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Motobecane
Fantom Comp DS
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Average Rating
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4.06/5
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# of Reviews
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16
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MSRP
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$ 1395.00
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Weight
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More Products from Motobecane
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Description:
- TripleActive 4bar Double-butted 7005SL Aluminum frame
- RockShox Pilot XC Fork 100mm
- SID Bar Air 3/4/5" Adjustable Travel RR
- ProMax PowerLevers
- ProMax PowerDisc brakes
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Submitted by
John D
a Weekend Warrior
from Crestone
Date Reviewed: May 28, 2008 | | Favoriate Trail: | Local Secret | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$999.00 | | Purchased At: | Bikesdirect | | Strengths: | Great components and bike for the price. Couldn't find a better deal with the quality of components included, even a used bike was more. Handles great and tackles the singletrack like a champ. Uphill and downhill I found this bike to perform very well. Very happy with this bike | | Weaknesses: | Heavy weighed in at 35lbs. Not sure what comparable bikes weigh. Paint scratches easily. Cables have worn scuff marks into the paint after a couple days of use. A quick release for the seat would be nice. Haven't found any other weaknesses so far. | | Similar Products Used: | Rocky Mtn Element 10, Kona Dawg | | Bike Setup: | Switched out the tires and pedals but otherwise stock. | | Bottom Line: | Great bike for the price!! | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Max
a
from larchmont, ny
Date Reviewed: November 3, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | the one that has everything | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$500.00 | | Purchased At: | ebay (500 for frame) | | Strengths: | the frame welding is nice-i am pretty light, but i am still tough on the bike. i do three to five foot jumps and land flat and the bike is still in great condidtion. rides well, a little bob, about as much as a kona (my dad has one) | | Weaknesses: | little heavy, but that is mainly components, the actual frame isnt a monster. fork i came with broke on me, first lockout then rebound and everything else, am upgrading it. they dont tell you which holes on the rocker are fo which travel setting, i had to use math reosoning to get mine in the five position. | | Similar Products Used: | old trek hardtai, no comparison | | Bike Setup: | going to be a fox talas rlc, lx read shifter, deore shifters, avid bb7 2007, hone crank and shifter, mavic wheels, stock every thing else. | | Bottom Line: | great bike for the money, and ii need it, im still in high school. for the money i can ride the same trails almost as well (skill, not bike) as guys with sc nomads, blurs, konas, and gt's. i am glad i got the frame and built it up, it costs more-im going to wind up speding about 1500 and change on parts, but being able to customize it is worth it five chilis for value, great frame, okay parts, at least the fork and shock. overall, 4 bcause of the rear adjustibility, but that could just be me. you should buy it if your looking for a deal on a good bike, and a strong bike. you shouldnt if your looking to win races or have a light bike. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Errold Tuley
a
from utah
Date Reviewed: October 3, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | great western | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$859.00 | | Purchased At: | bikes direct | | Strengths: | This bike has so many strength is hard to list them all. Full bearing pivots on the rear adjustable 3 to 5", ario 2.2 rear shock, tora u-turn 3 to 5",xt components, wtb wheel set, Ritchey head set, BB5 breaks. HIGHLY ADJUSTALBLE RIDE ANGLE! This bike has a very ridged rear and at 32# isn't the heaviest. | | Weaknesses: | None really. | | Similar Products Used: | specialized demo, gary fisher | | Bike Setup: | setup one "stock) Ario 2.2/lockout, tora uturn 3 to 5 inch 289s
setup 2 monitou travis 170mm forks, monitou swinger coil over rear. | | Bottom Line: | I changed the spring from the stock to an extra firm because I'm 6'2 210. I ride the rear shock at 5" and 205psi. THIS BIKE ROCKS Its ride is very adjustable when you lock out the rear shock it tops out if you combind this with turning the front down to 3" it climbs like a demon on fire yet it can soak up hits with plushness when set at 5@5 on the flats and downs! This bike has everything and more than most people will ever need! True it doesn't have " top of the top " parts but nothing is anywere near bottom line eather! I couldn't be more satisfied. However I did get another setup for the frame. I do alot of cross country riding which the stock setup is great for But I also do alot of resort down hilling and urban assault so I set it up with travis forks and a swinger coil rear shock. This setup fully rocks! One word MOTOBECANE! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
James OMalley
a Downhiller
from Foster City, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: August 23, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | Water Dog | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$895.00 | | Purchased At: | www.bikesdirect.com | | Strengths: | Value. Bang for your buck. This bike is awesome for the average Joe Shmoe as well as advanced riders. Strengths are relative to ones experience level. One thing to keep in mind is that most people aren't the experts or harda**es they think they are. | | Weaknesses: | The bike weighs a lot. I can attest that it does weigh about 34 lbs. One can easily cut about 6 lbs of this with elite part replacements at a blowout sale through Performance, Jenson, or Nashbar for under 200 bucks. Again, weaknesses are relative to rider experience. | | Similar Products Used: | Several Iron Horse models, GT, Specialized, Trek, Marin, Kona, Santa Cruz ranging from hardcore downhill, freeride, and cross country models. | | Bike Setup: | I have had my bike for 3 days and have already replaced the pedals, the chain, and the seatpost. This was the minimum I had to do before I tested it out. Those three parts cost me a total of 100 bucks. Easton Post, SRAM 9 speed Chain. BMX/Freeride pedals. | | Bottom Line: | I'm no expert but I have bent a few frames, broken a couple forks, and been through a dozen wheelsets from low quality to top. Overall, this bike is the best bang for you buck for the price. It's strong and well built and easily upgraded into a monster. I don't care about famous names as much as I do performance. Similarly priced setups from GT, Specialized, Iron Horse have lower quality build kits and ride even crappier. What the inquiring buyer needs to keep in mind is value when making this purchase. Others have mentioned, and I agree, that with a minimum of $300 and some simple online research, one can find great upgrades and transform this bike into somethin pretty hardcore. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Casey
a Cross Country Rider
from Cupertino
Date Reviewed: March 26, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | Skeggs | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$895.00 | | Purchased At: | http://www.bikesdirect.com/ | | Strengths: | One is that it is a 4 Link or as they say Multi Link. The frame is welded extremely well. Most likely the same manufacture of Giant frames and many others. It comes with XT rear Derailleur, WTB Wheelset, Panracer fires, Heavy but durable Truvativ IsoFlow cranks, Lockable Ario 2.2 rear shock, Available poploc for the RockShox's front and rear. Very Much a XC bike it takes uphills pretty well soaking up bumps well. | | Weaknesses: | Now for the bad; Weight is a killer and this has a lot of it, weighting in a a hefty 34 lbs, Front RockShoxs have to go. You can make them work by changing spring rate and adding a poploc for climbing. But this doesn't help how much it weights 5.6 lbs, get a Manitou, Fox, Marzocchi, something in the 4 pound range that you can adjust with air, sping, and fork oil. Buy a new chain KMC are pretty weak I've already stretched the KMC by 3mm. Pay the money and get a Shimano Ultegra/XT chain. The crank rings are a steel, If you want to save some weight race face crank rings are relatively inexpensive replacements. Richey seat post is weak, I replaced that after first ride with a Sette 7. Same with the WTB seat replaced with a Velo race Sette 7. | | Similar Products Used: | Gary Fisher Sugar 2 +, Specialized FSR, Specialized Stumpjumer, Custom made XC Hard tail. | | Bike Setup: | For now until I start braking parts, Just added a new seat post, seat, 8" rotors, poploc for front shock, heavier spring for fork. Chris king head set. | | Bottom Line: | Decent bike for the money. If you don't know to much about how to tune a bike I would take it to a local bike shop that you trust and have them tune it and adjust the bike to your body height etc.... I would say after replacing the the fork, Cassette, crank rings, and maybe the wheel set. You'll be looking at a pretty nice XC rig it's a great platform to start with. This is a great bike if you don't have the money to spend on a $1700 and up mountain bike. | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
AJ
a Cross Country Rider
from Michigan
Date Reviewed: January 29, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | local ski area | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$895.00 | | Purchased At: | bikesdirect.com | | Strengths: | Frame design similar to Turner, i.e. “faux bar” to avoid paying for patented “Horst link”. There is great debate over the differences (if any) in ride quality. I have ridden various 4-bar brands/designs and personally cannot tell the difference. | | Weaknesses: | Poor build quality (i.e. the way the parts are put together, not the frame/welding, that's fine)
Cheap parts=heavy, especially front fork, bottom bracket/crankset. | | Similar Products Used: | Kona Kikapu, Trek fuel, Specialized FSR | | Bike Setup: | Manitou R7 fork, avid roundagon rotors, xpedo pedals, LX HollowtechII BB/cranks, non-rapid rise XT derailleur, old flight saddle, Cane Creek S3 headset. | | Bottom Line: | I've owned this bike going on 18 months. This bike is a good value if you can build and work on your own bike (otherwise you will be paying your LBS to rebuild/put it together properly in the beginning). You should plan on spending some additional money on a decent fork, headset, pedals, chain, disc rotors. The actual frame is well made with good welds, and aside from a thin easily scratched paint job, is worth upgrading.
My experience with bikesdirect customer service was at best difficult. My bike was in sub-par shape even for a boxed “dealer ready” bike.
I couldn't come close to this price on a similar spec'd bike locally, so I gambled and ordered online. Free shipping, no sales tax, arrived quickly. It came in silver, but was severely scratched on the downtube (box had tears and holes in it, looked like it was handled roughly, probably from shipping from overseas or storage in a warehouse in Texas?, not UPS). I sent the bike back through considerable effort on my part (bikesdirect customer service/returns gets a D-/F+ from me, I had to go through a number of emails and calls which initially weren't returned, plus file a report with UPS). So by the time they get the first bike back, they are out of my size in silver, so I was sent a replacement in orange (I don’t mind the color though).
Even the new bike had some scuffs (paint is thin and easy to scratch) from being boxed and the derailleur hanger was mildly bent, but easily straightened. After I set it up, I noticed binding in the headset, it was pressed in crooked. The Ritchey Scuzzy Logic headset wasn’t very good quality (not a true sealed cartridge headset) to begin with, so I replaced with a cane creek S3. I also replaced the low (ab)normal rapid rise XT derailleur with my old XT high normal derailleur. I also used my old pedals. The stock VP pedals were horrible, didn’t plan to use them and couldn’t because one was roughly threaded and would have ruined the threads in the crank if installed (without rethreading the pedal). The KMC chain is low quality and was replaced with an SRAM. The WTB saddle is heavy and too wide for me, so used my old saddle. Once set up brakes worked fine for me, but rotors were warped and could not be adjusted without some rub(seems to be a common problem). I eventually replaced with new avid rotors, no more rubbing and I really have no reason to upgrade the brakes.
In stock form, the bike is heavy (my large 20” was at least 33 pounds before replacing parts). The Ario shock works fine for me. I did notice the Judy SL fork is extremely heavy, at over 5 pounds, felt like I had an anchor tied to the front end, so after a year I replaced with a Manitou R7 comp which shed 2 pounds. I had no trouble with the truvativ crank and bottom bracket (other than the square taper BB and cranks with steel rings are heavy), but just replaced/upgraded to LX Hollowtech II, which also shed weight. I ride in a wet, muddy and sandy environment and the WTB hubs are not sealed well, so frequent hub bearing overhauls are required. The front and rear hub bearings came out rusty last time, so I had to replace all the balls. Next upgrade will be a new wheelset. Bike weighs about 29 pounds now. New wheelset with lighter tires/tubes and carbon seatpost/bars should get close to 27 pounds.
4 chili ("great") value (not 5 because some value is lost when factoring in required upgrades and service/build). Only 2 chilis ("fair") overall due to poor customer service, bike build quality issues, thin paintjob, and some cheap low quality heavy parts (but these are expected on a <$1000 bike). I like the bike now, but I probably wouldn't buy a Motobecane again based on my experience with bikesdirect customer service (I'm sticking with the LBS from now on). | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tyler Matney
a Racer
from Mesa, AZ
Date Reviewed: September 1, 2006 | | Favoriate Trail: | ARIZONA!!! | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$995.00 | | Purchased At: | Cycle Spectrum | | Strengths: | GREAT PRICE! Decent components, easily upgradable, something different than everyone else has, and BRIGHT ORANGE to boot! | | Weaknesses: | Pedals are worthless, rear shock (ario 2) blew out on day one (was replaced at no cost with the upgraded Ario 2.2), right shifter part feel apart during a race (I probably should have gone over the whole bike when it was new to tighten everything). Stock chain should go in the same garbage can as the pedals. | | Similar Products Used: | Specialized FSR | | Bike Setup: | Upgraded pedals to Shimano SPD, Upgraded rear shock to Ario 2.2, upgraded chain to LX, upgraded shifter pods to XT, and add quick release set post clamp | | Bottom Line: | You can't get a better bike for the price tag. I have about 300 miles of ABUSE on mine, and all that really was bad was the chain and shifter pods. I made the upgrades listed above and am in love with the bike. I will ride it until it falls apart, hopefully many years down the road. In the works for future upgrades are the brakes and that's it. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bob
a Cross Country Rider
from Frederick, MD, USA
Date Reviewed: July 24, 2006 | | Favoriate Trail: | Schaeffer Farm Trails | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$895.00 | | Purchased At: | bikesdirect.com | | Strengths: | Price, decent quality components | | Weaknesses: | Weight, initial assembly, pedals | | Similar Products Used: | Jamis Dakar | | Bike Setup: | Stock, except for pedals | | Bottom Line: | So far, I really like this bike. I haven't had any problems after several very hard rides. I did take it to the LBS for a tune up since I ordered the bike online and it came partially assembled. They got it all dialed in, trued the wheels, and gave it a good going over. I hated the stock pedals that came with the bike, and switched them after the first ride. This is my first full suspension bike, and I thought I would have trouble on the climbs, but that is not the case. In fact, I seem to be climbing better since I can stay seated overs the roots and rocks while climbing. The suspension seems to smooth out all but the biggest bumps. I don't think you can go wrong with this bike, considering the price. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tom
a Cross Country Rider
from Jacksonville
Date Reviewed: February 5, 2006 | | Favoriate Trail: | Santos Ant Hill Racetrack etc... | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$800.00 | | Purchased At: | Cycle Spectrum | | Strengths: | Cannot be beat for the money! A very easy to carve bike right from the get-go. Very easy on your back compared to mey hardtails. Free service for life baby from some of the nicest guys I have met in a LBS (cycle Spectrum) | | Weaknesses: | The stock pedals (half platform half knock-off SPD ) The wheels are a little easy to knock out of round (probably could have avoided this by having them tensioned correctly before riding?). The promax brakes suck! They are anti-lock for sure! Actually, they require the hand strenth of a pro arm wrestler to slow the bike. | | Similar Products Used: | Gary Fisher Paragon--Motebecane Fly 9357 (a rocket!) a bunch of others | | Bike Setup: | Replaced the Pilot fork with a Manitou Firefly and have loved it (though I must say that the Pilot was really pretty nice-just worried about thrashing it) Replaced the brakes with Avid BB7's (from bikesdirect's ebay sight $64.99) Huge improvement for a little cash. | | Bottom Line: | The bike rocks. The guys at Cycle Spectrum rock. REPLACE THE BRAKES! I bought a 16" frame at 5' 9" tall and have been very glad I did. The bike eats corners. I have had no problems with the LX components compared to my XTR and SRAM 9.0. The frame still looks great. I wrapped the chain stay and the cables where they meet the frame. I am not convinced that the frame can handle large drops, but I know that my 42 yearold body can't so it's not a problem. Still, I can cover ground faster than most of the guys on high dollar stuff! Buy one a nd make a few upgrades, You'll still have money left over compared to even a modest Santa Cruz budget.
Screw conformity. Buy something that delivers more than it promises.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Thomas Furfaro
a Weekend Warrior
from Lehigh Acres, FL
Date Reviewed: December 15, 2005 | | Favoriate Trail: | CRP Northside, Alva FL | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$995.00 | | Purchased At: | www.bikesdirect.com | | Strengths: | light, high-quality components, high-quality frame... love this bike... | | Weaknesses: | rear shock (Rock Shox Ario w/ Lockout) has iffy performance, but may be user error??? | | Similar Products Used: | Roadmaster POS | | Bike Setup: | Stock Motobecane Fantom Comp DS | | Bottom Line: | I'm a newbie to the MTB scene... Have been road riding for a year or so. I love this bike. The first time I took it on a trail, I was completely satisfied with the bike. As I haven't ridden many other MTB's, that might not say much, but regardless... It's light enough that I can move really fast down the trail, but with enough umpff to tackle decent descents and climbs... Awesome buy... If you were to build a bike from parts, you wouldn't be able to touch this price... The deore build kit alone is equivalent to this whole bike... I love it!!! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Cracker
a Weekend Warrior
from Whitefish Bay, WI, USA
Date Reviewed: October 4, 2005 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$500.00 | | Purchased At: | Ebay | | Strengths: | Really great build, sturdy, fantastic value | | Weaknesses: | paint is weak and easily scratched or worn off by cables | | Similar Products Used: | first full suspension, also ride a 2004 GF Tass | | Bike Setup: | Rock Shox Psylo, XT derailleurs, sram 8 speed casette, truvative cranks 32/11 chain rings, bontrager seat post, WTB speed V saddle (best fit ever), Alex M18 wheels, WTB velociraptor tires, Riche headset and stem, hayes 6" mech disc brakes, shimano shifters | | Bottom Line: | I bought the frame on Ebay for 200 bucks, and added everything else for the remainder of the cost. In its base configuration you'll want to upgrade the spring in the pilot fork and get some clipless pedals- otherwise laugh all the way to the bank. The ride is great, it handles like its on rails. I would reccomend at least 220 lbs of pressure in the rock shox bar (I weigh 215 lbs)- and you can expect that it will climb without issue. Its particularly easy to lift the front end over obstacles. I have always been annoyed by the cost of frames from "upscale" manufactures. I can see the value in components, but frames from Ellsworth, Yeti, Santa Cruz etc are just ridiculously expensive. These manufacturers hold no special secrets, they just spend their time trying to reinvent the perception of the suspension paradigm each year and string us all along like a bunch of pathetic hedonists in search of the cache of the latest thang. I say we shut them all down and buy MOTOBECANE - it's a great bike and it costs less than a grand. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Clinton
a Weekend Warrior
from Jacksonville, FL
Date Reviewed: July 6, 2005 | | Favoriate Trail: | Hanna Park | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$895.00 | | Purchased At: | Bikes Direct | | Strengths: | price, rear suspension adjustability | | Weaknesses: | Brakes squeak and rattle. Take awhile to break in. Seat post needs quick release. | | Similar Products Used: | Mongoose | | Bike Setup: | rear shock set at the rear most hole. | | Bottom Line: | Lowered the bike. Gets around corners alot better. Have had the front rim and the derailer replaced. Shattered both of them out on the trail. Great bike for the money. Does not ride as nice as a Trek or a Gary Fisher but a good starter bike. I' ll pound this bike untill I can justify replacing the whole bike. Till then see you on the trail. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mike Vosk
a Cross Country Rider
from Las Vegas, NV, USA
Date Reviewed: May 31, 2005 | | Favoriate Trail: | Bootleg Canyon | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$895.00 | | Purchased At: | bikesdirect.com | | Strengths: | Performance vs cost | | Weaknesses: | Promax brakes | | Similar Products Used: | Trek Y22, Trek Fuel 90, various HT and rigid bikes over the years. | | Bike Setup: | Stock so far (upgraded brakes soon) | | Bottom Line: | I was a little hesitant to order an unknown bike from an unknown (at least to me) online dealer. However, I was pleasantly surprised with the bike and the dealer. The bike rides great! The Deore drive train works well and shifts clean. The Pilot front shock works well though it is under sprung for even my weight (160 lbs), I will have go to a heavier spring. The rear suspension is currently set at 4" and works very smoothly. I didn't really expect much from the BAR rear shock but I find it perfoms well. I miss having the rebound adjust though so I will be changing it out with my AD-10, otherwise I would just leave it since it performs fine. The frame quality is good enough and better than expected for the price. Comparing it to my friends Trek Fuel 90, the quality of some of the welds and suspension components (like the rocker arm) are not up to the Trek standards. Then again, he is riding with a much lighter wallet than I am. This is not a Trek, but is is far from a WalMart bike too. The quality of the components is much better than most bikes in this price range. It seems to me that a lot of bikes skimp on things like seatpost, stem, bars, wheels. The Fantom uses decent Ritchey and WTB components there, no reason to change them unless you are a real weight weenie. Stock, it is not the lightest bike out there (31 lbs for my 18" bike) but with some upgrades it could still be sub 30 for around 1K. I think this is a great bike and great value for the recreational XC rider. The only bad thing I can say about it is that the Promax brakes are worthless. They are poorly aligned and required filing of the casting to even get them to go over the rotor. There is not much adjustability and a lot of play in the mechanism. They don't seem to stay adjusted but I guess they do work, just not great. Bikesdirect was a good experience as well. They are quick to answer questions and the bike was on it's way the next day.
High marks for "bang for the buck". If you don't want to spend much but need a bike that performs, give this serious consideration.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ben
a Cross Country Rider
from Fremont, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: April 15, 2005 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$495.00 | | Purchased At: | www.bikesdirect.com | | Strengths: | Adjustable rear travel, price, quality and weight. | | Weaknesses: | Not a boutique name people would know. | | Similar Products Used: | Trek Fuel, Giant NRS, Sycip Custom Full-Suspension, Klein Attitude, Several Ventana Full-Suspensions | | Bike Setup: | Rock Shox Pilot XC, Bar Air Rear Shock, Mix of Sram and Shimano XTR parts plus Avid mechanical disc brakes and Sun Rhyno Lite wheelset. | | Bottom Line: | The quality of the frame which included the front, rear shocks and Ritchey seatpost, stem and headset was a great value. Comparing it to other bikes that I have owned or demoed, it is right up there with the high-priced mountain bikes over $1500-$2000. The frame design is similar to those found on Ventana with 3, 4, or 5 inches of rear travel. Very plush and active without robbing you of your power. Lateral stiffness is very high and helps you carve turns with the best of them. Also, the suspension set at 4" is very well balanced and plush. It can take a big hit without bottoming out. With my mix of Sram and Shimano XTR parts, my 16" frame bike weighs 27.5 lbs. Not exactly the lightest I have ever used but certainly one of the most comfortable and easiest to control. I may not use this to race with but I would certainly use it as my daily rider for exercise at my local trail. I feel you receive Ventana quality on a beer budget. Ordering was easy as well as tracking during shipping. Highly recommended | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Neal
a Weekend Warrior
from Boston, MA, USA
Date Reviewed: October 6, 2004 | | Favoriate Trail: | Great Brook | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$895.00 | | Purchased At: | BikesDirect | | Strengths: | Excellent climber, which was a concern for me when swithching to full suspension. I am big guy(6'3" 250) and I didn't know how FS would be but I am completely coverted. | | Weaknesses: | The stock chain is garbage and so were the pedals. | | Bike Setup: | Switched the rear derailleur and shifters to SRAM XO and switched the chain to SRAM PC-99. I would never use Shimano again. Changed the pedals to Egg beaters and replaced the stock fork(rock shox Judy) with marzocchi z.2 atom 80. Everything else is stock. I love this setup! | | Bottom Line: | This is a great bike. I definitely abuse it and it takes everything that I give it. Each weekend I get out I like it more and more. If you enjoy aggressive cross country riding with some small "freeriding" this bike will be a great fit for you. I ride the 20" frame and love it. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Kevin
a Cross Country Rider
from Pittsburgh
Date Reviewed: October 6, 2004 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$900.00 | | Purchased At: | bikesdirect | | Strengths: | Great value. Compared this to many other bikes and it would be hard to beat. Rides as smooth as any of my friends 2k bikes. I wanted a solid month to really give it everything I could and it has taken it wonderfully. Havent had a single issue with it yet. Going from a rigid to FS was a big change and I love being able to change the rear suspension to something that feels more like a hardtail. The ride is so plush with the travel at max in the rear it is kinda rough getting back on the road bike. (maybe it will convert me fully to off road) It has really taken some serious hits up front and gone right through/over just about everything. Great wheelset that has stayed perfectly true. Brakes were easy to set up and adjust- much better than any rim brakes I have used. Frame is super solid and will be easy to upgrade if and when needed down the line | | Weaknesses: | Pedals that came with it suck. They are garbage so plan on getting a new set. At first I thought I would like the pedals with SPD on one side and flats on the other but they are a pain. Much prefer to be clipped in than to be fumbling around trying to flip the pedal. New set of eggs for this bike on the way........ Probably need a bash guard until I am better at jumping the big logs (my fault, not the bikes fault). Would have been nice to have a quick release seat post but cheap enough to replace. | | Similar Products Used: | Marin, Cannondale, Schwinn | | Bike Setup: | Stock so far except for pedals, added mud guards. Lights on the way for fall riding | | Bottom Line: | Great FS for under a grand. After looking and testing just about everything I could in this price range, I am very pleased and would certainly do it again. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
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