BikeWise1

Let's start with the fact that there is no real usable warranty. Should you want something checked for warranty, you must remove the part and send it to them. If they choose not to warranty it, you are SOL. These bikes show up at my door (it's a college town-you buy underwear online, so why not a bike?), partially and incorrectly reassembled by a guy with a pair of pliers and a crescent wrench who thinks I should fix it for free because it just needs "a quick tweak". The bikesdirect site is a master of building value into cheap Chinese commodity frames by, for example, stating that the Sora equipped bike has an MSRP of $895 , but they'll sell it to you at 50% off. It is implied that your LBS is making gobs on these kinds of bikes because we, too could sell that cheap if we weren't so greedy! A lowly Trek 1000 costs me more than the retail of bikesdirect's Sora bike. They can do this because they have very few warranties to honor, little overhead, and profit by selling you the illusion of a great deal. What you gained by feeling good about apparently saving money, you lose in a positive relationship with your local wrench.

By far the saddest thing to me, as someone who enjoys a well-tuned machine, is that every one of these I've encountered at charity events where I was wrenching, were, without exception, poorly adjusted and no fun to ride. I guess since they are now charged for what we would do free on our customer's bikes, they are too cheap to bother...I don't know. People are being sold a "thing" for "less" rather than a wonderful ride on a properly tuned machine. They think they are experiencing all that cycling has to offer. And that is at the core of why I loath them.

Apologies for the OT.