Sorry to everyone. I just realized none of my replays to you and gotten to you. Trust me, I have replayed to all of you. I am really really sorry. Please don't think I was blowing you off. My wife just showed me what I was doing wrong.

I am finally back and ready to start riding again. I live in Las Vegas now so I am excited to ride over the winter. Sorry about the blog neglect but I promise I will be better. I have been thinking about buying one of those new Motobecane 29ers and seeing how light i can make it. Stay tune. If any one has one of these 29ers please let me know what you think of it.

Fanton VS,VS,VS,VS,VS,VS,VS,VS,

I feel really bad about the neglect of my blog since early summer. I have not been on the Motobecane since June. I am moving the Las Vegas and all my stuff is actually getting unpacked today. Thank you for continuing to visit my blog. I got a recent question about my opinion on the bike after one season. For the record I did NOT get a chance to race this bike and I only got about 150miles on it. I can say this though. The bike will take what you dish out. I took the Fantom team down to Moab Utah and that place is hard on bikes.

A reader just posted a question if I would take this bike over the a Trek EX 8. With a little research MY fantom team and this Trek are the same price ($2300-$2400) and I will guess equal weight. The Trek does have the new modern rear suspension design benefit over the Fantom but my bike specs kill the Trek. Here is the bottom line. PRICE what are you getting for the money. MY large fantom weights 26.5 pounds for 2400 bucks. I have the best parts on the market and the bike performs just fine as a cross country bike. When I went to Moab I took my Giant XO. This bike has 5 inches of travel like my Motobecane but the suspension technology on my Giant is awesome. The bike rides like on a cloud. Always soft and never a harsh hit from an obstacle. But the Giant that I put together retailed for $4200. The Motobecane Fantom uses an older style 4 bar with the pivot on the seat stay. This makes the axel path not as smooth and a harsher hit over obstacles. But it works. Its not as smooth as my Giant or a Blur but it works and its cheap. The question is what are you willing to pay for for what you want to do?

Fantom Team in Moab Utah

I took the Motobecane to Moab for a little test and decied to ride in on the 24 hours course used for the 24 Hours of Moab every october. I am pretty familier with this trail which offers many different types of terrain to give a trutest of cross county preformance.



I love this first picture with the sun light coming through that tree.


I have to appologise because my picutres will not move from where I have them placed. So I will just write and not worry about it.



The course is about 13 miles with lots of rock, sand, climbs, decents, just about everything.

The picture below shows one of many rock climbs that are on the course. That is literally a rock garden. You see very little dirt along there. The bike climbed great over all the rocks I took it through.

Sorry Everyone

I just started a new job and have been busy with all that goes with it. I did a great ride on the Fantom Team in Moab a few weeks ago and got some sweet pictures. I will get that stuff posted shortly.

Thanks for coming to my blog.

New Chain. Sorry KMC

I have to report that I changed the chain out for an XTR chain I had sitting around. The KMC chain that came on the bike worked well at first but now will not double shift up the cassette. I worked on the problem for and while before switching chains. I took the Fantom Team out for a ride and the shifting was perfect with the new chain. I put the tubeless tire psi up to 30 and noticed less flex which was better then the 28psi setting I had the tires/tyers at before.

I too the Fantom Team out for a ride and set the tubeless tire pressure to 28psi. The whole ride was great but as I was coming down this twisty downhill section with lots of turns, I noticed the tires flexing a lot. I will put the pressure back up to 30psi and see ft that make for a more stable tire. I changed the rear shock psi to sag at the 20% mark but I am thinking I liked the 30% setting a little better. The rear suspension can be set up to run 3-4-5 inches of travel. I have left it set at 5 in due to were I ride. I figure when I am going down hill my suspension will compress a couple of inches. Well that doesn't leave me a whole lot to soak up the bumps.