Motobecane Bikes, Good or Bad?

Do any of you have an opinion regarding the Motobecane Fantom PRO DS? It's hard not to consider a cheap bike with good components.

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/fantompro_ds08.htm

 

on the other site there's a forum created specifically for motobecane

http://forums.mtbr.com/forumdisplay.php?f=133

 

I don't have any experience with this particular model, but my advice on purchase would be to tear apart the entire bike and check everything as they don't come assembled very well (I have one of their road bikes). Mostly, i'd make sure the BB is greased and the headset is set up right.

 

hard to beat for the $, i hope the cables are not like that when you receive it #-o

 

wow, those cables are crazy aren't they...

 

I almost got one of their 29ers but realized that I would have to just change out so much I'm going to just spend a little more and build up a Niner.

Also, you can get some amazing slightly used bikes for that price I'm sure you would like much more.

 

I bought a rode bike champion le have had no problems with it. I had my buddy john at Peddle smith bike shop check it out and he could not belive the quility of it. I could not belive how many motobecome's I saw racing mt and rode at sea otter this weekend

 

Where?

 

If you need anything Warranty regarding the frame....it takes forever...we had a customer that had to wait 6 months just for a hanger because Bicycle Discovery was the only local shop that could get him one and needless to say it took forever! The guy ended up buying a different bike because he had to wait so long. Hopefully they have fixed that problem.

 

Motobecane is OK for "disposable" bikes. Think $350 fixed gear road bikes. They seem to be pretty OK in that range. A $1400 rig isn't really disposable to me.

I urge you to consider taking your $1400 to a local bike shop. Perhaps one that may offer a discount to STR members and gets good reviews here?

Some suggestions is alphabetical order:
http://www.adrenalinebikes.com/
http://www.switchbackcyclery.com/
http://www.thepathbikeshop.com/

 

May be your size may not be but here is an example if you look around. The 19" is only $100 more and I think most here would agree would be a much better deal.

http://www.jensonusa.com/store/product/BI401S01-Rocky+Mountain+Slayer+50+Sxc+07+Demo.aspx

 

Yeah, I totally agree. I bought a cheap $300 aluminium roadie from them for training, and aside from problems with the Alex wheels (not actually BD's fault), it worked out alright. Not really much that can go wrong.

I would avoid them if I was putting down over a grand however. My Cannondale Rush has a few problems when the Lefty DLR2 blew up its seals, but all was fixed and covered under warrenty gratis. Not saying this will happen, but you're basically sunk with paying if you go the BikesDirect route.

 

Lets talk about what you want exactly. How much do you have to spend? $1400?

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/bik/648744415.html

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/bik/648701432.html

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/bik/642375633.html

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/bik/637554946.html

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/bik/615006043.html

and these are all used. That means you show up with what you want to pay in cash and make an offer. No shipping, check out the parts to make sure everything works. Check the frame for cracks. Plus, you get to ride it to make sure it fits.

I too want to think Motobecane would be a sweet deal but I'm not sure there's a great deal there.

Anyway, I hope this helps. I think in that price range you have a lot of good options.

 

If you do your own wrenching I'd say go for it, It's a fine quality bike (be careful about negative opinions, they typically have an agenda, i.e Bike shop owners, workers), If not you may want to go to a bike shop just avoid the negative comments you'll get from said people. Also, most of these bikes are KHS's so getting parts is a no-brainer for someone who knows what's up.

 

The first guy with the FSRxc pro is asking to die. WTF is up with putting a long travel fork on that bike? #-o

Don't buy that bike.

 

What's is KHS's?

 

http://www.khsbicycles.com/

 

haha, sorry I didn't see that.

 

So the KHS is very similar to the Motobecane?

That KHS Flagstaff 29 looks allot like a stumpjumper to me.

BTW, I do all of my own maintenance (except lacing wheels), thanks for your advice too.

 

The way the linkage is set up makes the suspension very stiff. I would stay away from that one.