Originally Posted by
brandontw
I still think your way off, i'm pretty sure that those BD bikes have been proven to be killer deals, the frames are good quality frames, and the parts are all name brand and proven good, what more do you want?
If there were tons of cracked or bent BD frame stories floating around i'd be on your side, but everyone says they ride great and hold up awesome.
Perhaps your just trying to justify that you payed 1000$ for a bike you could have got for 600$?
The frames made by Kinesis (
which builds frames for a variety of bike companies) are made of the same material and workmanship. They don't set up line for the "cheap" 7005 series aluminum frames and another line for the "quality" 7005 series aluminum frames. That would be cost prohibitive and a bad business model. The cost to the reseller (Trek, Felt, Specialized, BD, etc.) is the same. The retail price difference that you and I see is determined by the markup each of those companies places on the cost of the frames (and other components) they buy. So Felt, for instance, will take the same double-butted 7000 series frame, attach Shimano 105/Tiagra components (either mix and match or full), factor in their advertising costs, labor costs and come out with an MSRP to the LBS selling the bike to you. The LBS in turn will do the same but make a significantly lower margin. BD, on the other hand, takes that frame, attaches Shimano Ultegra components, mix and matches lower end stuff* (FSA, Cane Creek, Ritchey, etc) and sells the bike directly to the consumer, cutting out the middle man (the LBS).
Retail 101.
*lower end relative to having the full gruppo.