Bought a Motobecane CX and a Nano. Just realize you are buying a "sort of" assembled set of parts that will, when adjusted (best professionally), be a ride-able bicycle. Very happy with my purchases.

Really 3 millimeters?? take the wheel to a Lbs, 5 bucks and 10 seconds... took me about 2 minutes, you would take it apart, repack it, bring back to FedEx, and hope it gets back wherever it came from in one piece. Too easy to true a wheel , to bother.

No, I suspect BD would just have me return the wheel, or pay to have it trued. Still the shops around here would typically charge $15-$20. The fact that it was so far off out of the box is a sign that the tensions are probably all over the map though. Getting it right the first time, saves me the hassle if a breaks or something after 1000mi.

On something brand new, I'd rather go directly to the manufacturer first, than immediately break out the tools.

I'm honestly surprised it was that far off. Several co-workers have BD bikes, all with good results, so probably more of a one-time QC issue.

Probably 50% of the wheels on brand-name bikes are like that out of the box IME. That's what's great about shops, we can fix them all when we build them.

Dealing with an lbs is invariably a nightmare. You're going to deal with either: a) immature kids such as stoner teens that the shop hired because they're the only person in town willing to turn a wrench all week long for $8 an hour, b) bored, confused millenials who don't have a career path and are trying to avoid adulting and c) pompous middle aged bike nuts whose ego's are completely tied up in owning the latest Dura Ace road bike.

More often than not, you're dealing with all three at once in the course of shopping for, buying and getting the bike serviced.

It is infinitely easier and less expensive dealing with a direct order retailer. All you need are the most basic of wrenching skills and you can save yourself hundreds of dollars, and sometimes thousands.

3 mm is nothing. Even a slow mechanic with middling skills such as myself can correct that in 5 minutes. Compare that to loading the bike up in your car (enjoy trashing your car's interior), driving there, driving back, waiting a few days, driving there, driving back (trashing your car's interior again), spending $20 and waiting days for a 5 minute job. Just the time to get the receipt written up and paying for it would take just as much time as actually doing the work of truing the wheel.

Or, you can ship it back, wait two weeks for a refund, and then go through a second round of bike shopping again.

Then, your 2nd new bike has a rear mech that's out of adjustment, so you ship THAT one back for a third, and the next bike has a scratch on the seatpost....

I got a 2017 Mirage SL from BD. Solid bike, no issues with it yet. I have had it for 3 months and have 621 miles on it. No concerns.

These are bicycles. This is established, tried and true technology. Rubber tires. Aluminum rims. Rubber inner tubes. Aluminum frames. Threadless headsets. SRAM or Shimano cassettes. SRAM or Shimano groupsets. Carbon or aluminum forks. Some steel frames and forks. Maybe a hi ten fork here and there. Steel and aluminum chainrings. Cartridge bearings. Pedals, chains, reflectors, cables and so on.

You need to be able to screw on pedals, tighten a headset, insert a seatpost, clamp a couple of brake cables, and MAYBE adjust derailleurs, true wheels and adjust the brakes and levers.

You need 2 or 3 allen keys, a pedal wrench, a cable cutter, spoke wrenches, and some grease. $50 will get you a good starter bike toolkit and will serve you for a long time.

If you want to be thorough and careful, a full initial assembly and adjustment will take you 2-3 hours from unboxing to completion. If you are ok with getting the bike rideable but not perfectly adjusted, or are very proficient, half that.

Me and 2 my friends bought 3 titanium road bikes. No complains, very satisfied.

To be clear, an lbs doesn’t actually build any bike. They assemble them. It’s a rooky doing the work frequently. Most people can do it and can easily learn to tune their bike.

If you're able to overcome the embarrassment, then they might be okay.

This is so true, the other day at an Erik's Bike shop in the Twin Cities, I saw FedEx dropping off four Specialized bikes in the same type bike box my Moto arrived in (90% assembled).

No bike shop worth its salt will snarl at your for bringing in a bike they didn't sell you.