Scott W.

This review is based entirely on my personal experience with the whole process of obtaining a bike from Bikes Direct.
First the Bad:
I ordered a 29ER 4BY4 SRAM X9 30 speed full suspension bike and was able to finally ride it exactly 3 months later. This was not all Bikes Direct's fault since the dockworkers union and management were moving like molasses (right during Christmas rush) on shipments coming in. I received the bike a full 2 months after ordering. Another reason for the delay was I had to take it to a bike shop because neither front nor rear shock would "lock out" as advertised. I was never able to talk directly with a bikes Direct tech person, I had to communicate with email only and it sounded like the general response for faulty equipment is it take it to your local bike shop instead of providing some basic troubleshooting on your own. The front shock was low on oil and the shop corrected that by filling with the correct amount (but it still never locked out fully like my old Suntour did). The rear shock, I was told by the local bike guy (as he was evaluating the Monarch RT3 and simultaneously conversing on the phone with the Rockshox rep) that this was a custom shock built for this particular Motobecane model and they could not just ship me a replacement; the original one (that had a manufacturing date of 1 month prior to my order, according to the shock's serial #) had to be shipped back to the factory and examined/rebuilt at their discretion. When I finally got word from the local shop that my bike was ready, neither front nor rear shock completely locked out and they were not supposed to, as implied in the description of the bike on Bikes Direct that said both front and rear shocks had "turnkey lockout".
The Good/Not so Bad:
I finally picked up the bike yesterday as soon as it was ready and got to ride the bike yesterday, a full 3 months after ordering. I think I will like the bike and consider it a good value but I will have to put in several days of riding to see how I like a full-suspension bike that will not completely lock-out. The delays were not all Bikes Direct fault, I am sure. The shop told me that UPS had shipped the shock to the wrong place and that cost 3 or 4 days as well. I may order from them again, but only if I am willing to deal with assembly myself or take to the local shop (but I am a pretty decent mechanic), resolve most problems myself and not in a hurry. The sales people were very friendly and helpful. The tech rep. Via email was polite but of little help other than to tell me to take it to the local bike shop for evaluation/repair, but they said they would help cover the cost of the labor for the shocks. Rockshox covered the cost of shipment and rebuild of the original rear shock by changing the ports to make a stiffer shock.
My opinion is the description of the bike's features was misleading as far as the shock's lockout feature. It should not be called "turnkey lockout" if their is still significant movement after it is locked out.