I bought some of these new bikes the other day. I was a bit unsure cos I had heard a lot or people moaning about how they were inferior to the old bikes. Well, i can safely say that I've been into magic for 17 years and have used Bikes for about 10 of those and guess what? That's right, THEY ARE THE SAME!!
They are definitely the new ones (new box, black seal etc) and if anything, i was surprised how nice they felt right out of the box. The certainly seemed to hold together better than the last deck of 'old' Bikes i opened. I also think i prefer the new book design. Just looks a little more sophisticated if you ask me. Not really bothered about the back of the box.
So in conclusion, I think all the problems are just in magicians heads. I really think people need to stop being so obsessive about cards. Most of my decks will last me a month tops and during that time the deck will lose cards due to tearing/signing etc. Then I chuck them and open a new pack.
Rev