Every May, according to Bikes Direct staff, cyclists across the country celebrate National Bike Month, an event that culminates with a Friday Bike-to-Work day, and Bikes Direct is proud to support those who commute by bike. Each year, the Bikes Direct professionals look forward to the event. Even though many Bikes Direct employees frequently ride their bikes to work, it is always exciting for them to see other people actually enjoying their ride to work as much as they do. Bikes Direct knows that the easiest way to transition from car to bike is with the support of countless others making that same transition, and Bike-to-Work day makes that very dream a reality. Bikes Direct believes that bikes are not simply for recreation, but also provide a low-cost way to get to work, run errands and become better acquainted with your city.

With fluctuating gas prices and frustrating traffic jams, bike commuting is on the rise in major metropolitan areas, and Bikes Direct is excited to offer many options for those looking to get out of their car and onto a bike. From comfortable hybrids to more aggressive road bikes, Bikes Direct has a model for every level of ability, every style of riding, and perhaps most importantly, every budget. In fact, Bikes Direct is excited to debut the new Windsor city bikes this spring. Perfect for the daily commuter, the Windsor bikes will have an optional rear rack, great styling, and a low price point.

Although the thought of traversing heavily trafficked, seemingly bike-unfriendly areas can be daunting enough to prevent many from considering a commute by bike, Bikes Direct believes that a thoughtful, aware and responsive cyclist can successfully transition from car to bike and enjoy the process. Bikes Direct urges cyclists to acquaint themselves with local cycling laws and ride according to those laws. It is the hope of Bikes Direct employees that the popularity of Bike-to-Work day will carry over onto other days, and that the special occasion becomes a way of life.

Bikes Direct firmly believes that commuting by bike can be a transformative experience. Commuting by bike provides a relaxing way to jump-start what may otherwise be a stressful day and it’s also an opportunity to release that stress on the commute home. The cost savings alone is reason enough to consider commuting by bike, and the Bikes Direct staff is convinced that once you try it, you will be hooked. Those Bikes Direct staffers who routinely commute by bike to work report an improved mood, increased energy and extra money that they can spend on activities they enjoy rather than on gas.

In order for commuting by bicycle to become more mainstream, Bikes Direct recognizes that employers must provide facilities that make commuting by bike a feasible option. With the benefits of commuting by bike so obvious, Bikes Direct hopes that more employers will embrace the movement and see a happier, more productive workforce as a result. Bikes Direct, for example, encourages its employees to ride their bikes to work and offers facilities that make the process easier, such as an on-site shower, bike storage, and tools to make any bike adjustments that might be needed. Bikes Direct encourages other companies to support bike commuting in a similar fashion.

Bikes Direct management believes that cycling can change lives and that even the most mundane of tasks can be made enjoyable when completed by bike. Bikes Direct staffers ride bikes not because they have some incentive to do so, but because they genuinely enjoy riding. Bikes Direct would love to hear suggestions from cyclists about additional things that Bikes Direct could do to encourage bikes as transportation.

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.