cyclocross bike

[2k2wranglerx]

I'm kicking around buying one of these 2. supposedly fuji knock offs

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

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

any thoughts?

[ben1284]

Never heard of em

[sully151]

Go for the pricier one. Better fork (carbon vs chromo) and the shimano 105 in the rear is quite a bit better than sora or tiagra, whatever it was. It also has disk brakes which are heavy, but nice, unless you are racing UCI. I think they are illegal then.

[Ctimrun]

Why a cyclocross bike? Are you looking into racing? If your not looking into racing I would get a mountain type bike instead. Cannondale makes a badass bike that is a mountain bike frame setup with a road type wheelset/tires called the BadBoy. They have different versions of it starting lower than your high end bike you posted there. The Cannondale will hold its value much better if you decide to sell it down the road, as Motobecane's don't really hold their value that well. I have a BadBoy that I built up into a hard tail mountain bike with high end parts. It weighs in at 19 lbs and gets a lot of attention when I have it out. It is flat black with dark stickers (subdue stickers) that are reflective when headlights shine toward them. If you are looking for a cyclocross bike for racing or another specific reason then sorry I wasted my time typing and your time reading. Here is a picture of mine.....

http://inlinethumb05.webshots.com/4/2131617590084149825S600x600Q85.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2131617590084149825HXdXcY)

[harkleroadster]

I'm kicking around buying one of these 2. supposedly fuji knock offs

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

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

any thoughts?

Motobecane has department store quality frames with "Mostly" bikeshop quality parts. The frame is the most important part of a bike....I would look elsewhere

[2k2wranglerx]

Why a cyclocross bike? Are you looking into racing? If your not looking into racing I would get a mountain type bike instead. Cannondale makes a badass bike that is a mountain bike frame setup with a road type wheelset/tires called the BadBoy. They have different versions of it starting lower than your high end bike you posted there. The Cannondale will hold its value much better if you decide to sell it down the road, as Motobecane's don't really hold their value that well. I have a BadBoy that I built up into a hard tail mountain bike with high end parts. It weighs in at 19 lbs and gets a lot of attention when I have it out. It is flat black with dark stickers (subdue stickers) that are reflective when headlights shine toward them. If you are looking for a cyclocross bike for racing or another specific reason then sorry I wasted my time typing and your time reading. Here is a picture of mine.....

http://inlinethumb05.webshots.com/4/2131617590084149825S600x600Q85.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2131617590084149825HXdXcY)


i already have 2 29ers. a gary fisher paragon with a lot of mods and a gary fisher rig SS with a bunch of hop ups. the paragon weighs in at 23lbs with an XL frame and the SS weighs in around 20 lbs with a L frame. i can't go super weight weenie since i'm a clydesdale. but that's pretty light for a 29er
old pic:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i199/46willys/DSC01476.jpg

I was looking at cyclocross for rails to trails. i commute some when it's not too nasty out, although i've been known to ride in the snow :)

last night i actually bought a jamis Satellite that has new wheels, some ritchey hop ups, etc... steel frame, carbon fork. :) it will take a larger tire so i can put some small knobbies on it for the cinders.

i'm happy for 300 bucks!

:)

[DeezUU]

Motobecane has department store quality frames with "Mostly" bikeshop quality parts. The frame is the most important part of a bike....I would look elsewhere

The frames come from the same manufacturer as most of the imported frames from all of the top companies. I may have just been lucky on mine, but my Outcast SS has held up MUCH better than my Rockhopper has.

http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2108/216/84/544330965/n544330965_1670881_3786.jpg

(before the 1st ride... I've since changed the obnoxious gearing to a more uphill friendly ratio)

[harkleroadster]

The frames come from the same manufacturer as most of the imported frames from all of the top companies. I may have just been lucky on mine, but my Outcast SS has held up MUCH better than my Rockhopper has.

http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2108/216/84/544330965/n544330965_1670881_3786.jpg

(before the 1st ride... I've since changed the obnoxious gearing to a more uphill friendly ratio)


I am going to respectfully disagree......Not gonna get into it but, I pretty sure my source is correct. What about the quality of the frame materials used?... and if you had issues with a frame that Specialized has made,(and you are the original owner), your local Specialized shop would handle the issue immediately, instead of contacting the internet site to have something worked out. Good Luck with that!

[DeezUU]

Just for argument's sake... Kinesis makes Moto's frames (as well as a ton of others incl. Specialized) and they are built to spec per company. I'm not talking about any "made in the USA" frames from any of these companies... these are the base to mid models that all get outsourced. I'm in no way saying my RH was crap. It was a decent ride to say the least! But it didn't hold up as well as my Moto has. The seat-stay welds cracked within a year. I could've gotten it fixed under warranty, but just decided to try something different instead. I did 'cheap out' by going with a Moto and not spending 3Xs as much on something similar, but I wanted to try a cheaper SS before I spent a ton on a better branded one. Honestly, I think it's the simplicity that makes it more durable, but it hasn't given me ANY troubles in almost 2 years. I myself was expecting trouble but haevn't had the least bit.

My whole thing with the Moto debate is that most people who bash them have never ridden/owned one. They know a friend of a friend who had one and it's all hearsay. I've only heard from 2 people that have had frame troubles and BD even tried to remedy the problem. There are a cult of Moto riders who HAVE ridden them and love them for the price but none will argue that there are better bikes out there for a larger pricetag. If you've got the skrilla to get something more decent, it may be a wiser choice to skip Motos.