Originally Posted by
Rataan
Here's where I'm going with this: you want us to believe that BD is giving us a free lunch, and I'm here to say that I strongly doubt it. It's not because my Dad told me there are no free lunches, or that I'm old enough and experienced enough to have bought and sold a variety of things over the years. It's because BD is a business, which, like any other business, offers a product at a particular price point, and there is no business sense in making that product any better than it needs to be.
In the case of BD, there are some distressing reasons to suspect they don't need to be very good. They have no tradition, reputation, or legacy to uphold. What assets do they have to lose if lawsuits are brought against them? If things start going south for them from warranty claims, bad word of mouth or whatever, what happens? Do they just dry up and disappear?
Let's just say for the sake of argument that their frames don't break any more often than average, although I doubt that anyone knows for certain. So what? My brother hasn't broken his lower end $299 Trek MTB either, but that doesn't make it an enthusiast level bike. And that is the crux of the problem I have with these "bargain" bikes. People like you would have us believe that just because there is an Ultegra derailleur, you are getting an integrated Ultegra level bike, and I just haven't seen any evidence of that. What I can see is that in spite of your vague and unconvincing arguments for their manufacturing quality, the frame designs are straight out of Yesterday.
Next you are going to tell me that BD is doing us a favor by cutting out middle men. Prove it. How, pray tell, does one sell Chinese made frames with Japanese made parts in the USA factory direct? You don't. It's marketing. The very idea is a non sequitur. When I bought my Turner MTB frame, I spoke with the dealer, and they spoke with Turner. Since we don't call the Far East to inquire about BD bikes, it's obvious that BD isn't selling bikes any more direct than many others.
While we are at it, I might as well mention that you obviously haven't read my other posts. I've done the math comparing BD bikes with my own bikes. The best I can say about BD is that you get what you pay for, if you are lucky.
So you have no basis for claiming that a BD frame isn't better than your bike? Got it.
Could you explain what has changed in carbon technology in the past 10 years? You have a "modern" looking frame that you have no basis for claiming is better than another design, but since the company you bought it said it was good, you bought it? Ok. If that makes you happy, I say go for it. To put down another model because it doesn't look as "modern" as yours? That's kinda silly IMO when you have no basis other than it doesn't look cool.
Next, where is it exactly that you think the components are put on the frames? In America? Guess again. Do you know how far Taiwan is from Tokyo? Google earth it. (Are you really arguing that because components come from a different factory than assembly that the assembly factory is the "bike factory"? If you had a GM shipped to you from a warehouse would you not consider that factory direct if the a/c compressor was built in Ohio? Odd argument but we'll go with it.)
How do you save money? I'm not sure I really need to spell this out, but here goes; how much do you think a brick and mortar bike store costs to run? Where do you think this money comes from? How do you think bike stores run 20-30% off sales at the end of the year and still make money? Do you think it's possible that bike shops mark up the bikes they buy and sell them to you at a profit? I suppose if someone put them in a warehouse in Texas and shipped them directly to the buyer they might be able to save some money.
Maybe not. Maybe BD is making a killing on cutting out the LBS?