Hello everyone,

I recently bought a Motobecane Fly 9357 from BikesDirect.com. I received the bike, had it assembled at my LBS, and we discovered that both the front and rear hydraulic disc brakes (Avid Juicy Carbon) had air in the lines. I also had this confirmed by a second shop. In fact, the brake handles have no effect until it is almost touching the handlebars!

I emailed BikesDirect and asked if they had a solution. At first, they just sent me a link and said I could go buy replacement brakes if I didn't like what came with the bike. I politely explained that both shops that I went to said there was air in the lines and that I thought it was a manufacturing defect. My local shop quoted $40 to bleed the brakes. I asked BikesDirect if they would be willing to pay for the service or replace the defective brakes.

Their reply was, "...all of our bikes are factory direct and require some setup and assembly that is why the price is so good. // in this case -bleeding brakes // similar to having to adjust the derailleurs and pump up the tires etc - ..."

My expectation was that with a brand new bike, everything should work out of the box. If I bought a car, I wouldn't need to service the brakes before driving off the lot. Frankly, I can afford $40 and it looks like a nice bike. But if this is what one should expect buying a bike online, then buyer beware!

Are my expectations too high for buying a bike online??

it's prob not an issue with bikes direct...see when they put the bike together, i'm sure the brakes were working fine, but being that if you store the bike upside down, it causes your brakes to need bleeding....and i'm SURE that the rocket scientists at UPS were SURE to not store your bike upside down while in transit....yeah right........the brake lever/caliper/hose assembly is all shipped from avid pre bled....so how is it bikes direct's fault that your brakes need bleeding? again, it's one of those things you should decide if you're ready for before you invest in a bike that has hydraulic brakes....if you're not, stick with cable actuated brakes.....what i'm saying is this could happen to any bike you buy from any manufacturer

According to the MBTR FAQs:

"Will air get in the lines if I turn my bike upside down?

Maybe, but only if your brakes were not bled and maintained correctly in the first place. For air to get into the lines (the only place where air can make the brakes feel mushy) it has to be present in the reservoir before the bike was inverted. Then what happens is that upon inversion the bubble enters the master cylinder piston area through the transfer port in the bottom of the reservoir. When you turn your bike the right way up and operate the brake you can now compress the bubble an hey presto - no brakes!"

So, logically, the brakes did not come from the BikesDirect factory in proper operating condition. One of the shops I spoke to said that they had installed hundreds of Avid hydraulic brakes and they shouldn't need bleeding out of the box.

I like this bike; I just think it's a reasonable expectation that brakes should work on a brand new bike.

they said they've installed hundreds of avid sets and never had a problem...and i've personally ridden probably 6 or 8 motobecanes that had avid hydraulic brakes, FRESH FROM THE FACTORY and every single one never had a problem....i'm calling yours a fluke, and im' going to maintain that it's one of those things that could happen to anyone on any bike....like i said before, the lever/hose/caliper assembly is shipped to moto pre-bled, so anything that went wrong with the bleeding process was before moto even thouched them....i'll say it again, you need to be able to handle the curve balls that come at you when you get into more complicated components, such as hydraulic brakes....i just read through some of the reviews for the juicy carbons and juicy 7's, and they both had people with mixed emotions when it came to bleeding and keeping them bled....on the plus side, everyone said they're easy as hell to bleed, so i think maybe you should get a bleed kit, instead of having the lbs rape you everytime you need them bled....after all, bleeding is one of those things you should be ready for when it comes to hydraulic brakes....

I completely agree that maintaining hydraulic brakes is something that I will need to do in the future, just like maintaining the brakes on my car. But I think you're missing the point.

This is a NEW bike. Like every one of the 6 or 8 Motebecanes you've had, it should work out of the box. If it doesn't, it's a defect and should be addressed by BikesDirect.

When you buy a new product, do you expect it to work or do you expect that you will need to perform some maintenance/repairs before you can use it? When I buy a new car, water heater, AC unit, DVD player, whatever, I expect it to work. If I bought a bike from Ibex or somewhere else, should I expect to be able to safely ride the bike out of the box? I think so. Just my 2 cents, well, actually, $40.

Bleeding the brakes kind of falls under the same catagory as adjusting the cables. Probably should be something addressed by the LBS who set up your bike. Isn't that what you paid them for? Not really a defect. If you read the "brake time" forum you'll see lots of issues with brake bleeding. Avids are known to need bleeding right out of the box. I'm not sure why bicycle hydros are so problematic, but from what you read on this forum they sure seem to be. I really can't see how storing a bicycle upside down would allow air to get in the lines. Unless the seal on the resevour is bad.

They should have already been factory bled... I bought a leftover 2006 Mongoose bike on ebay and without even online nor lbs support, the hydraulics were ready to use out of the box.

Update: BikesDirect has kindly offered $40 or two bleed kits. I've opted for the bleed kits. Thanks to everyone for your input. I guess you can still get good customer service even when buying online!

KennyZ4, just a suggestion: If you have any issues, PM Mike from BD here on MTBR. His screen name is bikesdirect. His staff is very busy and he acknowledges that email replies are not always the best. He will make things right for you in the future if you just send him a PM.

I completely agree that maintaining hydraulic brakes is something that I will need to do in the future, just like maintaining the brakes on my car. But I think you're missing the point.

This is a NEW bike. Like every one of the 6 or 8 Motebecanes you've had, it should work out of the box. If it doesn't, it's a defect and should be addressed by BikesDirect.

When you buy a new product, do you expect it to work or do you expect that you will need to perform some maintenance/repairs before you can use it? When I buy a new car, water heater, AC unit, DVD player, whatever, I expect it to work. If I bought a bike from Ibex or somewhere else, should I expect to be able to safely ride the bike out of the box? I think so. Just my 2 cents, well, actually, $40.


When was the last time you bought a car through the mail?

they said they've installed hundreds of avid sets and never had a problem...and i've personally ridden probably 6 or 8 motobecanes that had avid hydraulic brakes, FRESH FROM THE FACTORY and every single one never had a problem....i'm calling yours a fluke, and im' going to maintain that it's one of those things that could happen to anyone on any bike....like i said before, the lever/hose/caliper assembly is shipped to moto pre-bled, so anything that went wrong with the bleeding process was before moto even thouched them....i'll say it again, you need to be able to handle the curve balls that come at you when you get into more complicated components, such as hydraulic brakes....i just read through some of the reviews for the juicy carbons and juicy 7's, and they both had people with mixed emotions when it came to bleeding and keeping them bled....on the plus side, everyone said they're easy as hell to bleed, so i think maybe you should get a bleed kit, instead of having the lbs rape you everytime you need them bled....after all, bleeding is one of those things you should be ready for when it comes to hydraulic brakes....it's amazing

Update: BikesDirect has kindly offered $40 or two bleed kits. I've opted for the bleed kits. Thanks to everyone for your input. I guess you can still get good customer service even when buying online!

That was really nice of BD to offer you money to bleed the brakes. They didn't have to though. It is clearly stated that "some assembley" is required. The reason BD is so much cheaper than the LBS is they don't assemble the bike.

If you wanted a ready to ride bike, you should have bought something from the LBS.

Tim

That was really nice of BD to offer you money to bleed the brakes. They didn't have to though. It is clearly stated that "some assembley" is required. The reason BD is so much cheaper than the LBS is they don't assemble the bike.

If you wanted a ready to ride bike, you should have bought something from the LBS.

Tim

HOLY CRAP! someone who finally realizes and sees the truth! CS2, where have you been all my life!? it's like i've been holding down the fort by myself against the people who want to have their cake and eat it too!