Five or six times each month, a "newbie" posts in the "Bike Forums" with a link to a bike being sold through Bikes Direct or one of the five or six E-Bay stores that are associated with Bikes Direct.

Each of the "newbies" asks a friendly question about "how good" is the bike and usually mentions the "very good" price. A rather lengthy discussion of the bike follows. The "newbie" usually then disappears and never posts on any topic unrelated to Bikes Direct or its products.

Bikes Direct buys little paid advertising. A small ad in the back of "Bicycling" is about their only paid advertising. When you "google" around the web for information about their various bikes, what comes up? All of the threads on "Bike Forums" that start out with links to their selling sites and mention of the "great price".

Perhaps the moderators of "Bike Forums" think these threads have NO connection with Bikes Direct. Even though they are usually about identical. Same length. Same wording. Same helpful link to one of their products. But, I think most of these Bikes Direct "promotional" threads smell funky. Smells like a bike dealer trying to use "Bike Forums" for some free advertising.