For me it was a no-brainer: I can take the day off work, travel 2 hours to the LBS, be overwhelmed by the many different brands/models/sizes of bikes with a million different combinations of components, choose one (and possibly spend more for a bike I really don't need because of sales pressure), and drive 2 hours back home. OR, I can shop from my home, where I'm free with my thoughts and have no salesman trying to "help" me choose, have it shipped to my door in 2 or 3 days, spend about 45 minutes putting bars/seatpost/front wheel/pedals on, and enjoy the bike and the satisfaction of knowing that I saved a substantial amount of money (something that is very, very, VERY important to me).

Is BD for everybody? No, I don't think so. Some folks don't want to have to put parts of their new bike together. Some may not know about sizing and what fits them. Some may not want to have to tweak the shifting adjustments. Some are just afraid of buying a bike online, and that's ok. By all means, buy from your LBS. That's what they're there for. You can ride the bike first to make sure you like it, and that it fits. You won't have to do any assembly at all. And most folks live much closer to their LBS than I do, so the trip thing is a non-issue. But if you have any mechanical knowledge at all, you can put one of these bikes together in just a few minutes and be on the road, and, for me at least, it brings a certain satisfaction with it.

Like I said, I've bought 3 BD bikes (2 Windsor Dovers and a Dawes Lightning 1200) since I bought my OCR3 from my LBS. Other than the sizing, and maybe the saddle, I'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between them. Weight, materials, and components are relatively the same. With tax, my OCR3 was over $700. The Windsors from BD were less than $400 (each) shipped.