http://www.bikesdirect.com/
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DH has used it multiple times with no issues. Happy with the level of service as well.
SheFly
I personally have never ordered from them. There seems to be a lot of complaints from some people, while others report no problem, on another bike forum that I belong to.
I bought a cheap single speed from them. Great bike for $300 bucks. The packaging was great but UPS dropped the box and chipped the paint on the bottom of the drop out. I e-mailed them and their first question was whether or not I wanted a new bike. They were very sorry even though it was not their fault. I kept the bike, the chip was very small and covered with the wheel on. I was impressed with the customer service. Expect to need a little tweaking, my wheels were out of true but the rest of the bike went together easily!
I think if you have experience with bike maintenance or someone that can put the bike together for you and if you can read a geometry table and figure out whether or not a bike will work with you, you'll be fine.
The complaints I see usually in forums/reviews with them is sometimes not quite having all the screws or some little piece missing - and bikesdirect does make it up - but if you're an experienced mechanic with a drawer full of random bike parts, it usually seemed to be okay. Or bikes direct substitutes components that are equal or better to what the bikes are specc'd with - but that annoys people because that's not what they bought.
I haven't ordered from them, but whenever I get around to buying a touring bike - I will get the one off bikes direct because the geometry on there is more suited to me than the surly's.
I have a friend who does a lot of touring with a friend of his - my friend has (or had till he decided an upgrade was necessary for the same reason I don't like them - seat tube angle) a surly long haul trucker and his friend had the bikes direct touring bike.
They tour all over the US together - but a couple years ago when they went off to tour through Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos... The bikes direct bike help up great and had no problems, the surly broke down a couple of times.
Bikesdirect seems to have picked up/bought the "names" of older bike companies and puts those brands on their bikes. They tend to use slightly older componetry that lets them keep their prices down.
So I have read a ton of complaints on review sites (taken with a grain of salt - because I have a ton of websites i like and the rest of that, but I've never bothered to go write a positive review on them... I do bother to go write a negative review if i've had a bad experience).... But the few people that I know personally who have bought from bikesdirect have been quite happy with their purchases - but they did tend to be experienced cyclists who knew what size they needed and mechanically inclined.
Thanks ladies, your responses were alot more positive than I expected! I asked my LBS if they would put a bike together from this place and they seemed all for it, for a price of course. I figured you would have to know your size.
Good to know! I just got my first road bike from my LBS, but nice to know this company provides good products and services.
Liz
I had a customer order a bike last year that was stated as a full "Ultegrea" bike. When it arrived they brought it to me to assemble. It was indeed a full "Ultegra" bike, but not current Ultegra... it was an eight speed bike rather than a 10 speed. The customer claimed that they didn't know this before ordering, whether he did or not I'm not sure. Perhaps the price should have reflected this for him, maybe he didn't ask, I'm truly not sure. What he received though was an older steel frame with a Shimano Ultegra drivetrain that was 8 speed and not 10.:confused:
hopefully they replaced that bike or at least took it back. Anytime I've looked at them they do say how many speeds a bike is, it's one of the things I look for (I've noticed that their 105 can be 9 speed, etc.)