Originally Posted by
noglider
Perhaps I've spoken too strongly against bikesdirect. I'll retract my missive. I have not said that the above success stories are not good. They are unadulterately good.
Maybe bikesdirect sells better bikes than the crap I encountered last month while working at an LBS. I'm willing to be shown. I'll look carefully next time.
OK, now I'm impressed. All bike stuff coming out of Taiwan these days is very good or better. It's like the new Italy of bikes.
Of course you hate Bikesdirect, they are killer competition. Should I assume that very LBS is like the one last month that after a spoke replacement left me with badly underinflated tires and forgot to readjust the brakes after they put the tire back in? In was my second horrible experience with an LBS and motivated me to buy a rack and Zen repair guide. But then again, I am sure not all LBS are like that so I like you shouldn't make rash assumptuion and generalizations. Especially since there are like 3 companies making frames these days. Bikesdirect bikes have the same frames as bikes costing twice as much.