Motobecane cross

[wc1934]

I saw a Motobecane Fantom Cross Pro (Ti) on Bikes Direct website. Any thoughts about this bike? Years and years ago I remember Motobecane to be a decent brand, but I haven't heard much about them lately. Have they been relegated to place in the cheap Chinese market?

Since then, I have noticed a bunch of used ones sporting SRAM Rival(which I also know nothing about - have only used Campy).

Any comments/insight/suggestions about the bike, components, and price would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[bjf]

FWIW, I have SRAM Rival on a "short, flat rides" bike. It works OK, no issues, but not close in performance to the Ultegra and DA on my "better" bikes.

[jemoryl]

Motobecane is currently just a brand used by bikesdirect.com and bears no relation to the original manufacturer. Bikesdirect does this with several brands: Dawes, Mercier and Windsor are others. Having said that, these bikes can be pretty good bang for the buck (many of the Motobecane bikes are made by Kinesis in Taiwan). A friend is very happy with his CF Motobecane with full SRAM eTap (Ritchey WCS bits and Mavic Kysrium wheels) which was very keenly priced at $3k.

[cuwinbs]

i had a motobecane ss cx bike which was great right out of the box.I've had rival on my cx bikes and its been great.I don't think you can go wrong for a new bike at that price.

[fourflys]

since the majority of non-handmade bikes are made by one of three manufacturers, I'd say the bike would be fine for a cross bike... SRAM Rival is a great group, while it does feel a bit more "agricultural" than Campy I think it does a fine job... I actually like the doubletap mechanism for shifting... I liked the Campy thumb shifter as well, just different... and I've never had the issues that some others have had with SRAM and I have/had it on several bikes (I don't do the miles that some do though)...

if the fit works for you and the budget works for you, I'd say go for it... the only think I've heard about Bike Direct bikes is you might want to do a regrese of threads like the BB (if threaded).

[Ed-B]

The Motobecane titanium bikes are produced in Taiwan by ORA Engineering. They are very high quality frames.

http://oraeng.imb2b.com/

I have a LeChampion Ti with Rival that I bought a few years ago, it's really nice.

I find some of the Bikes Direct cockpit parts to be a little off, but overall their better bikes are an excellent value.

[Pastashop]

I used to ride (and even race) a classic steel Le Champion with tubulars. The new stuff is just Motobecane in brand name. That's not to say the bikes aren't good. A friend has a Ti mtn bike he likes, and the fellow has many other fancy bikes and can afford anything he wants. By this point, the geometry and construction are hard to screw up.

That said, if you're planning on spending >2k for a bike, I'd consider posting a WTB for something from Paceline or sourcing a Black Mountain Cycles or a Soma or even a Rivendell -- you'll appreciate the longevity, the thoughtful and versatile design, the ride quality, and the aesthetics over the long haul.

[onsight512]

I had a MB LeChampion Ti for a four or five years. No issues with the bike at all other than the frame had too much drop for me. Sold the f/f/hs and moved the rest of the parts to another bike.

[peanutgallery]

Geometry is just a little off, lots of odder sized seatposts and the like.

Build quality of maybe a raleigh or something. Not bad, but certainly far from the best. You don't get something for nothing, even on the interwebs

[RonW87]

I've had a fantom all cross bike for five or so years now. Swapped out the heavy steel fork for a full carbon Easton, threw on same Campy and nice tubulars and can't complain at all.