Tag Archives: Bikes Direct Dallas

Bikes Direct Offers Advice to Aspiring Touring Cyclists

Bikes Direct has watched with excitement as customers have bought bikes for the purpose of touring. In its simplest form, according to the Bikes Direct professionals, bike touring involves traveling long distances by bike, carrying any necessary gear such as clothing, camping gear, and cooking equipment. Bikes Direct is glad to see that cycling has become so integral to the lives of many people that they are eager to plan vacations not only incorporating a bike, but also completely centered on it. Many customers who have purchased their touring bikes from Bikes Direct post their experiences on forums and blogs, and Bikes Direct employees love to see pictures of happy customers on their touring bikes by the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, or inaugurating and concluding a cross-country tour by dipping their wheels in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Bikes Direct customers report that these tours, whether days, weeks, or months long, are among their most memorable vacations, and their first tours often become the first of many. Bikes Direct believes that there is no better way to travel than by bike, and to incorporate biking into one’s vacation plans is to guarantee that the trip will stay with the cyclist forever.

Although the thought of planning a ride potentially hundreds of miles in length and also organizing lodging can be a bit intimidating, Bikes Direct is happy to report that there is a wealth of incredibly detailed information available online to help those entertaining the idea of doing a tour. Bikes Direct believes that bike touring, in essence, can be quite simple. All that is required is a bike, camping gear (if the bike tourist chooses to camp), a couple changes of clothes and a route. Obviously, the bike is the most important piece of equipment one will require for a tour, and Bikes Direct offers many touring models, including the popular Windsor Tourist and Motobecane Gran Turismo. These bikes feature slightly wider tires than traditional road bikes, braze-ons to which to mount racks, and a relaxed geometry for a less aggressive, more comfortable ride. Naturally, accessories depend on the length of trip and the tourist’s lodging plans, and Bikes Direct is glad to recommend shops that will provide the future bike tourist with amazing deals. Bikes Direct has heard from customers who have camped their whole journey and who have required the maximum amount of gear, while others have stayed in hotels and required minimal gear. Some have combined both.

One of the aspects that Bikes Direct loves most about touring is that the length of the tour and the route can be altered to accommodate any riding level and style. A tour can take two days or two months, and Bikes Direct believes that every length has its benefits. Shorter, more local tours familiarize cyclists with their own surroundings, revealing environments, neighborhoods and wildlife that have been right under their nose all along but have perhaps gone unnoticed. Longer tours, on the other hand, expose cyclists to a region, an entire country, or even multiple countries and the distinctive cultures, people and landscapes that comprise those areas. Short or long, Bikes Direct believes every tour provides cyclists with an opportunity to become better acquainted with their world.

Bikes Direct urges anyone even remotely interested in a bike tour to further explore the information available. There are many existing routes, and Bikes Direct hopes to see pictures of its customers and hear their experiences on each and every one. There are a myriad of reasons to plan a bike tour. Some go looking for adventure, to gain a better familiarity with a region, or – as is the driving force for many Bikes Direct staffers – to eat their way across the country. Whether planning a tour through your state or going all out and planning to traverse the TransAmerica Trail, Bikes Direct believes that bike touring offers an amazing experience for anyone, from beginner cyclist to advanced. Tourists are encouraged to send comments on specs, tours, and other interesting topics to Bikes Direct. This type of input could be posted at any address on the Bikes Direct contact page at http://www.bikesdirect.com/contact.htm.

About Bikes Direct

Bikes Direct continues to provide the same excellent cycling experience that riders around the world have come to expect from Motobecane. As a beginning, Bikes Direct can offer this brief history; Motobecane has been making bikes since 1923 and was named after the French word Moto for motorcycle and Becane for bike. Things went well for the company until 1981 when they were bankrupt and bought by Yamaha and became MBK. Now Motobecane USA is not related to the French company as they import bikes from Taiwan and China, these are the bikes you are interested in. Bikes Direct offers these Bikes Direct to the public at competitive price points and excellent quality.

According to Bikes Direct, Motobécane was a major manufacturer in the French bicycle industry. The frames on Motobécane’s mid-to-upper bikes were typically double-butted lugged steel made from Vitus or Reynolds 531 molybdenum/manganese steel tubing with Nervex lugs. Motobécane finished their frames in beautiful and high-quality paint, a practice not often followed in the French industry. Considered the second most prestigious French bicycle (after Peugeot, whose more durable design they emulated, but ahead of Gitane), Bikes Direct remembers Motobécane’s mid-range bikes as a good value; the company kept prices reasonable by matching high-quality frames with lower-priced, but higher-quality components from Japan, at a time when competitors were putting higher-priced, lower quality French components on mid-range bikes. Bikes Direct says that Motobécane bicycles included the Nomade, Mirage, Super Mirage, Super Touring, Grand Touring, Sprint, Jubilee, Grand Record, Le Champion, and Team Champion.

Bikes Direct now offers Motobecane models that use carbon on two of their ranges of bikes, the Race Carbon/AL and the Full Carbon ranges. From the Race Carbon they produce the Century Comp, Elite, Pro and Team and from the Full Carbon they have the Immortal Pro, Force and Spirit.

Race Carbon/AL from Bikes Direct

Bikes Direct says the Race Carbon /AL frames are a mixture of Alloy main frame tubes and carbon rear seat stays. The frames use different Alloy for the tubes on each of the frames and different equipment to assemble the bikes.
The Century Comp has Columbus Airplane tubes and Shimano 105 Triple group set.

The Century Elite has Shimano Ultegra Triple kit and the frame is made from 7005 double butted and carbon stays. Shimano Ultegra 30 speed and Kinesium SL and Carbon are used for the Century Pro.

Bikes Direct offers the top class Shimano Dura-Ace, and carbon FSA Cranks are used for the Century Team with Kineses 7005 AL main tubes and carbon stays. All have carbon forks.

The Full Carbon

Shimano Utegra mixed with 105 and FSA is fitted to the Immortal Pro high modulus carbon fiber monocoque frameset along with carbon forks American Classic wheels.

Bikes Direct knows the Immortal Force is very similar to the Pro except it is all Shimano Ultegra; all the other equipment and the frame is the same.

The Immortal Spirit Dura-Ace, FSA, American Classic wheels and Ritchey are all fitted to a monocoque carbon frame keeping the weight down to 16 pounds.

Bikes Direct makes sure that all the equipment is top class and you can’t fault any choice there. Looking at the Geometries of the frames there is beauty and they handle well.

In addition to the standard diamond frame bicycles, Motobécane produced mixte frame versions; the mixte frame Grand Touring had twin lateral stays in place of a top tube, extending from the head tube to the seat tube, while the Super Touring and Grand Jubilé had a single top tube sloping down towards the seat tube, but diverging into twin lateral stays just before the seat tube. Later mixte Grand Touring models also used this design. Motobécane also produced a tandem bicycle.

Bikes Direct says vintage French bicycles, including Motobécane, are often sought today for their value as a fixed gear conversion.

For more information about Motobecane contact Bikes Direct at BikesDirect.com.

Bikes Direct Offers Affordable Quality Bikes — Online

The first of its kind, Bikes Direct was started by a Texas businessman, David Sander, who built the Cycle Spectrum bicycle store chain. Although the Internet bike retail site, Bikes Direct, is an entirely separate concern, it does have one massive advantage that no other Internet bike sales outlet can claim: the enormous Cycle Spectrum inventory.

This bulk quantity and low overhead allows Bikes Direct customers to experience savings they just don’t find in the brick-and-mortar world. Some Bikes Direct prices are less than retail by literally thousands of dollars. This is often the case, for instance, when Bikes Direct is offering a professionally-tested high-end titanium bike.

Most bike retailers don’t have tens of thousands of dollars of inventory on hand as Bikes Direct does with its access to Cycle Spectrum stock. There is simply no way in which smaller retailers can meet the savings that customers experience at Bikes Direct. Bikes Direct also offers free shipping and no tax to most of the continental United States.

Even customers who go to one of the Cycle Spectrum stores won’t always see the kind of prices that Bikes Direct offers (although they’re similar). This is because some of the bikes at Bikes Direct are built slightly differently. They are more like a comfort bike with a shock seat post instead of one without, and Bikes Direct cycles actually become different products.

Even though sales are made via computers over the Internet, Bikes Direct is a personally-run enterprise and not simply an automated business. Just like at your local bike shop, Bikes Direct is staffed by real employees who are experienced in the world of biking. The Bikes Direct effort to respond to every email inquiry as quickly as possible (sometimes within a matter of hours) helps bring the “corner store” feel to the web-based business.

As stated on the website at bikesdirect.com, all bikes at Bikes Direct are new and covered by the manufacturers’ warranty, and Bikes Direct offers a money back guarantee. These assurances by Bikes Direct, in addition to the many customer testimonials, an A-plus Better Business Bureau rating and positive feedback at Ebay and Epinions encourage many new bikers to take advantage of the incredible savings on quality bikes at Bikes Direct.

For more information, or to speak with someone at Bikes Direct, please go online to www.bikesdirect.com or send Bikes Direct a fax at 877-245-3329.

Bikes Direct Customers Share Their Experience:

Hey Bikes Direct,
I received my KHS 1000 [from Bikes Direct] on the 19th of September and I must say that it is one fine machine. I have been riding it on some short trips and am very pleased with the performance of this bike. I must say that putting the bike together was quite simple and the adjustments were minimal to say the least. When I ordered the bike [from Bikes Direct] I was kind of apprehensive of getting a bike from a mail order house, but once I received it I found out that not only was it a snap to put together but also what I saved [from Bikes Direct was] over $550.00 from the local dealer–to me that’s a great bargain.
Once again it was great doing business with [Bikes Direct],
Joe Sharon (Pringle, PA)

Dear Bikes Direct,

My husband and I got our matching 700DS mountain bikes a few days ago [from Bikes Direct]. We took them to a local shop here to have them assembled since neither of us has any experience with bicycle assembly. The guy in the shop was VERY impressed with them and couldn’t believe how little we paid [Bikes Direct] for them. When we looked around his shop we were amazed at what a similar bike went for there. (The guy even admitted that he hoped that his customers didn’t find Bikes Direct). Thanks, Bikes Direct, for all your help and understanding with all our questions.

Tami