Bikesdirect.com bikes
 

What are your thoughts on the bikes from bikesdirect.com? I want to get my wife a decent road bike so we can ride together, but I really don't want to spend $600+ on a bike she may not enjoy riding (meaning, she may not biking at all as she is an avid runner). I've never heard of Windsor, Mercier, or Dawes bikes. Are these decent bikes? Looks like they all have the same components as entry level Fuji, GT, and Trek bikes.

good god

bikesdirect? never heard of them.

:popcorn

Please do not use the search function. I never tire of this.

Seriously though, I have a Mercier and love it.

yes they are decent for your low (under $600?) budget. buy it before this thread reaches 60 pages.

Just do a search.

Basically, they're bikes with fancy drive train components, but they skimp out on other components, frame, wheels, etc.

Worth it? That for the individual to decide.

Never fails!!!

I like em. They are nice. You should definately by a bike from them.

Next!

Sorry. Never mind. Please don't post anymore. Didn't know it was a touchy subject.

we are not yet done, come back here!

A friend of mine has gotten a couple, has ridden them for a couple of years and is happy with them. But he did have to have me rebuild the wheels on one because he was breaking a lot of spokes. If you're not a mechanic, you should definitely get any of their bikes checked over by one.

Mercian, Dawes, and Windsor were all once respected makes that were hand-built in Britain and France. BikesDirect bought the names and marks and mass produces them in China.

If you can assemble a bike and maybe have a small stash of stems or saddles lying around, then sure, buy one, assemble it and switch out parts to achieve a decent fit for your wife.

Try to get an aheadset and maybe an fsa crank or alex wheels, coupled with 8-speed shimano sora. That should be good enough for any beginner.

14 posts and no one has said it yet? Ok, then it falls on me.

Shill.

There.

/thread.

Until I show up in a BD thread, you can't really make the Shill Call. But I'm here now. BD ROCKS.

In the OP's defense, I'd rather poke both my eyes out with a dull spoon than try and use the search function on BF to find anything specific. A search for Bikesdirect comes back with this for example:
That's helpful how?

On the other hand, Road Cycling is a relatively content-free forum, so the OP should have known better than to post a real question. :)

Not gonna happen.

It's OK and the search function is not the best.....to say the least.

BD does create drama here though most of the actual purchasers seem to like them just fine.

BD threads also become flamefests so I'm going to shut this down while the reasonable posts are still a decent % of the whole.

Closed