My sample size, one bike, was small with Bikes Direct. I couldn't get the rear wheel into the dropouts. The frame had slag on it. The black paint came off with a finger nail to show school bus yellow primer underneath. It looked like a bike online. In actuality it was like the fake town in Blazing Saddles.
This $1300 bikes direct bike is the equivalent (including same components) of a $2000 to $2200 bike in stock at a my only local bike shop. It's a great shop, I just don't need them for anything other than an occasional part that I don't want to wait 1-2 days Amazon shipping for.
This bike is out of stock and I wouldn't want to buy one just to deface it with a heavy ebike kit (even though I need the assist) and not sure that the tsdz2 chainline would work well with it anyway. Yesterday I did get a 11-42t cassette that came with a derailleur extender and put it on my Dahon Jack that I have a 32t chainring on. Eventually before I go to Moab I'll put the tsdz2 along with the dished/offset 34t chainring. I've installed a tsdz2 twice already on the Jack and can easily swap out the stock bottom bracket assembly for a tsdz2 in well under an hour, maybe half an hour. I think I'll take the stock bottom bracket assembly with me to Moab and might switch it back out again when I'm riding less hilly areas.
