jimd118

Hey everyone, as promised here is a complete review of my purchase from bikesdirect.com
I was kind of dissappointed in lack of info about the company when i was trying to decide if i should chance it with them or not so I felt I would help others in this situation out by giving my experience. First off let me start with I ended up buying two bikes from them, one for me and one for my g/f.

My Experience:
I have been biking both road and offroad for about 12 years now. Have been on many trails of all levels mostly in the NE US. Have owned many bikes and have learned it is not always about how much you pay. For about 8 years I have owned a GT Tequesta that I used for MTN biking and have laughed at all the times my $800 mid 90s bike would go rolling past people with $2k treks and fishers that had gear and crank issues on the trail. All the years and miles on her I had never had a single thing break.

Pic's of the Cliff 4900
The New Bike:
Windsor Cliff 4900 Price Paid = $450!!!!!
Rockshox Dart 2 Front forks
Shimano Shifters and Derailers
Tektro Disk brake system

Ordering and Shipping:
I was very impressed with the entire process. Although scared to buy a relitively cheap bike that i have never ridden or seen that seems too good to be true, I said what the heck and hit add to cart. Within about 6 hours i had the tracking information and a friendly letter letting me know multiple resources to help me put together the bike if needed and a number to call with any questions. To my suprise, the third day after ordering the bike is on my door step.

Assembling:
Although i have always done all my own maintenance on my bikes i would not say I am very experienced in this field. I usually just tinker until stuff works. I was slightly intimidated as I Pulled everything from the box. I spread everything out and just decided to take my time and not rush. I must say the downside is they do not really provide any helpful directions so if you are very new to bikes you will most likely need to take it to a bike shop or have someone with some know how to put yours together. Keep in mind though the price so if it wasnt even painted i wouldnt complain. I was able to get mine from box to riding in about an hour. No problems pairing components, everything went together great and with about another 20 minutes of tuning all systems were 100%. The first two days I put probably 5 hours on it and was impressed the entire time.

Two weeks of riding down:
At this point I have been riding the bike daily for about two weeks. Only thing that has needed to be touched has been the front derailer. Some simple tuning a few times and that has been it. The Rockshox are great and after setting up the preload they give a great ride in all terrain. I have done a few pretty hard trails and have really put some abuse on the bike and not a single thing acted up. People have commented on the trails about how one day they would love to move up to one of "Those" $3000 dollar bikes, haha. I have even had a few minor spills on it and nothing has even been moved or loosened up.

I ended up buying my G/F a new bike from them too. A Motobacane 500HT. Again totally impressed with it. She has done some semi difficult riding with it and she loves it. It has the rockshox dart 1 on it and that is the only quality difference you can tell. Shocks are a little spongy and if hit hard can bottom out easier. With that said it was a $379 bike, it rides great and can handle even the toughest trails.

To Sum it up:
I was very impressed with the entire Bikes Direct experience. I will deffinately recommend them to anyone in the market for a bike and will purchase from them again. If anyone has any specific questions feel free to ask.

Thank You Very Much Bikesdirect.com

goodall

Thanks for the review. I just ordered the same bike and waiting for it to arrive. Can't wait to take it out! I've been racing road and track for four years, and this will be my first mountain bike.

theextremist04

That geometry looks really odd.

Cyclist30907654

It's not sitting on even ground.

theextremist04

That would do it.

coke

I looked at that bike also. I went with the 700ht for $50 more basically because i didn't want a black bike, and the brakes are better on the 700ht. Also i was happy that for some reason my 700ht came with black rims instead of silver which makes it look a LOT better.

My Rockshox dart 2 came with lockout. Do yours have lockout also?

jimd118

Nope, thats accounts mostly for the price difference. Wasnt a big deal for me and the shocks are a good medium shock. I have had it out on trails for about 4 weeks now and still love it, brakes have no need to upgrade and the bike has handled some pretty nasty terrain with some nice wipeouts.

mtnbiker66

What is the big deal about you throwing down on folks who want to spend a lot of coin on a bike?

jimd118

I dont have a problem with people spending big $ on bikes, your money do as you wish, I simply have been riding for a long time and know its more about skill then what fancy parts your bike has. I sometimes feel like there is just so many people spending more than they can afford thinking it will magicaly make them ride better. Sure better parts do make a difference, no denying that, there has been a lot of people though that have lost a lot of the freedom of biking to turning it into a name brand / material thing. But then again if thats what an individual enjoys about biking thats his deal.

mtnbiker66

I only have about 50 bucks more in my Bullit than you have in your bike so I'm not talking about me. You just seem to like to make a big deal over how what kind of bike you passed on the trail.

RT

Pcad should be here any minute

rankin116

How is any of this relevant to the "review"? Maybe you not breaking anything over the years says more about the manner/terrain you ride (or the manner/terrain which you don't ride) than the bike itself?

FYI, I ride a BD bike as well, and I have broken stuff.

PS - This isn't the road forum, nobody cares what bike you ride.

theextremist04

Maybe...the people with expensive bikes put thousands of miles in a year and their stuff just wears out? Or they crashed? People stop on the trails to look at their bikes for lots of different reasons.

jimd118

Holy Crap guys calm down, I wanst trying to rant that my bike was better than a $3g bike or anything like that. I was simply trying to let people know that were in my situation the experience I had! When I decided to buy a new bike I was going to spend $1500 and then I stumbled upon BD that had bikes equivalent to the $1500's I was looking at for $500. I was scared to death to order from them because it just seemed like there had to be a catch. I saw a lot of people in the forums riding BD but not really any reviews. I posted this not to piss you guys off and brag about how nothing ever breaks, but to simply give people that are considering BD my experience with them. I ride hard on many different style trails and wreck daily. Call it quality luck or whatever you want, not a single thing has broke, sure some readjusting needs done time to time but when you spend $500 on a bike and it puts up with this stuff it deserves some praise.

Rankin116, what the heck man calm down I was just giving another example. It was simply another mid range bike that deserved praise, I honestly put that bike through some bad situations and not a single thing in almost 10 years totally broke. It has always blown me away and I figured it was worth a mention in a review dealing with people questioning a lower priced ride. And your comment "PS - This isn't the road forum, nobody cares what bike you ride.", come on thats half the reason we are here, go look through the forums half of the are on bikes.?! That is what is great about this forum, people on here love to talk bikes in a serious and respectful manner whether it be a $300 walmart ride or a $3g big name.

Theextremist04 - Yes, I totally understand that. I was in no way saying that there bikes were crap or something. Again I was just giving some much deserved praise to my old GT. Over the years on it there were many times I stopped and help people work on there bikes on the trail, not just ride past. I put thousands on my bike yearly, road and mtbing with nothing but readjustments and scratched paint. Again not saying it is better tan your _________ just simply saying my experience and that I was impressed with it.

Sorry to make so many people go nuts over a review, not sure if you guys misinterpreted what I was attempting to get across or what. Sorry, I was simply trying to help.

Cyclist30907654

Everone is "calm", and no one's "go[ing] nuts".

rankin116

I'm ok. I reread what I wrote, and I guess it could come off as a bit harsh, but I wasn't trying to be.

Just saying that most of the people here could care less what bike you ride. I have never gotten any ***** for riding a Moto, though I think chelboed might be hunting me down soon. I have to keep looking over my shoulders, or around the next turn!

jimd118

No problem, yeah it just seemed like everyone was getting defensive like I was attacking their bikes or something. Just was trying to let people know my experience. Like I said this was my experience, i have had friends that dont even ride hard and have had similar bikes have big problems that they shouldnt, just wanted to give what I have experienced.

pathdoc

I just order the same bike,Windsor Cliff 4900. Looks like a lot of bike for the money.

jimd118

Yep, let me know what you think. Ive got well over 100 miles on trails on it now and have never been more in love with a bike. I have had multiple wipeouts now and only damage done was had to do some tuning on front derailer and rear brake caliper.

pathdoc

Just assembled the Cliff 4900 tonight. Went together in less than 30 minutes. Looks incredible esp. considering the price. I'll take it for a spin this weekend.

kenhill3

Pete- This isn't a good place for you. You should spend your time at Ride Monkey where you can get the ass whipping you deserve.

cyclops

Cant be Pete, its not unpleasant enough.

cyclops

It's not that Pete deserves that sort of thing, he really cant help himself. Pete just needs more attention than most people.


Oh, and it looks like a nice bike, I'm glad your enjoying it.

jimd118

Hey Pete, wow thanks for letting your true colors shine buddy. I love these forums except for one detail, the few people that just happen to roam around through the threads looking for places to place their virtual experience and an outlet where they can put down others, most likely because they are assh*les yet cowards in their real life so it gives them a chance to feel like they are something in their sad sad lives. Pete from how you sound this would most likely be your case. I dont know who you are or your history. Therefore I would not make an experience judgement about your biking, however I feel after that comment I am in a pretty good situation to make a character judgement. Interesting how me talking about my new bike can give you the knowledge of how much and how hard I ride, also that im cheap.?. Is someone possibly jealous that they spent big bucks and got a similar package only adding a big name? Not sure, however I will not make assumptions like you....

patentcad

You're all shills.