Paul K.

After deciding I wanted a cyclocross bike, I went to the bike shop I used to work for and even with my former employee discount, the price was a bit high in my opinion for what the bike level was. I bought the Motobecane Fantom CX from bikesdirect.com which had the same level of components as the other bike at the shop for $400 less! Again, I used to work at this shop and get a good discount, usually 10% above cost. The bike arrived at my door in two days after ordering and upon unboxing/building it, I was very happy with the quality of everything. While fine adjusting the rear brakes, I noticed the rear rim had a "dip" in it but it didn't bother me since it didn't cause the tire to rub against the brake pads. As a former bike shop repairman I've seen many a rim with a slight dip where the rim is welded together and it's usually not a problem. When I rode the bike, I was again very pleased with the fit and feel of the bike and function of its components. I did notice the dip in the rear wheel though when above 15mph so I contacted bikesdirect.com to inquire about warranty. I was asked to take a short video of the wheel spinning so they could see it, which I did, and they immediately responded with a tracking number of the new wheel they were sending me. That is great service! As a former bicycle shop employee/repairman of 5+ years, I can honestly say that the quality of bikesdirect.com product and service is outstanding. I read reviews for bikesdirect.com before purchasing and the ones that were negative were obviously written by people who don't know anything about bikes or by disgruntled bike shop owners. I hope this review will help to counter that.