14max

Just a heads up to everyone who was looking to or has bought from Bikes Direct recently.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...442&highlight=

I recently bought what I thought to be an above average bike from BD's eBay arm "chicabike". The make is a Motobecane and the model is the Sprint. It came equipped with mainly Ultegra 6603 and Ritchey Comp components. It was a demo model and deeply discounted to obviously get it off the floor. As I began upgrading a few of the components I was pretty pleased with the quality of the frameset and the overall build. Until I got to the bottom bracket.

Yesterday, as I was attempting to remove the outboard cups, I found that neither would budge. They were both completely locked into the bottom bracket of the frame. After fighting with it at home I decided to take it to my LBS to find out what the heck was going on. About 30 minutes later, we were able to carefully, with some force, remove both cups. What my mechanic and I found was abhorrent. The drive side cup was placed in the bike without any grease on it and it had begun to seize. The non-drive side cup was much, much worse. Not only had the idiots who built the thing overtorqued the cup, but, because it had started to seize, the threads were stripped away and it came out bald. I spent the next hour using a carbide-tipped tool to get the remainder of the cup removed from the threads in the bottom bracket. I was able to chase the threads and make them usable so my (greased) Shimano bottom bracket fit just fine.

After this, I emailed the fine folks at "chicabike" to let them know what had happened. I was pissed, yes, because it cost me both time and money to correct the problems that could have been taken care of if a bit of forethought had been used. The response I received today from them was mindnumbing in it's stupidity and ignorance:

"Dear ,

the bike you bought was in 100% functional condition when it was shipped to you. I sell my bikes to be ridden, not to be taken apart. The stripped threads are a result of you taking it apart."

So, remember kids: If you buy a bike from these guys, throw away your tools. You won't need them and they advise against using them on your purchase anyway.

keisatsu

w...t...f...

SushiJoe

Based on what you said, that really blows and if the threads were seized, it's not your fault. A Bike Shop should be allowed to work on your bike. Those cups would eventually need to be removed for routine maintenance anyway. Thumbs down!

mihlbach

BFD...Thats what you get for buying a bike on the internet at an extremely deep discount. You still got a better deal than buying a bike at the LBS at MSRP.

14max

No, it is a BFD. The bike should at least be put together in a halfway decent (not halfassed) way. Bugger off...

waterrockets 

Yeah, the problem is one thing, but the response is ridiculous. I still think I'd buy from them because of the price, then I'd just deal with anything that was wrong with it when I got it. It still seems like a good starting point for a budget new bike.

TRaffic Jammer

Find who answered you ......
Grab some mischievous, mechanically inclined folks......


...and take his car apart.

StupidlyBrave 

Story is familiar...

SushiJoe

The answer is violence this time. Trust me. You'll be glad you did.

jasandalb

I agree 100%. Alot of people just dont have the initial capital to start off biking. Getting something discounted is great and then...once you get it...take it to your LBS and have them look it over, do some tune-up work. You may spend $100 on the tune up, but with that factored in, it's still cheaper then buying it off their floor. Plus most shops make their money with repair work, rather than selling bikes off the floor. I bought my bike off CL, brought it down to my LBS told those guys my situation, and they were happier that I was getting into biking and were glad to work on my bike

14max

Bikes Direct and "chicabike" is bollocks. I'll scream it to the rooftops if it will help put a damper on any and all of their sales. Bunch of prats...

Grasschopper

Yea that sucks...but I just had the original BB removed from my father's Cannondale CAAD3 and it took 2 of my LBS mechanics to get the BB loose because of how tight it was. Also BBs should be greased when installed the first time...they come with a compound on the threads from the factory.

I must agree that their response is total BS though...you should be able to remove the BB and it should be so seized into the BB shell that you need to re-cut the threads.

weavers

so you wanted to upgrade a bike, and couldn't do it yourself and it is bike directs fault.

i had the same experince. i bought a bike online. i couldn't climb hills with a 53/39 crank, all is was doing was mashing uphill. i wanted to spin a little. bought a compact, and tools to remove and install new parts. the old bottom bracket was over tighten and or over greased. i had say 500 miles on the bike. the nondrive side was easy to uninstall, the drive side i couldn't took it down the lbs, paid 15 dollars to watch two guy a +2 foot wrench take it off. should i get mad and make the seller pay the 15 dollars when the bike was perfectly funcional to begin with?

conversily the bike was shipped, arrived damaged, left on my door step. both wheels were out of true and rims to weak to try and fix, said the lbs. seller never filled a shipping claim and i never saw any money for new ones. oh well, here i am crying on the internet cause i bought a cheap bike, with even cheaper wheels.

sstorkel

So, let me see if I have this straight: you bought a bargain-basement bike from an Internet vendor widely known to have quality-control problems with their regularly-priced bikes. Even the vendor says "we suggest you take [the bike] to a local bike shop for final assembly & safety checks". Apparently you neglected to do this? And now you're whining because you discovered that you got exactly what you paid for and the vendor's customer-service is just as bad as everyone has been saying?

Man, that sucks!

14max

Fixed

14max

Comprehension a bit off? Reread my original post and get back to me, you git.

NYJayhawk

Nice response. Translation: "We sell bikes that have hidden problems that we don't want you to figure out until much later on when we can claim that YOU caused the problem. How dare you check the BB for problems."

Less learned.

fix

Agree.

Miller2

WTF is a git?

14max

(UK, slang, pejorative) A contemptible person.

JayC

I bought a bike from her as well and had the same problem. She's a DB.

Davet

Somewhat akin to a gormless twit, but not quite.

Nachoman

Thanks for posting your experience. I know people can have good experiences with BD, but those shill threads get so tiresome.

14max

Yes. I'm just glad I was able to salvage the frame and flip some of the parts otherwise it'd be completely not worth it. Anyone considering buying from these people should not think s/he'll be the lucky one. They won't...

PlatyPius

I'm not fan of BD, being in the LBS business, but I do have to say that we get bikes from major manufacturers that have the same problems. The difference, of course, is that we disassemble the bikes and build them back up before you buy them.

Lots of people are shocked that shops charge $120-$180 to build up a bike that was purchased elsewhere. This is why. To completely disassemble a bike, chase all of the threads, hone the seat tube, grease/lube/locktite everything and true the wheels, takes at least 2-3 hours. Our shop rate is $60/hour. Ergo, the $120-$180 assembly charge. Add that to your BD purchase price.

Most shops give you at LEAST one free tune up. We give one free tune up and the occasional free adjustment with our bikes. We also provide a comprehensive, computer-imaged (NOT computer-suggested) bike fit free with the purchase of a bike (or $285 without bike purchase). This is a 2-3 hour bike fit that includes an interview process, a video recording of your form and style on the bike, all adjustments and replacements as needed, and aligning and shimming (if required) of your cleats for proper foot angle.

Add that to the cost of the BD bike as well. Does it still look like a good deal?
How about the fact that you never have to call, email, or post on a message board for days/weeks to get a warranty issue resolved? You can just bring your bike in. If it's a part malfunction (such as a BB) chances are we'll just replace it from our own stock and deal with the warranty crap later. Result: you get back on your bike quicker.

Too bad we (LBS) "rip you off" so bad.....