It's understandable that people who work in bike shops bad-mouth BikesDirect bikes like the Motobecanes. If I still worked in a bike shop, I'd be annoyed, too. However, I've bought two BikesDirect Motobecanes in the last 15 years, and I'm more than satisfied with both. For a given frame and component quality level, buying from BikesDirect is like getting a bike at an employee discount. Their weakness is that, although they do provide a warranty, they can't provide the level of after-purchase service that a bike store can.