this was a new build with a few old parts from the old bike, and i love the frame. It was a steal on ebay. A nice combination of lite weight and rigidity. I woulf highly recommend this to anyone and it has never let me down. A++++ frame with A++++ quality. Get yours today
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
deschedr
a Cross Country Rider
from Dhahran, Saudi Arabia Date Reviewed: September 11, 2009
Kenda Klimax tires only good for hardpack. Saddle sucks (not comfortable and you slip on the seat).
Similar Products Used:
Multiple MTBs
Bike Setup:
Stock except: added XT Pedals, replaced saddle with Fizik Gobi,replaced cass with XT 11-32T, replaced tires with Kenda Nevegals.
Bottom Line:
Have ridden 800+ miles and done 3 XC races on this bike. The bike has performed well. No issues other than the seat was slipping in the seat post. Put some loctite on the rails and it's held up fine. Using Ghetto setup for the tires. This is a very good hardtail for XC racing. You can't beat the price. I plan to use this bike for the 2010 Cape Epic race in South Africa.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
fender1983
a Weekend Warrior
from Detroit, MI, USA Date Reviewed: October 19, 2008
Favorite Trail:
Stoney Creek
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$17000.00
Purchased At:
Bikesdirect
Strengths:
Light, fast, affordable.
Weaknesses:
I would suggest to change 11-27 cassette if you heavy rider and ride singletracks..
Great bike for it's money. I went to stores, but I cound find any bike with XTR components that cost less then $2000. I had this bike since June and never had any problems. I am heavy rider and bike seems to be pretty strong.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Rick Moore
a Cross Country Rider
from Iron Mountain, MI Date Reviewed: November 23, 2007
Favorite Trail:
Fumee
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Price Paid:
$1495.00
Purchased At:
Bikesdirect
Strengths:
Super light weight, great component spec, great value!
Weaknesses:
None yet!
Similar Products Used:
Specialize, GT, Trek, Schwinn
Bike Setup:
Stock except for Twister Supersonic tires, Egg Beater Pedals, and Cane Creek Thudbuster ST Seatpost
Bottom Line:
Great bike for the money. Bike took about 30 minutes to get it set up. Once dialed in I have not had any problems. I have about 1,000 miles on the bike so far, bike weighed in at 20.8 LBs with the egg beaters. XTR and Avid are very good! Wheels are Vuelta and have held up very well. A great deal!
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Andrew
a Weekend Warrior
from Escondido Date Reviewed: July 27, 2007
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$1695.00
Purchased At:
Bikesdirect
Strengths:
Price,Price,Price.After 3 weeks of intense research I had to buy this Team Fly bike. All components are at high end with nothing close to it for another $1000 bucks.
Weaknesses:
Nothing yet. Still works like new.
Similar Products Used:
Old Haro.
Bike Setup:
All stock except some egg beaters.
Bottom Line:
Great Valve with great components. Avid Juicy Carbon breaks, Shimano XTR,RockShox SID Race,FSA Carbon Pro Team Issue crank. The list is large. Go to the web site and check it out. I have been on the bike for about 400 hrs with no major issues.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Steve Sohn
a Weekend Warrior
from Fountain Valley, CA Date Reviewed: June 8, 2007
Favorite Trail:
any routes along the beach
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$1600.00
Purchased At:
Bikes Direct
Strengths:
This bike is an amazing value. After checking many places, there was NO other hardtail bike that came with the XTR front and rear derailers, XTR trigger shifters, Avid Juicy Carbon DISC brakes and FSA Carbon Team Issue cranks - All for $1600. A very fast and light bike that I would recommend to anyone. Most of my impression on this bike has been from riding on asphalt (bike routes along the beach where I live).
Weaknesses:
The bike comes 90 percent assembled at the factory but you will want to have someone competent with bikes to check over the assembly. My bike showed up with a loose bottom bracket and rear disk brake line was not completely routed correctly to the rear brakes. The brake and derailer housing was also a bit on on long side. Besides these minor weaknesses, the bike exhibited no other weaknesses.
Similar Products Used:
Kestrel Talon (road bike), GT Avalanche, GT LTS-5
Bike Setup:
Stock except for USE Alien carbon seat post and carbon handlebar.
Bottom Line:
One of the best deals on a hardtail.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Steve
a Weekend Warrior
from Seville, Ohio Date Reviewed: September 6, 2006
Favorite Trail:
Thorn Trail, Finley State Park
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Purchased At:
Bikes For Less
Strengths:
Purchased as frameset w/fork(SID), headset(FSA), stem and seatpost(MotoWings). A superlite, solid, non flexing frame, that has excellent geometry for singletrack xc trail riding. It truly flies and handles so sweet at any speed!
Weaknesses:
Aluminum frame, some jolts from rear wheel truly spine jarring, spend more time up on pedals than with a steel frame. SID Race fork, I'm probaly to heavy, 260 lb over the road trucker, fork compresses excessively at bottom of steep downhills, havent been able to get it dialed in for this 1 issue, probaly go to suspension corrected rigid fork. MotoWings stem and post very light and adequate, but replaced with Thompson Elite because of my weight.
Similar Products Used:
Early 80's homebrew MTB on Schwinn Supersport frame, early Tange MTB fork, Mafac tandem canti's, Nervar road bike alloy crank mounted in OMAS BB shell adapter, Suntour Perfect 34 tooth freewheel, Normandy hubs, Arraya alloy rims, Union straight gauge spokes, Atom alloy pedals, Suntour barends, Huret derailluers, SR stem/post, Walmart knobbies.
Was very intrigued by the other reviews posted about this product, but concerned about the lightness and durability of components on complete bike as it was offered. I am also not a big fan of Shimano. Because of these issues i elected to buy the frameset and do my own build. I have to say I am very happy with the results. They got the geometry dead on perfect for the type of riding i enjoy, slow to fast twisting turning single track on clay with roots and trees spaced handlebar width apart. I weigh 260 lbs, and while i dont do any big drops or jumps, I dont see how i'd ever hurt this frame, quality tubing(Kinesium), absolutely beautiful welds, and deep pearly blue paint. The fork(RockShox SID Race) is a different matter, it is simply adequate, not a outstanding performer. Have worked very hard at getting it "dialed in". Works great on rolling flats and log jumps, pur e terror at bottom of steep hills at speed when it compresses excessively and bikes geometry changes.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
K-Lo
a Cross Country Rider
from Newport Beach, CA Date Reviewed: April 27, 2006
Favorite Trail:
Alisio Viejo
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Purchased At:
1600
Strengths:
The components are amazing for the price: Full XTR / FSA Crankset, SID RACE fork, FSA headset, AVID 7 digit brakes..... when you put it all together it is a super light racer..... One of the best features: The Motobecane Decals PEEL RIGHT OFF!!!.... just take a hair dryer to the stickers and peel them off. Not to hate on Motobecane..... but I love the look of a clean Mountain Bike (or any bike) with no decals. The Blue is very nice..... once you peel off the decals the look of the bike with all of the high end components is DREAMY....
Weaknesses:
I haven't seen a weakness yet. The stock tires are thin, but awesome for speed. The largest tooth on the rear is 27.... with the thiner tires this is ideal for me.... this is a XC racer.... if you want a 34 tooth in the rear you might as well put the bike on your shoulder and run with it up a hill, it would be faster.... I'm not trying to be macho... if you want to put thicker tires on it maybe a cog larger than 27 in the rear would be nice.... I haven't tried thicker tires.
Similar Products Used:
Trek, Specialized
Bike Setup:
all stock, except: crank bro pedals and changed the seat
Bottom Line:
I'm so happy with this bike. The components are SWEET and it is so light......I was going to get it powder coated, but now that I realized I could peel off the decals I'm not. $1600, Full XTR, FSA carbon crank, SID RACE fork.... you do the math.... I would give it 6 chilis for value if I could. How much do you have to spend to get a hard tail Trek with XTR??? We're talking $1600, amazing.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Andrew
a Racer
from pa Date Reviewed: April 23, 2006
Favorite Trail:
french creek
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$1600.00
Purchased At:
bikes direct
Strengths:
well theres no doubt that im in love with this bike i just raced it yesterday, it was raining hard the whole time, about two inches of mud and in the hand out it said that out of the nine mile corse 90% of it contained rocks (i am still using the stock tires)i swear those other people dont know what they are talking about with the rear wheel sliping in high toruqe conditions i say oh bull because it sliped when i was on a huge rock garden up hill and what tire wouldent? and if you find one please email me and send me it.
Weaknesses:
nothing
Similar Products Used:
raleigh m80
Bike Setup:
stock except carbon fiber bar ends and egg beater petals
Bottom Line:
dude, if you need racing wheels than grab your credet card and order one of these trust me its worth it i like it so much that im reviewing it twice
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Andrew
a Racer
from Schwenksville Date Reviewed: March 8, 2006
Favorite Trail:
most likely french creek
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$1600.00
Purchased At:
bikes direct!
Strengths:
well to start off with, this bike is so damn light after racing a 32 pound beast for a whole seson and i plan to kick some major booty and thats all because i feel like im on a dirt bike fly'n up those hills (pun intended)
Weaknesses:
now the cables on this badboy are kinda ify..i alredy had to get some replaced but other than that all that parts are top-notch.
Similar Products Used:
Raleight m-80 (a really crappy piece of metal)
Bike Setup:
frame...wheels...fork...and other stuff the bike came with.
Bottom Line:
well this bike has good parts that it says but all the things it cant name such as the cables suck but for the money its the best thing since sliced bread
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
cory rimmer
a Racer
from friendsville, tn Date Reviewed: March 5, 2006
Favorite Trail:
???
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$1500.00
Purchased At:
directbikes.com
Strengths:
light wieght,price,super fast
Weaknesses:
would not ride if you wieghted alot
Similar Products Used:
jamis,trek
Bike Setup:
stock
Bottom Line:
this bike rocks it is so fast this thing was made to be raced. i would not buy if you are a heavy rider.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Steve Ward
a Cross Country Rider
from Chehalis, WA USA Date Reviewed: August 19, 2005
Favorite Trail:
mt. molly
Duration Product Used:
1 Year
Price Paid:
$1300.00
Purchased At:
bikes direct
Strengths:
light, well equiped, handles harsh trails well.
Weaknesses:
Rear wheel slips in high torque situations
Similar Products Used:
Cannodale Cadd 3.
Bike Setup:
Team Fly, XTR, SID Race, Avid rim brakes, FSA Carbon Cranks
Bottom Line:
Great bike for the price, after I switched to the Mavic UST, the wheels did not slip out. I've done several races, including a 24 hour race (first place in the team category) and the bike did excellent. Would buy again, but the stock wheels are a bit suspect.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
chris
a Racer
from berkeley, ca Date Reviewed: September 2, 2004
Favorite Trail:
Butchers 2nd Divide, Downieville
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$1600.00
Purchased At:
bikesdirect
Strengths:
xtr gruppo with and fsr carbon crankset. Looks great with blue with white lettering.
Weaknesses:
bike not as light as claimed: was claimed as 19.8# w/out pedals. The 18" bike is 20.4# (yes i know, barely half-pound difference), 21.3# with Time atac pedals.
rear wheel clamp slips after hard riding. really annoying, but keeping a close eye and
Similar Products Used:
Kona Lavadome, re-buit. Schwinn Moab 3.
Bike Setup:
stock, Time atac pedals
Bottom Line:
want a pro level xc mtb race bike for under $2000? here it is. them stock Kenda tires are really light, 470 grams...so be careful on descends or get a more knobby tire. The discontinued 2.1 650 gram/per tire IRC Claw Comp Lite tires are fantastic mounted to this bike.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Paul
a Weekend Warrior
from Moscow Date Reviewed: July 20, 2004
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Purchased At:
1595.00
Strengths:
This is an incredibly light bike. It has a smooth, very responsive ride.
Weaknesses:
The bike come with an Ultegra 12/27 road cassette. Most riders will want to change this out in order to be able to climb on steeper trails. The tires are also better suited for roads and smooth smooth surfaces - they will need to be changed out for serious trail riding.
Bottom Line:
This bike is tough to beat for the money.... I tried several other bikes in this price range and there wasn't anything comparable.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
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