there are a lot of bike snobs here who claim that if they saw you with a bikesdirect bike they'd yell at you for not supporting your local bike store (and may even yell at you on line), but a lot of those same bike snobs will have one bikesdirect bike in the back of their garage that's a different type than the bikes they usually ride. Just be sure to factor abut $150 for install into the price (or be able to do it yourself).