'm no expert on carbon or Shimano but BD prices are usually quite good and this one appears no different. If you're willing to do a bit of assembly and not being able to go to a real shop about potential problems doesn't bother you, then this is a lot of bang for the buck.
Moto was a French company that also built Mopeds and started sometime back in the 1920s. They went belly up sometime in the early 90s IIRC and now BD has bought rights to the name. During the 1970s and early 1980s they were a very successful imported brand in the US. Many "older" riders (yours truly amongst them) can cite a Moto as their first "real" bike. That's why there's some resentment when people ask about the new Motos b/c they're not the real Motos we remember. Nor is it a real Moto like the 1978 Gran Jubile I bought awhile ago for nostalgia's sake. Same is true of the BD brand Mercier. The Bottecchia story is different as they lost the right to use their own name here in the US. Same is true of the much more sanctified name of Masi btw but BD has nothing to do with that.
Now, none of this is your prob, you just want to buy a bike...
I'm no expert on carbon or Shimano but BD prices are usually quite good and this one appears no different. If you're willing to do a bit of assembly and not being able to go to a real shop about potential problems doesn't bother you, then this is a lot of bang for the buck.
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12-27-06, 09:03 AM
#18
Ride it like you stole it
I too would like to add to both indygreg and Walter's posts. I have purchased three bikes from BikesDirect. Every one came as indygreg described, partially disassembled, in the shipping carton that normally you would never see at the LBS, unless you ask. If you are meticulous about assembly and have the skills, you can finish assembly and tune in about an hour. I have actually unpacked assembled and photographed my Immortal Force in 20 minutes when Ostuni and I received ours on the same day. It certainly isn't hard to do. You can save some good money if you can assemble and adjust the bike yourself. If you must take it to a bike shop to pay someone to assemble it for you, you will still save a little money but obviously much less.
I am not against BD using old names. Its sad when people judge because an old bicycle company name is resurrected by someone new. If BD didn't do it, some of these names would be long forgotten. As was mentioned, this happens in other industries all the time. Brands are bought and sold, some are resurrected, some are buried, that is the world we live in today.
As far as quality is concerned, name brand parts, Ritchey, American Classic, Cane Creek, Shimano, Campagnolo among others, are what are on the various BD brands. There is nothing wrong with the quality of those items. The frames come from a variety of manufacturers, who also produce frames for other companies. The appear to be well built with good welds, some of the models had some paint issues but so did Cervelo, a side note; Scott used the same factory to produce frames as the Cervelo R3 yet suffered none of the paint finish issues that Cervelo did.
As Walter said, "none of this is your prob, you just want to buy a bike..." So go out and do just that, buy whatever bike you want and ride it, enjoy it, cherish it.
I am not against BD using old names. Its sad when people judge because an old bicycle company name is resurrected by someone new. If BD didn't do it, some of these names would be long forgotten. As was mentioned, this happens in other industries all the time. Brands are bought and sold, some are resurrected, some are buried, that is the world we live in today.
As far as quality is concerned, name brand parts, Ritchey, American Classic, Cane Creek, Shimano, Campagnolo among others, are what are on the various BD brands. There is nothing wrong with the quality of those items. The frames come from a variety of manufacturers, who also produce frames for other companies. The appear to be well built with good welds, some of the models had some paint issues but so did Cervelo, a side note; Scott used the same factory to produce frames as the Cervelo R3 yet suffered none of the paint finish issues that Cervelo did.
As Walter said, "none of this is your prob, you just want to buy a bike..." So go out and do just that, buy whatever bike you want and ride it, enjoy it, cherish it.
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12-27-06, 10:01 AM
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Just understand what you are getting yourself into.
IE - No LBS support, tunes, blah blah, you have to build it, returns, warranty....
Don't just go out and buy something because the price looks good. There are probably some reasons why the price is low, just like there are reasons for a price being high.
IE - No LBS support, tunes, blah blah, you have to build it, returns, warranty....
Don't just go out and buy something because the price looks good. There are probably some reasons why the price is low, just like there are reasons for a price being high.
12-27-06, 10:05 AM
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Originally Posted by indygreg
It is not a scam. I paid $1500 for a bikesdirect bike about 6 weeks ago (full DA with ritchey on this exact same frame - then branded as a Mercier - also an old dead brand name).
So it came with DA Brakes, Brifters, FD, RD, Cranks, BB, Chain, and Cassette?
12-27-06, 10:09 AM
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Yep - full DA as I understand it.
Brakes, Brifters, cables, cassette, crank, BB, RD. I will honestly have to check on chain, that is the only question.
Brakes, Brifters, cables, cassette, crank, BB, RD. I will honestly have to check on chain, that is the only question.
12-27-06, 10:12 AM
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https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/.../draco_wcs.htm
Chain is not DA. I am not as blinged out as I thought.
Chain is not DA. I am not as blinged out as I thought.
12-27-06, 10:56 AM
#24
if x=byh then x+1=byn
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Originally Posted by indygreg
https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/.../draco_wcs.htm
Chain is not DA. I am not as blinged out as I thought.
Chain is not DA. I am not as blinged out as I thought.
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12-27-06, 11:11 AM
#25
if x=byh then x+1=byn
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Originally Posted by Walter
. . . The Bottecchia story is different as they lost the right to use their own name here in the US. . .
BOTTECCHIA
Goods and Services IC 012. US 019 021 023 031 035 044. G & S: Bicycles and structural parts therefore; accessories for bicycles, namely pumps, baskets, saddle bags and rear view mirrors
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number 78490731
Filing Date September 28, 2004
Current Filing Basis 44E
Original Filing Basis 1B
Published for Opposition February 28, 2006
Registration Number 3095035
Registration Date May 23, 2006
Owner (REGISTRANT) CICLI ESPERIA S.P.A. CORPORATION ITALY Via Meucci, 27 Piove di Sacco (Padova) ITALY 35028
Attorney of Record John A. Clifford
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE
__________________
'00 TiSports Titanium - DA 9 speed------ '01 KHS Flite 800 - DA/Utegra 9 speed mix
‘02 Ellsworth Flight - Ultegra 10 speed -.'03 Basso Coral - Ultegra 10 speed
'03 Specialized Allez Pro - DA 10 speed .'04 Scattante CFR Limited - DA 9 speed
'05 KHS Flite 2000 - Ultegra 9 speed -... '06 Flyte SRS-3 - DA 9 speed-------
'05 Serotta Fierte - Utegra 10 speed--..-'07 Pedal Force RS - SRAM Force
'00 TiSports Titanium - DA 9 speed------ '01 KHS Flite 800 - DA/Utegra 9 speed mix
‘02 Ellsworth Flight - Ultegra 10 speed -.'03 Basso Coral - Ultegra 10 speed
'03 Specialized Allez Pro - DA 10 speed .'04 Scattante CFR Limited - DA 9 speed
'05 KHS Flite 2000 - Ultegra 9 speed -... '06 Flyte SRS-3 - DA 9 speed-------
'05 Serotta Fierte - Utegra 10 speed--..-'07 Pedal Force RS - SRAM Force