Uggh, I have a Motobcane frame and I like it. I hate it when BD shills like this though. It doesn't make the bike ride any worse, but it does make it seem less cool.

Using this logic, the person on this board with by far the highest post count falls into this category, however he seems rather happy with his BD experience. I've never bought from BD, but I have considered it. The components are the same ones you will find on any number of name brands/LBS bikes. All the haters do is perpetuate a thread that cannot be proven to be what you claim it is - a planted shill thread. Mulder, Scully anyone?

I remember when I first posted on this board back in 2005. I was all excited about getting back into cycling, and it is a wonder I am still around to help others and have a little fun. I've spread my share of crankiness, but the point is that the frenzy surrounding BD is unnecessary.

FWIW, I did see chicabike posted an 'ad' on the local CL and I flagged it as spam. Selling a new bike for $179 on a board intended for used and unwanted items just takes away from the seller trying to move their bike to make rent, or buy food, or whatever.

Raise your hand if you own or work at an LBS...

I actually have a BD bike as well. They really should be embarrassed at their own shilling. This is not the way to win friends and influence people.

I bought a Fuji Team Pro that's full carbon AND full Ultegra and paid $1150. Care to try again?

Interesting statement on the market from someone that claims to be a newbie. I'll call the shill and raise it three trolls.

Motobecane

^^^^LOL, good work!

If I worked at an LBS, I would employ my knowledge of the online retail strategy and am sure I could at least marginally bring up sales for that store. It has been flogged to death, the debate between online vs. LBS, but it seems to me that the LBS needs to catch up to the methods employed by the online shop.

Case in point: The LBS closest to me happens to have the largest floor in the city. Their website is minimally informative, and lists only links to the brands they sell. Similarly, a car dealer here in town lists inventory with details about each model, new or used. Seems to me a LBS would behoove itself by listing what it has on hand at any given time. Bikes and accessories do not fly out the door that quickly, making it difficult to keep up with inventory. The online retailer does this by nature, and the LBS seems to be operating in the 1970's with regard to making themselves worth looking at. Hanging up a shingle and expecting someone to walk in and just buy stuff in this day and age is just not effective.

On top of that, much is said in this forum about the 'services' a LBS provides. Hire people who actually know what those services are and are knowledgeable about the products they sell. Make it valuable enough to make the customer think twice about even clicking the mouse.

I've said it before, we could all collectively get together, open a shop in any given city and steal client base from many established LBS's just based on our dedication to the sport alone.

Seriously and with respect from someone who owned a genuine Grand Record...Motobecane isn't anymore. Today it's just a decal and that's the truth.

Forget the branding. What you bought is a Bikes Direct product. All their bikes should have a Bikes Direct decal; then they would be honestly marketing their bicycles.

There are three BD bikes at my house, a Moto 29er, a Bottecchia with a Record carbon group, and a Windsor Fens that I share with my sons. They are great fun to ride and have been totally reliable, not to mention excellent bargains. I've been biking for 40 years and with my wife have a number of classics as well. The whole notion of brand loyalty is foreign to me because I've learned how engineered products come into being and find their way to market. I'm an ME that worked as a research engineer for a very large materials and engineered products company that supplies light metals and composite components to most of the automotive and aerospace OEMS. To my eye there appears to be nothing of consequence that separates my family's BD bikes from what I see for sale in the shops except the price and the amateurism of the self-taught, ahem, "mechanics" that work there.

BTW, the "real" Motos were never thought to be anything special in any way. It may be why they went under.

Thanks sced, for the honest and informed opinion. Rarely are negative BD posts accompanied by practical experience and backed up with credentials like yours.

I think I will go buy a motbecane bike now that i have read this post

I saw 2 or 3 Motobecanes for every other bike on the MUP this morning. I was surprised.

You're in Florida, where a BikesDirect also owns a local chain of bike stores (or an affiliate of BikesDirect; not sure how all their various businesses are owned).

Personally, I have huge admiration for the core of what BikesDirect does -- importing no-name frames from Asia, putting name-brand components on them at terrific prices; getting bikes delivered to customers on time in good condition. Hooray! It's always great when consumers have choices.

Some practices that are disturbing:
- hyping their bikes by putting on "inflated" list prices (when, in fact, the bikes are never, ever sold for that, anywhere)
- describing bikes as "ultegra" or "dura ace" when they might only have 1 or 2 pieces from a component group on a bike
- their apparent use of Internet shills to hype their product.

There are a number of great no name/private label choices in the market now -- Pedal Force, Scattante from Performance, Novara from REI, "no name" frames on eBay, PlanetX from the UK. BikesDirect might be the most aggressive advertiser, but they're not the only option.

I hope over time they tone down the hype and misrepresentation and focus on delivering great bikes at a value.

Every bike shop that sells a bike does this. Unless the word 'group' is attached to it, typically you're going to get the top line mentioned in a FD and the rest one step down.

The shill comment makes me laugh a little on the inside. Mike doesn't even post here anymore, at least I haven't seen him. I just think the negative backlash causes threads in this and other forums to go way beyond their intended life or purpose. And FWIW, this forum of all forums I've been in is the worst when it comes to BD-haters and general cycling snobbery.

I don't see anyone taking sced to task with his post, and I really don't think he is a shill, all you conspiracy theorists out there.

Hundreds of broken bones? WOW

personally I like my Fantom Uno (I don't ride it nearly enough) and the who BD thing is great if you are aware once you buy it you are basically on your own Caveat Emptor rules here.

The whole point of a shill is that you don't post yourself -- you get someone else to do it for you.

Also, the point of my post is above is that I'm generally a big fan of BD. Would definitely consider one of their bikes under the right circumstances. But it's some of their marketing practices that drag down the reputation of their brand.

Hi,
I agree with what you are saying. Bicycles are a composite of components from a host of manufacturers...that's the truth of today's market. What I don't like about BD is their "bait and switch" tactics in marketing. It really turned me off to find a Motobecane website that asks you to enter your zip code to find the nearest dealer (which for 99% of the United States there are none) and then redirect you to the BD website. And it's also adding insult to injury to find they are marketing "Motobecane" bikes which are in decal only.

BTW, my Grand Record served me for 20 years with utter distinction. I sold it to a college student in 1995 and have no idea how much longer it lasted beyond that but it was in perfect condition when I let it go. When I bought it in March 1975 for $375 (you could buy a decent house with 1/2 an acre of land and a garage back then for $30K) it was considered a high end bike. Granted I knew nothing about bikes at the time but in retrospect very feel fortunate to have selected the Grand Record.

Yes...all they need to do is put "Bikes Direct" labels on all their bikes and there would be no problem.

Very naive. BD's parent company owns several brands of defunct bike companies, Motobecane included. THEY BOUGHT THEM AND THEY OWN THEM. Get it, it's legal. One company buying/leasing a brand from another is a very common business practice. Some other brands owned by companies completely unrelated to their originators - Schwinn, Fuji, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Bugatti...add yours here. It seems underhanded only to people born yesterday.

Melted. I left my Motobecane bike out in the sun for an hour and it melted.

Then it exploded.

Then it got weird.


OK, j/k.

This is like buying generic toilet paper at Walmart and then going to the office the next day and bragging about it.

It is best to buy generic and then just keep your mouth shut.

Actually, they can be bought at Cycle Spectrum shops in Arizona, Florida, and Texas. Note that these shops are also owned by the same people (Mike and Courtney Spratt, I believe).