trek from local bike shop vs motobecane online

[callmej]

my friend is purchasing his first road bike. he's been riding an old huffy for a couple of months. he recently took a beach trip with his brother and rode a road bike for several days in a row and now has been bitten by the bug.

i've emphasized to him a number of things ad nauseum such as test ride a number of bikes and that fit is the most important thing, etc.....

he road a trek 2.3 (full 105 alum. with usual carbon parts) tonight and really liked it plus as a 2010 model it was on sale.

however, he is more inclined to buy a bike online and wants to get as much bike as he can for his money. i don't think he is really interested in test riding a bunch of bikes. he is looking at a motobecane full carbon with ultegra and 105 mix. the trek and the motobecane are almost identical in price.

i've compared the geometry on the two bikes and i think the motobecane will fit, but i for one just could not bring myself to buy a bike that i have not test ridden, nor one that i have never heard very much about. i think that he would be better served to buy from the local bike shop and get a good fit plus would get a bike with name recognition that he could more easily sell if decides to upgrade.

i guess what i am looking for here, is to see if any of you have an opinion or any experience with Motobecane that might lessen my concern about his buying online.

[7rider]

If he wants as much bike as he can for the money and the 2 bikes he's looking at are about the same price, then it seems a no-brainer to go with the local purchase. He'd get much more than a bike. He'd get a shop that would stand by what they sold him and be an ongoing resource for him as he learns and grows as a cyclist. I doubt the online retailer would do much more for him than take his credit card info.

[Trek-chick]

I have never bought a complete bike online. I agree with above poster about buying from the LBS. When I bought my Trek 520 at the LBS I actually drove 18 miles out of my way to go to the best bike shop around, even though there is a big Trek dealer right up my street 5 min. away! I always try to support the bike shops. A good quality bike shop is priceless.

[indysteel]

Suggest that he read reviews of the bike at www.roadbikereview.com. Motobecanes are typically reviewed, but it would be worthwhile to read reviews of the specific bike and retailer he's considering.

I generally like to support local shops, but I think he should get the bike that most excites him to ride. It is possible to build a relationship with a shop regardless of where you buy the bike. There are good and bad shops out there, so the mere fact that it's local doesn't necessarily sway me one way or another.

[Becky]

Has he factored in the cost to have the Motebecane assembled?

I'm not against buying bikes online. In fact, I've done it 3 times now. But it took me a long time to figure out what I liked fit-wise enough to be comfortable spending $1k+ based on the geometry charts. I also have the skills and tools to build a bike from scratch, so there's no additional cost there.

[Cataboo]

Ditto what Becky said - if you know what you're doing and either can assemble yourself or have a friend that can - you can get great prices for bikes online. If you don't know a lot about what geometry will fit you, then it can be an expensive mistake.

[TxDoc]

If he wants as much bike as he can for the money and the 2 bikes he's looking at are about the same price, then it seems a no-brainer to go with the local purchase. He'd get much more than a bike. He'd get a shop that would stand by what they sold him and be an ongoing resource for him as he learns and grows as a cyclist. I doubt the online retailer would do much more for him than take his credit card info.

+1 for the local purchase.

On a whole different topic, where is your friend planning on riding? It seems odd that both bikes have a compact crankset as the only choice... Of course you can always change the crankset later, but unless you live up a mountain why buy a compact to begin with?

[Catrin]

... but unless you live up a mountain why buy a compact to begin with?

Ok, I keep reading this and I simply must ask. Why is a compact more desirable over a triple in the mountains? Isn't that the purpose of my triple, to provide more gears to assist with the hills?

[Crankin]

Well, some believe that having only 2 rings provides smoother shifting and that you can get pretty much the same gear ratios with a compact that has a 27t rear. Personally, I have always had a triple; when I was about to get a compact double on my Trek 5200, we moved to a street with a 10% grade hill. I kept the triple.
DH went from a regular double to a compact, when they first came out. It never shifted right and he spent a lot of time working on it. I think he actually bought a different one and had that for 2 years. When we bought the bikes we have now, he got a triple.
The "thing" about having a double comes from racing, where having a triple is, well, not for racers. But since most of us are not racing, as long as you have a finely tuned triple, who cares? I have never had any trouble with my Ultegra triple. I *did* have lots of issues with my first road bike, which had crappy components. In fact, I never used the big ring, since I could push the lever to get it into that gear.

[Aggie_Ama]

I have 105 with an Ultegra derailer on my road bike, it shifts amazingly. Shimano uses trickle down technology and from what I understand 105 today was once a higher end line. I wasn't in love with the shop I bought my road bike from, they did give two free tune-ups with purchase.

The shop I now use gives you 15% off parts for the life of the bike if you bought it there, two free tune-ups. We have been going to them exclusively for several years and have gotten countless amounts of free service including in the last two months a cassette, chain ring and brake pads installed for free. My brake pads were a year old and the replacement parts got comped. I got my brakes bled for free twice. So I am for supporting the local shop, plus we have made some really good friends this way. In my experience it has paid off.

[Catrin]

So I am for supporting the local shop, plus we have made some really good friends this way. In my experience it has paid off.

Yep, it really pays to develop a good relationship with a LBS. At my current LBS, since they did the conversion to my LHT (which I did not purchase there), minor tweaks and adjustments do not cost me anything. When they have charged me it has been very little.

Of course, the conversion cost me half the price of the bike...

[ny biker]

+1 for the local purchase.

On a whole different topic, where is your friend planning on riding? It seems odd that both bikes have a compact crankset as the only choice... Of course you can always change the crankset later, but unless you live up a mountain why buy a compact to begin with?

I don't live on top of a mountain but there are plenty of hills around here. And I have asthma. And I have knee problems. I need low gears.

[warneral]

I definitely use my low gears too. Tis why I had my shop switch out my double for a compact.

In fact I spoke with a gal in the shop I was at and she said that compacts are good for our region of wisconsin adn that you'd probably only NEED a triple if you were in the mountains.

But then I'm not a racer, just a rider

I do think that some shops make their bread and butter from repairs and building. One of the local shops told me they make most of their profits from repairs and not bike sales. This was a small town shop that only sells Jamis for the purpose of being price competitive with the nearby Madison Trek stores...

[batsheva]

i personally would never use bikesdirect.com they have very mixed reviews online about damaged goods being shipped and the bikes needing significant assembly and people having to pay LBS to assemble... a friend of mine ordered one anyway, despite the mixed reviews online just to save some money and it took a couple of hours of a bike mechanic to assemble it correctly and unwarp the wheels and fix a bent derailleur.. appparently the customer service was very unhelpful she told me... she also got a bike that had the 'bling' of a rear ultegra derailleur - but most of the other components were really low quality.

[callmej]

I'm in awe of all the info this forum has provided. I'm just going to direct my friend here so he can read the replies for himself.

I wish I had been more explicit in my original post in comparing the two bikes. Here is the link for the motobecane:

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...rtalpro_09.htm sale price $1299

and here is the link for the trek bike specs from bike pedia: http://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/B...9917&Type=bike

Again, I appreciate everyone's input on the topic, and they were pretty varied across the board.

I'm still of the opinion that shopping, researching, and test riding bikes before you buy is all part of the fun. However, i was happy to see that there were no horror stories about Motobecane bikes.