I have a Windsor Fens that I bought in January, you can see the pic in my signature. Some of my thoughts:

It is a great bike for the money. I have put about 2000 miles on it since I started riding again in late February. I went with this bike and Bikes Direct because I didn't want to spend too much money on a bike in case I didn't get into cycling like I had in the past. Looking back, I wish I had invested in a nicer ride. The bike has decent components, and truly for the price, it is hard to beat. I knew my size from cycling in the past, and I knew how to fit myself. The bike was easy to assemble. If you can follow directions and have basic hand tools, you can put the bike together. Make sure to go to a local bike shop to have it put together for you, if you don't trust yourself. And invest in a professional fitting before you start riding if you don't have any experience with bike fit (about $60-100). The derailleurs came adjusted perfectly out of the box, as well as the wheels were true, so no worries there. I didn't have to adjust the derailleurs until about 700 miles, where I guess the cable stretch from new cables finally hit the point where it was throwing off the shifts a bit. Easy to adjust it though, following guides online or taking it into the local bike shop.

For the cons: The bike is heavy, 25lbs with saddle bag (co2 pump, tube) and pedals. The wheels are sub par, I have already dented one on a railroad track and have a new set coming in. I am a light guy (about 145lbs), and the wheels seem to get out of true fairly easy. The derailleurs have had a constant squeal or squeak and everytime I fix one, it seems others pop up. The tires suck worse than the wheels. I had 10 flats in the first 2 weeks of owning the bike. I then replaced them with Michelin Krylion Carbons and haven't had a problem since (minus the railroad track that dented the wheel, but I think that flat is acceptable). I had a 105 shifter for the rear derailleur brake, and it stopped ratching. I took it into the local bike shop and they replaced it under warranty from Shimano. The brakes blow. Since denting the rear rim, the rear brakes have basically not been useable so I've been relying on the front only. I can mash the front brakes as hard as I want and I would not fly over the handlebars. Also, rode in the rain once and it had decent braking, but it used up a ton of the pad life. I have a set of Kool Stop Salmon pads coming in though, that will hopefully cure this issue.

I think most of these issues are going to be generic with just about any low-mid range bike, just because most of it is based off of components and not Bikes Direct or the Fens. I think you just need to weigh the importance of having a bike from a local bike shop, and the customer service from them. If I hadn't had bikes before, and had a general idea of what to expect, I think I would have wanted to buy the bike from a local store, even if it meant spending a few more bucks. You really do learn a lot and experience a lot more going that route. Hope this helps some.