I'm looking for some advice. I need a new bike and have an old Gary Fisher Marlin (2001). Looking to upgrade bike, especially components. The motobecane has some bikes with XTR, XT an SLX components at a great price....the rest of the components look decent as well. Anyone have any legitimate info on motobecane?
Motobecane bikes @ bikes direct
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Motobecane, Windsor, Dawes, Mercier (road) sold on BikesDirect are all owned by BikesDirect and are made by Kinesis...mostly in Taiwan. Kinesis makes quality bikes for a lot of the mainstream brands and they are of equal quality. I picked up a Windsor 29er this summer from them and am quite happy with it.
Remember though, there is a trade-off when buying a bike online. The bikes come in "dealer ready" condition and take some good mechanical skills to assemble correctly. Of course you could pay a Bike Shop to do it, a good shop will not turn down a chance to earn a customer on service and accessories...even if you didn't buy the bike from them. You also don't get to test ride one unless you live near a Cycle Spectrum (also owned by BD).
But if your comfortable with the lack of test ride and service...they are good bikes that are well equipped for the money.
Remember though, there is a trade-off when buying a bike online. The bikes come in "dealer ready" condition and take some good mechanical skills to assemble correctly. Of course you could pay a Bike Shop to do it, a good shop will not turn down a chance to earn a customer on service and accessories...even if you didn't buy the bike from them. You also don't get to test ride one unless you live near a Cycle Spectrum (also owned by BD).
But if your comfortable with the lack of test ride and service...they are good bikes that are well equipped for the money.
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Try to buy a bike that you can resale. In time you will want to upgrade. I know some will trash me for this but you won't be able to give the Becane away when your done with it. If you get a brand name bike, ie, Specialized, Cannondale, Trek or the like you will be able to move it quickly and get into the new one. I'm not trying to bag on Motobecane bike's just trying to help you stay on a new improved bike every year or so.... Happy Trails
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I would suggest finding a bike that you could test ride unless you want to compare your current bikes geometry to the motobecane's. The feel of the bike means a lot more than the group of parts that's bolted to the frame. I have never dealt with the company myself so I cannot comment on their customer service, but you can search the internet to find some horror stories. I read one article when motobecane wouldn't replace someone's road frame and wanted him to buy a new frame even though it wasn't abused or wrecked. It was simply mismade and cracked at the bottom bracket. I hope what I stated is not their norm or hopefully they would not be in business. Hopefully someone else can give you more feedback. Motobecane is highly discussed on this site so do a search here as well.
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I bought a fantom team a couple of months ago and it is a pretty good bike with mostly excellent components. However, I wasn't crazy about the bikes geometry. I ended up buying a santa cruz blur lt frame off ebay and using the moto as a parts donor. So, you can upgrade in either direction. Also, the assembly was pretty simple, though I did take it to my LBS to adjust the front derailer. The nice thing about the moto is that the entire bike was cheaper than what I would have paid for just an xtr drivetrain.
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Nothing...they are not exotic but they are well built by the same company (Kinesis) that makes GT, Jamis, Diamondback, Raleigh, Kona, Santa Cruz...and many more.
^ yeah.. theres nothing wrong with the frames at all.. so long as you're looking for your every day 71 deg ht cross country bike.. or a full suspension bike with a very simple linkage single pivot. they're quality built frames, they just dont have any stand out features.
companies like santa cruz might not actually manufacturer the bike you buy, but they sure did design and test that bike to death, and its built to their exact specifications. when you buy a santa cruz, you buy a bike designed and built by them, its just produced in a facotry somewhere else. motobecane isnt doing much frame designing or suspension engineering.
id give up an xtr kit with generic suspension for an lx kit with dw link or maestro or vpp.
companies like santa cruz might not actually manufacturer the bike you buy, but they sure did design and test that bike to death, and its built to their exact specifications. when you buy a santa cruz, you buy a bike designed and built by them, its just produced in a facotry somewhere else. motobecane isnt doing much frame designing or suspension engineering.
id give up an xtr kit with generic suspension for an lx kit with dw link or maestro or vpp.
i currently own the motobecane fantom tail. i have had the opp to ride other bikes such as haro and specialized and honestly wouldnt trade it! forks and all components all seemed
to be more high end. def wouldn let the logo sway the judgement. love mine and ride it hard,,zero probs
to be more high end. def wouldn let the logo sway the judgement. love mine and ride it hard,,zero probs
me? ive been riding/racing since i was 10. im 25 now. if you're just bandwagoning because you own a moto therefore it HAS to be the best bike ever.. hey thumbs up bud. throw out some more helpful cheapshots.CupOfJava said:
theres no hidden secret behind motos and ibex's and windsors and sawbacks.. they're good, regular bikes for cheap. theres nothing wrong with that, but theres nothing all that special about it either.
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I ordered my first real mountain bike from them a few years back, Ive never had any problem with the frame. It came with some cheap components that weren't too great(lower spec model). So I figure that if you get a good spec bike you will have a pretty good ride. I cant complain, its what got me started with "real" bikes so I am happy with it.
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My point: there are plenty of 'special' frames out there -- some are sold only in shops; some are sold only on-line; some are sold in both; BUT method of sale does not make a frame special - nor does advertising or sponsorships. Also there is no perfect frame design; or all those of us that design bikes would use the same exact designs.tomsmoto said:
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Are you saying that none of your frames are similar to other brand frames? I heard that some of your frames are the same as Fuji's.bikesdirect said:
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The same could be said about alot of frames, case in point, Blk Mrkt was the first to make a true DJ - soon after joe, dick, and harry bike manufacture jumped on the band wagon and copyed the Mob frames geometry - heck, I've seen other frames that look almost exactly like a Mob down to the taperd chain/seat stays. (aside from a few very minor differences and if I didnt know any better I'ed say these were made in the same tiawan factory (or wherever they are made) with different stickers slapped on them)Noobi-Wan Kenobi said:
Spank frame.
Mob frame. (riots are the same but made overseas)
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Anyone ever notice how, on a fairly regular basis, a new forum member joins MTBR and starts a thread with their first or second posts asking about bikesdirect and highlighting the "great parts for the price" that you can get for little money?
Are they legit, am I too cynical, or is it a bikesdirect marketing tactic?
Are they legit, am I too cynical, or is it a bikesdirect marketing tactic?
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