Originally Posted by BarracksSi

When my coworker brought his Motobecane over, never mind the brakes requiring centering and whatnot (I don't have the tools to make sure the BB was properly torqued), but the rear shift cable was lodged inside the shifter mechanism and was completely inoperable. Somebody without mechanical inclination -- which is a lot more people than we'd like to see -- would be stuck with either taking it to a shop or dealing with a BD warranty repair (and we've heard enough bad stories of that..).

He later brought over a cheaper bike that his wife also bought from BD (his bike was a Christmas present from her, in fact) and I don't think he touched a thing on it after doing the bars and wheels. The brake pads were about as far away from the rims as they could get, there was nearly two feet of extra cable poking out (I forget what from), etc etc. I was insulted, frankly, and didn't even bother working on it. It helped that I'd need something like a box wrench for the super-cheap brakes; I didn't have one on hand, so it was my excuse to ignore the bike.

I could buy a BD bike and make it work fine. A lot of people can't, though, and I think it's rude to send them something that won't even stop at the end of the driveway. You won't get a box o' crap from Competitive Cyclist, for example.

*add-on* I really like the idea of getting a titanium or carbon bike with Ultegra/Rival or better for less than two grand. I mean, that's an awesome deal. I could even get one and swap the group with my CAAD8's 105 and let the BD bike be the heavier beater bike. BUT... I just don't want to support and perpetuate their business model.