Submitted by
itsadamb
a Cross Country Rider
from Plantation, FL, USA
Date Reviewed: March 26, 2012
Strengths: Amazing bike! Granted this is my first full suspension but i've ridden some of my friends $2-3,000 Trek and Specialized bikes and can't say they feel any better than this bike. The componenets are all pretty top of the line and i did a lot of shopping at the local bike shops and nothing could compete for less than $1,800-2,000! So i took a risk after reading some of the good reviews online and must say this bike is amazing!
Weaknesses: Non-Name brand frame but its for me and i love it!
Bottom Line:
If you dont absolutely need to have the newest and name brand products you will definitely get your money's worth out of this bike! and no... i don't work fo them! I'm just a very happy customer!
Submitted by
Joe
a Cross Country Rider
from San Diego, CA
Date Reviewed: December 7, 2011
Strengths: Good Spec Componets for the $$
Weaknesses: Frame snapped, Moto Company difficult to deal with. 10 months to replace frame. Fought with them every week.
Bottom Line:
Aviod this company's product. The pennies I thought I was saving by this purchase, were insignificant compared to the aggravation this bike frame caused.
Buy from a company that stands by their product, Trek, Speacilized etc, anyone but these jokers.
Submitted by
dstephens
a Cross Country Rider
from Logan, UT, USA
Date Reviewed: April 21, 2011
Strengths: It is fairly light for a FS bike, and it is great quality for its price. Name brand parts,in RockShox and Shimano.
Weaknesses: The Avid 3 Juicies have been awful. Light to moderate breaking at high speeds produced terrible howling (and sometimes a squeal). I had to replace with organic pads and may need a solid sweep disk later, if the howling picks up again. Less significantly, the pedals are cheap-o plastic and there is no quick release on the seat stem. Those are easy fixes; the big deal is the breaking system.
Bottom Line:
I was hesitant to buy a bike online I hadn't rode, but I have no regrets. The price is unbeatable; my LBS couldn't come close. Just make sure you know your size.
It's a good entry- or mid-level FS bike for XC. Nothing fancy, but it does the job.
The Avid 3 Juicies were extremely frustrating until I discovered the problem and got organic pads. So far, so good with the new pads.
Similar Products Used: A ho-hum Schwinn hardtail with low-end parts.
Bike Setup: Factory spec, with new pedals.
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Submitted by
stewbo
a Weekend Warrior
from Dallas, TX, USA
Date Reviewed: March 25, 2011
Strengths: Components especially the Shimano DynaSys 30 Speed, Frame built by same builders as brands with more advertising dollars (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinesis_Industry).
Weaknesses: Avid 3 brakes seem finicky at first.
Bottom Line:
I'm thrilled with my purchase. I can't believe I found such a great deal. This bike will exceed my skill for a while to come.
This bike fits my philosophy in almost all my purchases, be it cars, watches, clothing, art, food - that is look a little deeper, behind the marketing fluff, there are brands that provide a great value proposition to the consumer and those who do the research and ultimately take the risk are rewarded.
I have no hesitation in recommending motobecane to my friends, in fact, I've let them ride my bike and they agree its a pretty amazing package. I by no means a hardcore mtn biker, but I do like to ride as much as possible. Its a great deal. If you followed the link above you'll see that a lot of other manufacturers use the same Taiwanese company to build frame. If you look at the other frames there is a ridiculous amount of similarity, coincidence I think not, simply savings in mass producing a effective design. Which you, as a company, could pass on to your customers. I like my bike, as you can tell. I'd buy another one if this one was stolen. Thanks for reading. -Stewart
Bike Setup: converted crank to single ring using original crank and race face bash guard, thompson seatpost, stem. carbon bars and deetrack wheels.
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Submitted by
Don Fraser
a Weekend Warrior
from Garden City, Mi Wayne
Date Reviewed: July 18, 2010
Strengths: Price nothing compares, looks, equipment, easy to ride,
Weaknesses: I could have used more info on suspension set up, but it's not that complicated, a few times out and I've got it dialed in pretty good..
Bottom Line:
This bike compares to bikes that cost more then twice as much, people are shocked to know the price I paid when they look the bike over, bike dealers don't want others to know about these bikes, some dealers get downright rude when they find out what a deal I've gotten, or just the make of the bike,LOL!! This bike ROCKS, ROllS, and just plain does what it's supposed to, trails, this bike is great for anyone that wants a good workout and a good deal, learn to do your own work on the bike, it's easy to work on, and stuff you should know.
Bike Setup: Ourly grips, Shimano SPD peddles, tighten all nuts and bolts regularly, Lock Tight the ones that keep loosening up, 215 lbs in the Rock Shox 3.2 for my 225 lb body, I like hard rebound, I push the bike hard downhills I'm and ex Motocrosser, I've lowered the handlebars by moving the big spacer, 30 lbs front tire 35 lbs rear, water bottle, tool bag, wax chain and wash bike after every ride.
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Submitted by
BoomClick
a Weekend Warrior
from Houston, Texas
Date Reviewed: February 21, 2010
Strengths: Fabulous brakes, suspension and deraileurs.
Weaknesses: No kick, but I can buy and attach my own.
Bottom Line:
This bike is so good till even if I had $9999.00 to spend on a bike, I'm sure I would still be satisfied with this one. The brakes are extremely smooth and effective and the suspension is just fabulous. I put the bike together out of the box a few days back and even without any tuning, it still rides great but I do plan to take it to the LBS to get an initial tune up. I would definitely recommend this bike to anyone that could afford $999 and I would recommend saving enough money for this model rather than settling for a cheaper model. Others have complained about both the pedals and paint, but I see absolutely no problem with either. Just buy it and enjoy the best for the price and even twice the price.
Similar Products Used: Titan 4x4 Truck i.e. A solid product.
Bike Setup: A Breeze
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Submitted by
Rick M
a Cross Country Rider
from Salt Lake City, UT
Date Reviewed: November 9, 2009
Strengths: I love it. Great frame, I now understanding what carving means. Shocks are fine and breaks work well too so far. Incredibly tight after assembling out of the box with help from a friend who works at REI. Said this came out of the box as well as anything he has seen. No rubbing or noise on initial assembly.
Weaknesses: NONE SO FAR.
I read some stuff about the Tora Shock being heavy and the breaks not working well or rubbing. Also heard that the pedals aren't worth putting on.
These guys should have ridden my old ride. Don't know if they are snobs or whiners.
Bottom Line:
Could not have been happier with the bike or shipping from bikesdirect.com Came in great shape (boxed) in three days from order to delivery using standard shipping (UPS Ground).
Can't believe how much different riding a decent FS bike can be. I love going out on something that feels this good. Confidence and ability just keep improving.
Similar Products Used: First FS bike. Rode an old Iron Horse Warrior HT, Cannondale HT.
Bike Setup: Tora shock, Ario air 2.2, Avid Juicy 3s, Shimano SLX and XT, Lots of Ritchey, FS cranks, Gravity pedals and hubs.
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Submitted by
Jballer
a Cross Country Rider
from Spokane, Washington, United States
Date Reviewed: September 21, 2009
Strengths: brand name parts, good travel with lockout front and rear, great price, quality bike,
Weaknesses: needs quick release seat, pedals need to be replaced
Bottom Line:
Great bike for the price hands down. i have owned this bike for around 3 months now and it has put up with all the abuse i have thrown at it. i ride cross country the most but sometimes i mess around on downhill trails. the bikes is good for small jumps and drops but nothing too extreme. i would suggest this bike to poor people like myself who want a great XC bike for cheap.
Similar Products Used: trek 930, specialized rockhopper,
Bike Setup: stock
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Submitted by
Guile
a Weekend Warrior
from Phoenix, AZ, US
Date Reviewed: August 3, 2009
Strengths: Solid frame, easy setup, great components, very adjustable, and easily upgradable at a very nice price point. Decent improvement over 2008 model despite higher price tag. Great customer service to fix their mistake.
Weaknesses: Heavy, but being the first FS for someone recently entering the sport, this doesn't concern me much. There's also some rubbing in the rear wheel hub, but only during free spinning. Garbage stock pedals and a quick release seat clamp are my only other gripes.
Bottom Line:
I had ordered the 2008 model at a clearance price of $799, but apparently BD had oversold and didn't have the product despite giving me a tracking number. They immediately offered to give me a $100 credit for any bike over $1000 or $50 towards anything less. I was quite unhappy because the next decent FS option was a $1400 bike, and I wasn't looking to spend that much to get into the sport. Fortunately, they received their 2009 comp DS just a few days later and added it to the site with a $999 price tag, and I was able to get a much better bike for only $100 more than I had originally looked to spend.
Onto the bike: Out of the box, this thing needed very few adjustments to get it working right. Although I have no bike tuning experience aside from adjusting my friend's 700DS, I was able to assemble this and tune it within an hour or so. I'm pretty mechanically inclined, so that may have played a role in the ease of setup.
The wheels are pretty true, and the juicy 3's aren't rubbing at all. Time will tell on those brakes as I've read mixed reviews of their longevity and requiring constant bleeds, but they seem pretty solid out of the box. The shifting is incredibly smooth, and aside from losing my chain due to a bad shift, my first ride was pretty smooth. There was some low whine sound coming from the drive train when free spinning that I can only assume is coming from the bearings in the rear hub assembly. I'll try greasing it and hopefully that will fix it all up.
Off topic: I sprained my foot playing volleyball the day after my first ride, so I'm pretty upset I can't jump right back on. It's a very fun bike!
Bike Setup: 2009 model which replaced the Comp DS that was on clearance (and consequently oversold...much to my dismay).
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Submitted by
cgduff
a Weekend Warrior
from Kent, Ohio
Date Reviewed: July 7, 2009
Strengths: Well built, duarable frame without being very heavy. Strong looking welds too. I haven't played around with the different suspension travel setting yet but having that feature is nice. I have the Fantom DS trail and would say it's more of an all mountain bike than a true XC bike (a bonus in my opinion as I can only afford one bike!).
Weaknesses: Rear shock on my model is low spec-kindshock axis, but for the price what do you expect? In all fairness I opted for the cheaper version (coil shock rather than rock shox air shock) as I'll probably upgrade it next year anyway!
Bottom Line:
A very good intro to full sus mountain biking. I moved to the states from the UK and found all the large roots and rock gardens a pain (literally) on my hard tail. switch over and haven't looked back. If you're into the big brands and bragging rights in the pub you'll spned hundreds more for the same thing. check the geometry etc of these bikes, very, very similar to the ellsworth truth........
Similar Products Used: First full sus bike. switched my components over from my (completely upgraded) Saracen mantra.
Bike Setup: Motobecane fantom DS trail, Kindshock (KS) Axis coil shock, Marzocchi AM1 fork, FSA v-drive crank and BB, FSA DH pro headset, hayes hydraulic brakes with 8" rotors.
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Submitted by
mswartz67
a Cross Country Rider
from Narberth, PA, USA
Date Reviewed: May 13, 2009
Strengths: Big Value for the dollars. Durable and well made. Full suspension is very nice espcailly now that I am 41. Riding for one year and no real issues. Tora Shock is good for my level of riding single track. Overall I love my bike and the 500-700 dollar savings is great. Great mid to entry level bike.
Weaknesses: Bent a spoke about 6 months in when I had a pretty bad crash and buised my ribs. Bike is a bit heavy.
Bottom Line:
Big Value for the buck. I set out to buy a MTB because I wanted to get into the sport. I wanted as much MTB for 1000.00 or less. OVerall I searched my LBS and they could not touch anything under 1500-2000 with the same components...ie Specialized, Trek and others. I would not be afraid to purchase a bike from BD just because they are an online outfit. IF you are a littel handy you can have the bike set up in as little as an 1.5 hours or you can just take it down to the LBS and pay them to put it together. After riding it for a year I would say that it is a great Bike! I have no complaints and will buy again from them if I decide to buy a 29er or upgrade to a higher level bike.
Similar Products Used: Trek and Specialized MTB's on the low end
Bike Setup: Stock except for Crank Brothers Candy Pedals, and Peaty Aluminum lock grips. Looking to add a beffier Wheel set.
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Submitted by
rsharp
a Cross Country Rider
from Long Beach, CA USA
Date Reviewed: February 22, 2009
Strengths: Good components at a cheap price!! But still needs upgrades!!
Weaknesses: Stem to long brakes are weak feel very spongy and very LOUD !! Avid juicy 3's!! Fork is heavy and isn,t very good and the rear shock is very harsh!!!
Bottom Line:
This is a very good bike for the price if you are just getting into mountain biking. The forks, shock and brakes need to be replaced ASAP. but this bike handles very well in all situations! Carves turns nicely with the new forks and tires. Handles downhills nice too with the suspension upgrades!! Marzocchi are really nice!! All in all this is a great bike for the rider who is looking to get into riding without spending alot of money out of the gate!! I am pleased with the bike but already want a new bike as I believe it is time to move to something nicer!! I am 6'1" 225 lbs and ride this bike hard as I can and it has taken all I have thrown at it so far!! either will get new bike or do a few more upgrades first!!
Bike Setup: Ritchy short stem w/ Easton Monkey lite Hi-Rise bars, Avid Elixir CR brakes, Marzocchi 44 ATA Forks, And ROCO Air 3PL rear shock! Specialized 2.3 tires.
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Submitted by
DAS2009
a Weekend Warrior
from Burke, VA
Date Reviewed: October 28, 2008
Strengths: Great price. Frame. Component list (for the price)
Weaknesses: A little heavy. Pedals were terrible. None of the help you get from a local bike shop purchase.
Bottom Line:
It was a hard decision to buy a $1000.00 bike online without a test ride. It was a risk I am glad I took. My experience with the Motobecane has been outstanding.
The bike climbs like a champ. I hit the lockout on the rear shock and go up just about anything. I can even stand up on the pedals, and the bike maintains traction.
On the downhills, the only thing holding the bike back is my nerve. I have the suspension set at 130mm up front and 5 inches in the rear. The brakes perform well. I have only smoked them up one time, and that was on a scary creek bed downhill at Big Bear. (I have to admit I was being chicken and I used way too much front brake on that one.)
The bike holds a tight line and is predictable in turns. Once again, as my skill level increases the bike seems to get better. Hmmm.
The frame has been bullet proof. I weigh 200 lbs and ride this bike harder every day. It handles jumps (about 3' high), logs and rock gardens with no problems. The suspension allows me to blast through rock gardens and root gardens with confidence.
Ok, this is not a Motobecane advertisement. Not all is perfect. The bike is a little heavy. I do not know the exact weight, but by comparison it is heavier than a few of my friend's rides (Rocky Mountain / Specialized). The culprit of the bike's heft is its' components not the frame. For example, the Tora shock weighs over 5 lbs on its own. An upgrade to the fork and a switch from Ritchey Comp parts to Ritchey WCS parts would probably make this bike alot more svelte.
I switched the rear derailluer from XT to XTR. That move, along with the addition of Gore cables has made the shifting perfect. I changed the Panaracer tires from the 60 TPI Taiwan made ones to the 120 TPI Japanese made. And yes, there is a difference. The pedals, which came with the bike are just bad. Do not even put them on the bike for one ride. Buy your own (I like the Crank Bros Acid).
This is a great bike for the money. The Motobecane allows budget minded riders to hit the trails on a quality ride. Buy it, ride it, upgrade the parts when you can afford it.
