Spoke

Sunday evening I pulled the trigger and ordered a new road bike on the Internet. After five years of riding my '02 Cannondale R700 USA Edition (aluminum frame, carbon fiber fork, 105 components), I decided it was time to add to my stable a carbon fiber bike with Dura Ace or Ultegra components and either a compact crank or a triple. I still love my Cannondale, but I wanted the benefit of a softer ride, better components and some lower gears for the Texas Hill Country west of Austin. So I pulled the trigger and ordered a '08 Motobecane Century Team from BikesDirect.com. And within thirty minutes I received a phone call from my credit card fraud alert team wanting to confirming that the charge on my account was valid. I assured them that it was and thanked them for checking.

On Monday I received confirmation that my order had been received, and Monday afternoon I received notice that my order was being shipped via UPS and should be delivered on Tuesday. Tuesday? But no one was going to be home Tuesday. Sure enough, UPS attempted to delivery the bike on Tuesday evening, just 48 hours after I had ordered it, but since no one was home, UPS rescheduled for Wednesday. Well, I made sure I knew when UPS was going to come by and made sure someone was home.

There was no visible damage to the shipping box other than the normal scuff marks and minor dimples. I was like kid on Christmas morning. I opened the box and unpacked the bike. It was fully assembled except for the front wheel, front brake and handlebars. I put it in the stand, took off all the packing materials and installed the front wheel, brakes and handlebars. Most everything that could be adjusted needed some adjustment. I did what I could but decided to be on the safe side and have my local bike shop give it a minor tune-up and get it ready to ride. They made all the necessary adjustments, plus they straightened a slightly bent rear derailleur hanger and replaced a pinched rear brake cable housing. My additions include an E3 Form Titanium saddle, a Shimano Flight Deck cycle computer, a pair of Bontrager Race Lite road cages, Shimano Ultegra (PD6610) pedals and a Topeak mini Morph bike frame pump.

I took her out for her maiden voyage today. WOW! What a sweet ride. 38+ miles and I needed not one adjustment. Although both bikes weigh about the same, when I rode the Motobecane, it "felt" lighter. I guess that is the effect of the carbon fiber frame. It sure made the rough roads smooth, and the smooth roads like glass. I could realy feel the improvement in the ride. And the crisp shifting of the DA componets was music to my ears. Sweet!

Photos attached. Ride On!

-Spoke

Note: The original photo links were not working. I have fixed the problem and the photos are attached below.
-Spoke

TruF 

Congratulations!!! Looks like you'll have to try posting the pics again. I'll be sure to come back for a look-see.

George

Congratulations, spoke, I know you will enjoy your bike, have fun. You know you'll have to post some pictures though.

BengeBoy 

Congrats!

I have read that some potential customers of BikesDirect.com have worried that their LBS wouldn't do maintenance on their bike or help w/set up. I'm assuming you had no issue w/your LBS tuning up a new bike you bought somewhere else?

(personally I wouldn't worry about it -- I buy enough accessories/parts/tools/clothing locally that I don't think either of the shops I frequent would hestitate to help -- but just wondering about your experience)

staehpj1

It would be foolish of them not to since they probably make more money on service and all the misc. stuff other than the bike itself any way.

cccorlew

And you are posting photos when?

Congrats on the bike. I really like it. I bought a Le Champion SL and thought is was a great deal. If BD had had what you bought I'd have bought that instead. I seems like a great value. Enjoy. And post photos.

Spoke

The photos are attached to the original post. Please let me know if you can not see them. I will repost them if need be.

Regarding local bike shops: I did need to have the rear wheel hub bearing adjusted, so I called a shop I had not visited but was listed on the Ritchey web site. They asked me where I got the wheel and I told them. They said, "Oh, that might be the problem." I didn't go there, won't go there now. I then took the bike to my regular bike shop and had no problem. They gave it a basic tune up and found two items that needed attention that I missed. Okay, so they didn't get the sale of the bike, but they did get a service order, and I will be back for various other bike related items. I think they realize that some business is better than no business. The first shop lost a service sale and lost a potential customer. The second shop got a service sale and is keeping me as a customer. I'm a happy camper. Ride On!

-Spoke

BluesDawg

I don't see any photos in the first post. Something's not working.

Spoke

Well, let me try again.

[Photo links removed since they were not working]

How's that? Let me know.

-Spoke

Digital Gee

Well, unless it's a white bike (Cool!) out in a snowstorm, it still didn't work. Are you making sure you put .jpg after the url?

Spoke

Does this work?

[Photo links removed since they were not working]

Maybe the third time is a charm. Let me know?

-Spoke

BengeBoy 

White bike on a bowl of rice? In a snowstorm?

Seriously, there is one of the forums on the BF site with a long thread about how to post pictures. You can go in there and see instructions, and then test it a time or two. If it works, you'll be able to see it on your own PC.

I use a site called www.tinypic.com. You go to tinypic, upload the photo from your hard drive to that...then you copy the URL provided there and paste it into your post. There may be better ways, but that's what I do....this took 30 secs...

Spoke

I have posted photos before. But for some reason the links to my Google Picasaweb site are not working. Let me find an alternate solution and I will be back with photos!

-Spoke

Spoke

Okay, here we go again.





















"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."

Let me know if we've got photos this time. Thanks!

-Spoke

cccorlew

All your happy photos show up now.
Coolness!

George

I got the pictures on both ends. Good looking bike Spoke, good luck, and safe riding to ya.

BengeBoy 

Great lookin' ride. Pretty good view of how well it's packed, too.

BluesDawg

Working now, and looking good.

stapfam

As a new convert to C.F. (Not really convert- but I have one) It does ride differently. Mess around with tyre pressures till you get them right, and swop wheels over with the "OLD" bike. My intitial thoughts were that it is faster- but then started to find improvements can be made so, like any new bike, keep tweaking and keep riding till you get it right.

And the best way I have found to keep it clean is to use a Furniture polsh. At least you have a NON white bike that makes that side of it easier.

Edit-----And how did you get away with it- Looks like you built it up in the Lounge- Lucky devil.

bostongarden

Sweet!!!! I'm going to look for ya on the local roads...

bcoppola

BIKES DIRECT IS THE SPAWN OF SATAN!!

Oh, sorry....thought this was the road forum...

Seriously: sweet!

stonecrd

Welcome to the CF family. Bike looks great, should provide many happy rides.

n4zou

My LBS is happy to work on bikes purchased through BikesDirect.com. The owner will tell you up front that BikesDirect.com bikes are good and at prices he can't compete with but that does not bother him in the least. He said the real money is in service and very high end bikes. BikesDirect.com gives him service customers and the people purchasing high end bikes want personal service with a real person standing there talking to them. Everyone wins.

K-rider

Great looking bike. I don't know if you log your rides and keep up with such things as average speed but it would be interesting to know if this new CF helps. You say this new ride and your old one weigh about the same, but I assume there should be some assistance in speed from new technology. After the new bike placebo effect wears off, let us know. Congratulations on pulling the trigger.

TruF 

Great pictures! I love that you shared your experience from the box to the road. What a handsome bike!!!! And I really like the information about buying online, but getting service via your LBS. Sounds like a win-win situation to me. You get more bike, and your LBS gets $$ for all the peripherals.