# Wow after looking at the BD site



## moab63 (Aug 7, 2006)

and the pics of the bikes you guys have bought from them. I come to one conclusion, the pics on their site SUCK. 

It was the same with the messenger I bought 6 months ago, it looked ok on the site but is really pretty in person. 

I guess is mike the guy who post's here, please do something about the pics and you will sell a few more thousand a year. Keep at it , not everyone who rides needs a "namebrand"bike. 

I think the immortal is winning for january.


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## Lifelover (Jul 8, 2004)

moab63 said:


> and the pics of the bikes you guys have bought from them. I come to one conclusion, the pics on their site SUCK.
> 
> It was the same with the messenger I bought 6 months ago, it looked ok on the site but is really pretty in person.
> 
> ...



As hard as it is to believe, it's part of their marketing plan. They make a sales pitch that emphasizes price not quality. The cheesy looking website is to lead you to believe that they have super low overhead, thus allowing "to good to be true" pricing.

Since the pictures on the site are so poor the consumer is not expecting much and is always pleasantly surprised when the bike looks even better than they thought.

VA has a furniture store (Haynes) that does similar stuff.


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## kk4df (Aug 5, 2006)

moab63 said:


> and the pics of the bikes you guys have bought from them. I come to one conclusion, the pics on their site SUCK.
> <snip>
> I guess is mike the guy who post's here, please do something about the pics and you will sell a few more thousand a year.


Mine looks LOTS better in real life and in my own pics than it did on the BD website. The lighting or something leaves the impression of a lesser bike than the real thing.


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## bikesdirect (Sep 9, 2006)

moab63 said:


> and the pics of the bikes you guys have bought from them. I come to one conclusion, the pics on their site SUCK.
> 
> It was the same with the messenger I bought 6 months ago, it looked ok on the site but is really pretty in person.
> 
> ...


Hi

I appreciate the input

1 - I have been really working on getting photos improved; but actually I think the pictures are fairly good on most bikes; but we need more photos per bike. This takes a lot of time, but we are working on it.

2 - I am not sure if it would sell us more bikes; as we run out of everything too quickly right now. My major battle is getting more stock. I work on that everyday. Many people may think I like pre-selling bikes; but I do not. I would like our popular models to be in stock all the time. And even after more than doubling our warehouse space and stock, we still run out too quickly.

3 - Name Brand? You know I have been in the business for 30 years and still have a hard time understanding some terms. By any objective terms that make sense to me; Motobecane is a name brand. Even Bottecchia is a name brand. If you go by sales; Motobecane is one of the top name brands in the country. If you go by number of bikes in the hands of consumers Motobecane is one of the top quality bike brands in the USA ever.

Sometimes I wonder if Jamis, Kona, Cervelo, Felt, Marin, Rocky Mountain, Bianchi, Litespeed, etc would be considered 'name brands' in the USA by the standards applied by forum members.

If you limit brand name to only the top 3; that cuts out tons of brands. If the limit is the top 20 in sales; then it still cuts out lots of top brands. If you limit it to brands sold in shops close to you; it cuts out brands like DELL. 

I think terms like 'brand name' and 'off brand' can only have meaning if there is a sensiable standard applied to all brands.

Again
thanks for the input on images:

can you tell me, does this look like an improvement?

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/immortalpro_08.htm


thanks
mike


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## bikesdirect (Sep 9, 2006)

*image big enough? clean enough?*


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## kk4df (Aug 5, 2006)

I'm not so concerned about the size of the image. On my Bottecchia CF frame, your online pictures didn't show the detail of the carbon weave nearly enough to do it justice. It's a really beautiful carbon weave, but it was almost undetectable in the pictures posted on your website. I think it has a lot to do with the lighting, and the colors look oversaturated to my eye in your pics.

Walter


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## bikesdirect (Sep 9, 2006)

kk4df said:


> I'm not so concerned about the size of the image. On my Bottecchia CF frame, your online pictures didn't show the detail of the carbon weave nearly enough to do it justice. It's a really beautiful carbon weave, but it was almost undetectable in the pictures posted on your website. I think it has a lot to do with the lighting, and the colors look oversaturated to my eye in your pics.
> 
> Walter


Walter

Thank you
That is a very good point

We may need better original photos; which is certainly about Lighting
More close ups may also help

I am glad you like your frame

thanks

mike


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## ChilliConCarnage (Jun 1, 2006)

I agree - the photos and their low-contrast background are horrible. An experienced graphic designer would never allow such a thing to happen!

Do you think that putting a redeisgn of your website in the hands of an actual designer would negatively impact the perception of your company? Is the current design intended to reflect the discount nature of your products?


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## Scott_Mayes (Oct 24, 2007)

*Pretty good detail pics in the Immortal Ice Gallery*

Just bought and waiting for my Immortal Ice. If you look at that particular bike there is an image gallery that has some pretty good close-up pics of components and frame. All the bikes on the site don't have that type of detail shots, but that gallery looks pretty good.


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## sonex305 (Jun 17, 2007)

I never noticed that before. They made the link so small it's hard to find. Thos pics really look nice and that grey paint job looks awesome with the Ultegra "Ice" components. I might have to reconsider getting one now.


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## denmikseb (Aug 7, 2005)

Lifelover said:


> As hard as it is to believe, it's part of their marketing plan. They make a sales pitch that emphasizes price not quality. The cheesy looking website is to lead you to believe that they have super low overhead, thus allowing "to good to be true" pricing.
> 
> Since the pictures on the site are so poor the consumer is not expecting much and is always pleasantly surprised when the bike looks even better than they thought.
> 
> VA has a furniture store (Haynes) that does similar stuff.


Really? That list of high-end components that go with their high-end bikes does not emphasize quality? Even their low-end bikes have better components than the other "better" brands in the same price ranges. And virtually all components are listed on their site. Even my Felt has house brand bars, stem, seatpost, no-name brakes and crap ALX220 wheels. I would have been better off spending about the same for a Moto with all top shelf components (except maybe pedals, I don't know about them).


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