corrado33

I bought one of their bikes before. It was what most people said here. Perfectly adequate.

You have to know how to work on bikes though or it'll be awful.

Boondocksaints

I feel if you are getting some of their higher end bikes (like their Titanium bikes), you simply can't beat their value. Even for the parts alone, it's worth it.

For the lower end bikes, it's not worth it IMO. You can find better deals for bikes on clearance or Ebay/Craigslist.

High Fist Shin

I think they got themselves a house brand name: Gravity.

I have to admit, I like it a lot.

Save up to 60% off new Shimano 105 Road Bikes - Gravity COMP22 | Save up to 60% off new road bikes



-Shin

Myosmith

I don't recommend BD for novices, but if you have some experience in bike sizing, geometry and specs, you can get some good deals. You do have to complete the final assembly and adjustment yourself, but it's nothing that most people who wrench on their own bikes can't handle.

Where BD shines is when you live in remote rural areas where LBSs are quite some distance away. You can order a bike and have it at your door in 7-10 days, sometimes less. I own a Motobecane Gran Premio from BD and have nothing but good to say about it. Excellent bike at about $250 less than similarly equipped bikes at regional LBSs. I did upgrade the wheels and saddle, but that was personal choice, nothing wrong with the stock items. In fact, the stock wheels are still on my Plan B bike and going strong.

mstateglfr 

Ha, touche.

Few things-

- totally know of the brand, seen it hundreds of times on the site, even occasionally ride with a guy who has one. Slipped my mind- perhaps that shows how forgettable it is due to how much the site pushes motobecane, then windsor and dawes.

- agree that the bime you mention is well spec'd for the price.

- that has to be the most expensive gravity road bike on the site, right? Perhaps most expensive gravity model regardless of bike type? I was surprised to see yohr example as when i have seen gravity, its always been lower level offerings.

- clearly the owner thinks pushing motobecane(the obviously largest brand name he sells) is better business than developing Gravity as a brand and offering some of the trendy gravel/titanium/cyclocross bikes under the gravity name. Unfortunate. Itd be neat to see a genuinely unique ground up brand name grow via internet sales.

High Fist Shin

Yes, this is the most expensive of the Gravity road bikes. I didn't look at the mountain bike offerings. And I agree, most of the Gravity offerings are on the lower end of the spectrum. Perhaps in time they will grow the brand enough to offer some nice high end bikes under the Gravity name.

-Shin

Sailingent

What is the difference between a CF, SL, Inferno, Century and Team Titanium Road Bikes

Kapusta

The difference with bikes direct is that THEY are the "M" in the "MSRP".

Most manufacturers publish an MSRP. Sellers can then discount that (or not).

But in the case of BD, THEY are the manufacturer, so it makes zero sense when they say the MSRP is one price, but they are selling it at a discount. No, what they are selling it for IS the MSRP. It is sort of like saying "I suggest charging $1000 for this, but I am am charging just $600".

That said, I've got no problem with BD. As long as you know what you are getting, seems like a fine outfit. My Wife got a Windsor road bike, and a couple friends have bought mtbs. Biggest issue I've seen is that all the wheel bearings I checked (all cup and cone) were too tight.

Sailingent

I have had three Bikes from BD. Two Century Elites and one Le Champion CF. All carbon. Looking for my next BD bike. Titanium Is what I am looking for now. They are out of my size. There are difference models. Some of which they do have in my size: CF, SL, Century, Team. In road bikes. I ride year round. Looking to replace the CF. Is the Century or the SL compatible with the CF

happykanye

Easy to build and parts are reliable based on my experience.

mstateglfr 

BD doesnt manufacture anything.

Kapusta

Who, then, do you think came up with the “msrp” that BD uses?

And actually, assuming they spec and assemble these bikes, or coordinate that process, yes, they are the manufacturers of the bikes.

Obeast

BD used to offer good value. Most of the stuff they have for sale now seem too expensive for such generic parts. If I know nothing about cycling then perhaps BD is one option to consider.

jack002

That trick has been around for 100 years. Most every retailer does that. If you don't know the value of what you're buying that's on you, not them.

wphamilton

I have bought 2 bikes from them, a MTB that my son rides and my Dawes SST. We're both happy with them and I have no complaint about the quality or value. But their comparing prices with other brands is a bit of a joke. Best to just look at the bike's price and ignore that.

Kapusta

No, this is not the same thing. When the retailer posts the "MSRP", that number is made up by the manufacturer, NOT the retailer (unless they are just lying about it). You can go look up the "MSRP" on most things to see if the number is accurate.

"MSRP" means something specific, and it implies that this number was determined by some other entity than the retailer (specifically, the manufacturer). It is not just "normal, non-sale price that we claim to usually charge".

AndrewJB

To be fair this really is not accurate across the board. Maybe for the lower cost stuff they mix & match components. But their higher end selections are pretty good values. In fact after some recent research for a new bike I would have to say the name brand guys do just as much, if not more, of the component mixing game.

I just got a BD Motobecane LeChampion SL Ti, the Ti frame is well built, stiff, and good quality, with a carbon fork; the group set is full Shimano Ultegra R8000; it has Richey "Comp" level bars, stem, seatpost, & saddle; the wheels & tires are Mavic Ksyrium/Yksion. Sure you could do better but at what cost, but hardly generic parts. It was $1999 shipped. I put that squarely in the very good value column.

Corben

I'm happy with my 2014 Dawes...400 bucks.

bigsky109

Bought my Kestrel last year from them and I have over 3500 miles on it already. You really have to know how to work on a bike to buy from them or have someone who can work on it. If you are comfortable working on the bike make sure you get a good bike maintenance stand, proper tools, cassette tool as well. I had to tighten up my cassette about 1000 miles into the riding season. All in all the savings and bike are worth it! I have a good quality bike and it is a lot of fun to ride.

mstateglfr 

BD makes up the MSRP based on general comparables.
I say general because they choose the comparables, even if they arent good/accurate comparables.

This is a very well known practice. Its akin to Kohlxs telling me i saved $83 when i spend $65. I didnt save thst, they are just claiming i saved that based on their pricing scheme which has gotten them into legal trouble.


BD is a marketer and distributor of brands.

I also dont call REI a manufacturer even though they sell bikes. Their bikes are built on contract and REI then markets and sells them.

Im not ripping on BD by saying they don't manufacture bikes, im just stating reality.
My gravel bike is built from a frame that is designed and spec'd by a guy in Northern California, but he isnt the manufacturer.

Kapusta

The reality is that “MSRP” has a specific meaning, which, from this discussion, I think you may me unaware of. I suggest you look it up. It means that the MANUFACTURER suggests that price. A retailer cannot (legally) just make up an MSRP.

The entire reason for MSRP is so that a retailer cannot do what you are suggesting: artificially jacking up a price to give the impression of a big discount. Sure, a retailer can still do this, but NOT using the term “MSRP”.

The reason BD CAN make up the MSRP is because they are, in fact, the “manufacture”. By definition, if they were not the manufacturer, they could not set the MSRP.

The problem in the discussion you and I are having is that there can be different ways to define the term “manufacturer”. However, the only one that matters here is the definition relevant to “manufacturer suggested retail price”. In in that context, BD is the manufacturer.

You are correct the BD markets and distributes brands. They are also the owner, retailer AND the manufacturer of most (if not all) of those brands.

You bring up REI. Lets look at them. They carry bikes by other companies (such as Salsa), and they also have an “in house” brand, Co-Op.

They are clearly not the manufacturers of Salsa. But they also cannot make up the MSRP. Only Salsa can do that. And you can verify this quite easily by going to Salsa’s website.

Co-Op bikes are different, and it is ths specifics of the relationship between REI and Co-Op that determines if REI is the “manufacturer” in the “MSRP” context. But this is irrelevant here, because niether REI or Co-Op post claimed “MSRP” prices for Co-Op bikes.

By your definition of “manufacturer”, most bike companies are not “manufacturers” of the majority of the bikes they sell. Yet they are the ones that set the MSRP.

In many cases, manufacturers do not publish MSRP prices. In that case there IS no MSRP. A retailer can post any pre-discount price they want, but they can’t call it “MSRP”

My point in all of this, and the reason I brought it up in the first place, is that MSRP has a specific meaning and implication, but that becomes meaningless and implies nothing when the retailer and the manufacturer are the same entity. MSRP was never intended to be used the way BD is using it.

mstateglfr 

Agreed. For an MSRP to have any meaning at all, the product must be available to the consumer by more than the company direct.



As for the rest- i simply disagree that BD is a manufacturer. I dont think Apple is a manufacturer either.
When a company owns the production, they are a manufacturer. When they contract the work to a 3rd party manufacturer, then the company isnt the manufacturer.
Centurion wasnt a manufacturer. Giant is a manufacturer. Blackburn isnt a manufacturer. Panaracer is a manufacturer.
Etc etc.

But ultimately, if a bike is only available thru 1 place, then MSRP is meaningless(as is 'list price' which is what BD calls it).

Maelochs

But ... as far as the bikes go ... they tend to be good value for the money.

I have never taken along ride on an MSRP but I have taken many long rides on a Dawes I bought at BikesDirect.

Kapusta

Oh, boy, I think I need to retract my original point

After reading this I went back to the BD website, and it looks like BD has stopped using "MSRP" in their prices. They used to, but it looks like they do not anymore.

So....... nevermind.

fixedweasel

I have two separate bike shops in my basement, have been working on bikes for decades and have had hundreds and hundreds of bikes pass through my paws. Have seen it all from inexpensive Walmart bikes to custom built $15k Tri-Bikes and I can tell you after buying 4 of these* bikes over the years, they are quite wonderful. When folks ask me where they can get the best value and quality for their money, I always steer them to BikesDirect. I am definitely not a fan of the gross mark-ups of framesets whether they be steel/aluminum/Ti/Carbon just because a known name brands "logo" was slapped on the downtube. I've been doing this too long and have ridden too many bikes, both name brand and no-name, to honestly tell you otherwise. I've been training,racing,commuting on Chinese carbon/aluminum and steel for over 10 years and they are excellent.........all of them. Folks get really offended because they feel the need to defend their name brand name bike after they find out that the Trek, Cannondale, whatever, was/is made in the same exact factories side by side as the Chinese/non name brand version. If you want to spend the money, go with the better Groupset, that's where it really makes the difference. As an example, my brother who is the head mechanic at a shop here in Chicago EP'd me a Cervelo S3 with SRAM Red. I rode that a few years but also had a Chinese carbon frameset that I bought for $370. Tapered head tube.......yes. Internal routing.........yes. 950gm frame/350gm fork.........yes. I built that up with SRAM Red and put a Chinese carbon clincher wheelset on it. I also rode that for a couple of years swapping between the Cervelo and it. That pup rode just as well if not better than the Cervelo. Sold the Cervelo and never went back. I now have two Chinese aero carbon track framesets (one for racing/one for fixed road training) and two Chinese carbon road framesets. I got the second one for $300 shipped after bartering with the seller. These easily rival (quality) any name brand carbon bike out there and absolutely trounce them on price. Oh, and after putting thousands of miles on 3 Chinese carbon wheelsets (one tubular/two clincher) I would never pay double to triple for a name brand carbon wheelset again.




*BikesDirect