GeezyRider 

A buddy of mine rode my SaltyDog cruiser from BikesDirect and liked it so much he ordered one for himself. He called me yesterday and said he's happy with his bike but the steering was kind of wonky. I had him bring it over this morning so I could see what he was talking about.

Yes, the steering was wonky so we pulled the front wheel and it spun smoothly and needed only minor truing. So we adjusted the headset but the problem remained. Next, we removed the handlebars and dropped the fork out to inspect the bearings. Well, half of the bearings....top bearings were there but NO BEARINGS ON THE BOTTOM!!!! Fortunately, the lower headtube race and crown race seemed unscathed. After a quick trip to the bike shop for some bearings and reassembly, all is well.

I like BikesDirect and I know one of the negatives about them is that usually the bearings in their bikes are thin on lubrication. But no bearings at all? This is a new low even for them.

texbiker

Did you contact BikesDirect? Several years ago I had a problem with a seat bracket. They replaced it.

GeezyRider 

I'll leave that to my friend since it is his bike. I'm sure BD will send some bearings to him. But, he wanted to get his bike back on the road quickly so we just bought a bag of 5/32" bearings at the LBS. The loose bearings will actually serve him better than the caged ones. When my headset needs service I'll go with loose bearings as well.

BTW, even after allowing a two bearing space in the headtube cups I managed to insert 20 bearings in place of the 16-bearing cages.

2old

More like a burp than a hiccup, and thanks for the cautionary tale. Probably not too surprising since they probably procure from China, then resend. I purchased a set of OEM (take off) WTB 27.5 wheels & tires ($100) for an e-MTB I built for my wife and was amazed at the quality of the packaging and the value.

GeezyRider 

Yes, knowing that I have to do my part in assuring a good assembly, I have always been very happy with any bikes and parts purchased from BD or their scratch and dent outlet BikeIsland.com. This could happen with any bike manufactured in China and purchased at a bike shop.

JehD

While I’ve heard pretty good things about BD. They are saving a buck somewhere and skipping the middleman at a bike shop is it.

San Rensho 

I love Bikes Direct, they are very very cheap and their bikes are high quality. I first bought a fixie track bike, and I recently bought a Windsor 3 speed. I was a bike mechanic many many years ago that did new bicycle assembly, so I have no problem with tweaking little things like truing wheels or setting up brakes oh, and I would have immediately figure it out the problem that you had, Which was no bearings. One of the first things I do is grab the front brake and rock the front how's the bike back and forth, and I would have immediately figured out that problem

GeezyRider 

But that's my point. I don't believe you would have immediately figured out the problem--everything felt good in the stand and on the floor when trying to feel for any play. It was only while riding with a rider's weight on it that it didn't feel quite right. Although he only had a couple of miles on the bike, he was lucky the crown race and lower headtube race were not damaged.