# I find the BD reputation online hilarious



## jmio (Aug 19, 2008)

i have a BD bike, a vent noir. over 400 miles on it so far in 2 weeks. My buddy has a fens that has 5000 miles on it. both stock, both performing flawlessly. I had a kilo tt with 2000 miles on it, was perfect when I sold it. BD bikes are sweet, good prices, good customer service. People on here try to say they are inferior because the aren't sold at lbs's, I disagree, I love riding the vent noir, especially when people don't know what it is. I get to edumacate them on some money saving riding!!!!!


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## mopartodd (Dec 1, 2010)

jmio said:


> i have a BD bike, a vent noir. over 400 miles on it so far in 2 weeks. My buddy has a fens that has 5000 miles on it. both stock, both performing flawlessly. I had a kilo tt with 2000 miles on it, was perfect when I sold it. BD bikes are sweet, good prices, good customer service. People on here try to say they are inferior because the aren't sold at lbs's, I disagree, I love riding the vent noir, especially when people don't know what it is. I get to edumacate them on some money saving riding!!!!!


Yeah, I saw in another thread a person saying that the BD bikes were "cheap" and poorly designed /built. It became apparent later in the thread that this person worked in a LBS...So I suppose I can understand their position to some degree. Of course, this person never provided any information on how the BD were poorly made.


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## bayoububba (Jun 5, 2011)

I wouldn't recommend BD to anyone who can't do basic maintenance and assembly, but for those of us who can, what a sweet deal!. I love my Le Champ Ti. I've had it for two months and about 600 miles, trouble-free. I have put it side-by side with a friend's Lynskey Cooper that was less bike for almost twice the price. He was not happy to hear what I paid for mine.

Well lookie here, my first post is a shill post, LOL. Just call me Bubba McShill.


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## PlatyPius (Feb 1, 2009)

BD for all intents and purposes = Fuji/Ideal. There are a few Kinesis-made frames, and a few of unknown origin, but most that I have seen are Fujis. Some of the cheap Windsors are pretty iffy on quality, but everything else is fine.


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## albertabeef (May 15, 2011)

The welds on their aluminum bikes aren't finished smooth, so they're kinesis-made frames are a little less-expensive than trek, fuji, etc., frames for that reason.

I could certainly live with "ugly welds" for the price savings.

That being said I ride a 1999 Cannondale because my wife won't let me spend $2000 at the moment... something about kids and College... I dunno...


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## bayoububba (Jun 5, 2011)

The welds on my titanium Motor Bacon frame are as sweet as you'll find anywhere for under 5 grand.


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## albertabeef (May 15, 2011)

bayoububba said:


> The welds on my titanium Motor Bacon frame are as sweet as you'll find anywhere for under 5 grand.


Yeah, I noticed the Ti welds look pretty good. The only ones I really noticed as being unfinished were the aluminum welds. But again, it wouldn't bother me... =)

How are the Ti frames? Is there a good balance between ride and flex? (IE: smooth ride without too much frame flex during power transfer?)


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## bayoububba (Jun 5, 2011)

I find the ride very nice. Maybe not as smooth as carbon but much nicer than my old aluminum Trek. I can't say much about flex. I am a fitness/touring rider in a land without hills. The closest I get to sprinting is trying to make it through when the light turns green without the getting run over by the car behind me and the only hill for miles is the levee. I chose the Ti over carbon for durability. I'm a fairly big guy (6-3, 220#) and I've seen a couple of carbon frames fail after a long-term beating by big guys.


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## chas0039 (Jun 26, 2007)

albertabeef said:


> How are the Ti frames? Is there a good balance between ride and flex? (IE: smooth ride without too much frame flex during power transfer?)


I ride Waterford, Trek and Pinarello steel, Ridley and Pinarello Al, and Moto Ti. I can feel the slight brittleness of the Al (less in Pinarello) and near perfect ( for me) flex and stiffness with steel. The Ti feels slightly less stiff than the Al and slightly more stiff than the steel. I have a particular part of my ride where I can test the flex and my older steel Trek will almost bounce. The newer steel has much less and the Al is brittle during that stretch. The Ti seems right between the steel flex and the Al brittle. During that particular stretch, I can tell it is Ti because it has no feel, compared to my other bikes. I rotate every day and ride the same stretch every day.


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## Poppadaddio (Apr 15, 2007)

Dont' be too impressed with perfectly smooth welded joints. It is an extra step in the manufacturing process to grind the welds smooth but it doesn't make the joint stronger! It may be easier to grind the welds smooth than to make good welds in the first place. Look for uniformity of the weld beads/puddles and smooth transitions to the base metal.
Aluminum is very difficult to weld (I'm told) compared to steel. The weld metal mass will be bigger than a steel or titanium weld.
I think the welds on my LeChampion Ti must be done by machine. They are so perfect. Since buying mine 18 months ago, I have looked over many other "boutique" brands -- Seven, Litespeed, etc., and mine looks at least as good as any other bike I've seen.


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## sgalante (May 5, 2009)

*Regarding the welds on Aluminum*

Just as a case in point, back in 2003 or so, I almost pulled the trigger on an Aluminum Felt, in the $2K or so range. Back then, you were able to write directly to Jim Felt himself. I asked about the welds on his Aluminum bikes, and why they weren't filed down to be smooth. His answer was that he was wanted to show the welds, so that the user could appreciate the uniformity of them. As a previous poster alludes to, you can hide a lot of sins under a weld that has been filed down, an untouched weld shows just how well the weld was done. As a side note, I also know that it is cheaper for the manufacturer to NOT have those welds ground down, but I think with the exception of the aesthetics, one gets an idea how well a weld is done, by seeing it untouched.


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