catonec 

First off, like many brands, Motobecane, the name, has been around for 30+ years, however it is not the same company. Originally it was a french, road racing, co. I will not pretend to know the complete history but I do know that one time they were highly revered and put out some very nice top end bikes. Now they are owned by a congolomerate (im assuming) who is interested in making money more than making only top end high performance bikes. Like many others they offer a very wide range of products to appeal to all price points. I have ridden a few of their aluminum frames, one of the titanium frames, and one carbon. all seem very well made.

Bikes direct is kind of an unfair comparison when looking at prices. They always have the lowest prices around although the available sizes are often limited. Im assuming they work by buying in volume, all items are new but may be a year or two older, they take some shortcuts here and there on wheelsets or cranks ( alot of mfg'rs do). a few drawbacks are you dont get to test ride before purchase. you dont have the support you would get at a shop, and there is some assembly required.

The whole "lifetime maintenance" statement can be very misleading. You may want to confirm exactly what they include in that. Im assuming they will adjust your deraileurs and brakes for free for ever (approx $40 service?). not much more. Youtube, park tools, shimano, sheldon brown, etc....... can teach you how to make these adjustments yourself in about 10 minutes.

Supporting your local business's is the only aspect of buying online that I cannot counter. You can always go to your lbs for repair and what not or ill bet if you wanted to make a direct donation to the shop for the bike lane project they would most likely accept it.