Do a search on the forum, there is no shortage of information, pro and con. I bought a BD bike and have been nothing but pleased with it and it was my first road bike. I used a number of different resources available online in order to find a good fit and it worked out fine. I took the bike to a LBS and had them assemble it for me and give it a once over. The owner of the shop who has been selling and repairing bikes for over 30 years gave it high marks.

That being said, there are good reasons to buy something from your LBS as well. You may pay more, and you may get less, but you can at least have someone to go to if you run into problems and most shops will give you a fitting as part of the purchase.