you're going to have to wade through quite a bit of BS at BF on BD...
None of the posters telling you the BD bike is poor quality has any facts to back up their opinion...so you have to ignore all of that.
The issues for you are whether the savings you get from BD is sufficient to consider you won't get:
* someone to talk to about your bike and help you pick out one that is right for you
* local warranty support
* free adjustments for 6 months or a year
* someone to assemble the bike for you at no charge
The LBS will be MORE than happy to take your money for assembly, repairs and adjustments as well as upgrades and accessories. So you're really down to verbal consulting and local warranty support. I have no idea what the number is, but would guess there is a less than 1% chance you will need warranty support, so for me that wasn't an issue. BD bikes have warranties, but you'll have to resolve your problem by email instead of in person.
I bought a Motobecane Chamion CF SRAM. I assembled the bike in a hour, adjusted derailleurs, brakes, fit etc after reading up on the internet. LBS offered to to assembly fro $100 and fit for $200, but I wanted to learn these things for myself. Working on a bike is really extremely easy for anyone remotely mechanically inclined.
I saved about $1,500 for a similarly equipped Trek or Specialized CF bike. If the frame breaks, I made a bad bet. Otherwise, I'm in pretty good shape.
An advantage for the LBS is that you can test ride the bike, but will a ride around the LBS parking lot, or even a hour or 2 really tell you what the bike will feel like after months and thousands of miles...nope....very few shops will do a fit BEFORE you buy the bike, so test riding the floor really makes zero sense.
There are good reasons to buy from a LBS...quality is not one of them. No one has factually supported any claim that a brand bike frame is any better than a BD one....they're virtually all made by only a couple/few manufacturers in Taiwan and China.
Try to wade through the BS, define what YOU really want from your vendor (price, quality, service, advise etc), and give your money to the business that delivers it.
good luck!
I agree with the above and I chuckle at the people that talk about "free adjustments" like its some holy grail. What the **** needs adjusting so damn much? you can't undo a quick release and raise and lower your seat? can't work an allen wrench and loosen and tighten a stem? if you can't do those things you don't belong on a bike in the first place.
OP, you said you can rebuild an engine. Buy from Bikes Direct.
I was just at my lbs and in the window was some sort of Cannondale, all I saw was the "SIX" on the top tube. Tiagra RD, Sora FD, Tiagra shifters Aluminum frame and mavic cxp22 rims, not sure what the hubs were. $1500!!!! What a friggin joke! I can get the same damn thing full ultegra for $100 on bikes direct!!!!!!