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BD Kestrel TT bike with SRAM Red + Zipps for $4495 - meh or great deal?

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BD Kestrel TT bike with SRAM Red + Zipps for $4495 - meh or great deal?

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Old 04-02-11, 05:44 AM
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BD Kestrel TT bike with SRAM Red + Zipps for $4495 - meh or great deal?

I'm not interested in buying this bike (I already have a TT bike that I love as well as a trusty road steed) and am not a BD marketing shill (despite the inevitable shill posts that will come.) And yes, I've read all the friggin' disastrous BD threads in the pasts and am well aware of the company's marketing, blah blah.

But I did come across this:
https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...se_sramred.htm

Kestrel TT bike + Zipps + Sram Red. What got my attention was the $4k+ price, which to me is unusual for BD, since they're known for their rock-bottom prices.

Is this at all a good deal, or is it pretty much a no-discount internet price judging from the spec? (I did notice that their Kestrel-branded bikes seem priced at what I would expect closer to an LBS, and are signficantly pricier than their 'house' brands.)
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Old 04-02-11, 06:34 AM
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there is no "kestrel branded"
kestrel is a brand, recently bought by Fuji, that was a pioneer in carbon fiber bikes:
https://video.google.com/videoplay?do...3632990314271#

they are good bikes, not an "internet brand' whatever that means.
also nobody thinks you're a shill.
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Old 04-02-11, 06:43 AM
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Originally Posted by Inertianinja
also nobody thinks you're a shill.
Haha. Doubt it.
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Old 04-02-11, 08:18 AM
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That isn't a TT bike; that bike is not UCI legal.
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Old 04-02-11, 08:32 AM
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I wandered into my local Trek dealer awhile back and he had some of these carbon Kestrel frames (not the one in the OP post though). He said they were so cheap that he couldn't resist buying a few to sell. They looked decent although a little funky and gimmicky. It made me wonder a little about that company though.

This bike definitely fits the Bikes Direct marketing philosophy - tease them with the components and hope they forget about the frame. I have bought bikes from BD but I wouldn't spend $4500 on a bike and not be sure that I had a world class frame.
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Old 04-02-11, 08:48 AM
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Originally Posted by hhnngg1
Haha. Doubt it.
the owner of BD posts here.
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Old 04-02-11, 08:50 AM
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Originally Posted by jrobe
I have bought bikes from BD but I wouldn't spend $4500 on a bike and not be sure that I had a world class frame.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kestrel_USA
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Old 04-02-11, 08:51 AM
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the wheels + aerobar + Red retail for the whole pricetag. i don't know if the bike is legal, but if i could get that bike i would. i wouldn't spend thousands more for something with a different logo on it.
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Old 04-02-11, 09:37 AM
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I would expect it to be around $6000 at the lbs. Looks like there aren't many sizes left.
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Old 04-02-11, 10:51 AM
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I'd rather take a whole host of other TT bikes than that Kestrel for $4500. Cervelo P2 with Ultegra and a set of FP80s to name one.
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Old 04-02-11, 12:33 PM
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Originally Posted by Triguy
I'd rather take a whole host of other TT bikes than that Kestrel for $4500. Cervelo P2 with Ultegra and a set of FP80s to name one.
What he said.
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Old 04-02-11, 01:05 PM
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Originally Posted by Inertianinja
But are they really the same company since the Fuji acquisition?
__________________
Telemachus has, indeed, sneezed.
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Old 04-02-11, 02:18 PM
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Originally Posted by halfspeed
But are they really the same company since the Fuji acquisition?
i dont know how to answer that.
Do their frames spontaneously combust? no. do people ride them and like them? yes.
do they have a huge marketing budget like trek and specialized? no.
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Old 04-02-11, 05:14 PM
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some internet though guy guy named 'racer ex' has the entire market of bikes to choose from, and claims his A races come down to very small margins, based on small advantages.
he rides fuji road bikes & kestrel tt bikes.

he also has photochopped some photos together of a heavy, old guy windtunnel testing these bikes.
he then had the gall to claim that they were fast.

good thing you guys are here to clear up any misconceptions about how those bikes might be as good or better than a 1970s Raleigh Team.
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Old 04-02-11, 05:16 PM
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a local master's guy hooked up with my team on the team ride today.
He was riding a bike - clearly re-branded as a "Kestrel",

I could tell the bait-and-switch was on when he pedaled and it went quickly.
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