Bikes Direct Problems Getting Parts?
 

A question came up on this forum about bikes coming from Bikes Direct having components used by Bikesdirect that are non-standard and that replacements are hard to source.

Has anyone found this to be true?

If so, what brand of bike was it? and how much was the bike?

Covid 19 is affecting bike stuff supply world wide because it's all become dependent on one or both Chinas., ROC or PRC ..


AFAIK Bikes Direct is just another importer, but has no after sale local dealer support..







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I have purchased a few bikes off BD for myself and a couple for friends. I never ran into an issue where some part wasn't a known standard of one kind or another. I have not purchased from them in some time.

Really, there aren't a lot of decent proprietary parts out there. Everything is SRAM, Shimano, or a compatible/clone/copy.

I would imagine that BikesDirect couldn't afford to use non-compatible parts anyway, because they buy in bulk, and wouldn't want a mix-n-match issue in the warehouse---half-pallets of stuff they couldn't use with the other half-pallets of stuff.

The only time I have run into oddball/irreplaceable parts are with ultra-cheap bikes where stuff gets stamped out of pot-metal or cast in cheap plastic (and they are usually compatible with other manufacturers parts, but cannot be purchased separately) or with regional oddities .... Italy had its own BB standard a few decades back, France used (if I recall) the same size but different threading, and for a while Raleigh used a size almost exactly the same as BSA but a tiny bit different.

As far as I know, all those little differences have gone away. There is still an idiotic array of BB standards but in most companies several companies make each size/style.

I've bought 3 bikesdirect bikes, two for my kids back in 2012 and one for myself in 2019. The kids bikes (adult models but in 43cm as my daughters are short) were $350 each and my bike was $800. Everything follows standards, including the generic headsets/BBs on the kids bikes. The $800 bike was largely 105 R7000 with some FSA stuff (bb, crank, headset) and all standard.

Brompton has proprietary components.. bikes direct is old brand names from the now usual , Pac Rim sources..

Rear derailleur hanger would be the only thing on my Motobecane that is proprietary. So I bought a spare a while ago.

Other than that, their frames are the epitome of interchangeability.

After the fact Derailleur hangers.com carries the several hundreds made, visual matching may be required..