Originally Posted by
RollCNY
I bought one of those for my son, and he has ridden it for the two years it took to outgrow it. Previously, I had owned a Diamondback Insight hybrid, and I would say that the two are at least comparable. With sale and shipping, the Nashbar was $240ish, and the Diamondback was $350ish, so definitely good value.
In a surprising note, I normally hate cheap bike wheels, and the Diamondback wheels were the weak link, and on a much more expensive Specialized Sirrus, the wheels were the weak link. On the Nashbar, the wheels have been much better quality than I expected.
As to out of the box presentation, and readiness to ride, the Nashbar was ok, but no where near as well put together as a Competitive Cyclist build. Those are my only two data points for internet order complete builds, and CC builds rock right out of the box.
I tend to
think (but do not know for certain because I have not seen one first hand) that they pre-assemble the bikes at CC and then repackage them for shipping. I've built fresh road bikes out of the box and some (but not all) of them needed bar tape, saddles installed on the seatpost, etc. If a good builder properly sets up a bike, tunes the gears, checks wheels for true, etc. and then repackages it, it should be as simple as install front wheel, insert seat post, put bars into stem/install stem with attached bars to steerer tube, add pedals and air to tires, and you're ready to roll. Basically as if someone shipped you a pre-owned bike. Most of the stuff from Nashbar and BD and the like is packaged just like any other bike comes to the dealer. That's where it can get hairy when people get suckered into buying an expensive (to them) bike online and end up with a pile of garbage because they don't have the skills to make the thing rideable.
EDIT: A quick glance at their website seems to indicate they do a good bit of prep on new bikes before shipping them to customers.