Motobecane Fantom Team, Nice Parts!!!

I wanted to talk a little about the parts that come on the bike and the fact they really impressed me. First lets talk about the suspension which are both Rockshox products. The rear shock is Rockshox's top of the line air unit called the Monarch 4.2. So far I have really liked this shock due to the awesome adjustment to the lockout mechanism. The lock out is what RS calls the Floodgate allowing you to adjust how much the suspension moves while the switch is activated(locked out) There are numbers printed on the stanchion tube showing you what the sag should be depending on the riders specific weight. This an awesome feature allowing a rider to very quickly adjust the suspension properly. I love the sag numbers printed on the shock because I can not tell you how many time I have seen people riding full suspension bikes set up wrong. Here is the classic comment, "I am supposed to put air in there". People think that the air pressure in the fork won't change making their bike maintenance free. Well these sag percentages are super helpful and make it so easy for people to set there bike up. Keep in mind your weight and ride preference will change depending on where you are riding and with how much gear. The front fork is the top of the line Reba Team fork. I like the handle bar mount lockout a lot and use it frequently. Here is a little secret a lot of people don't know. The suspension that comes on a bike can and usually is different internally that one that you would buy by it self. The reason for this is when a large bike company calls a suspension manufacturer and say they need 10,000 of a particular fork and want a cheap price, something has to give. That give is a plastic washer vs the normal metal one. The suspension manufacturer will change out the internals to make the suspension cheaper. The bottom line with the Fantom is the suspension is good stuff. All the Ritchey WCS parts make me happy because when parts come from a company that sell only specific item such as handle bar, seat post, and stems they better be good or that company will go out of business. I worked at a shop that did a LOT of pro builds and we used Ritchey components on most of the builds. Great company that stand by their products.

I kept the saddle for now. I pulled it off and it weights 213 grams which is light. The FSA Team crank is 2nd from top of the line and I already spoke in length about that. The Vuleta XRP Team SuperLite Disc wheel set seems like a great set up so far. The wheels are strong and super light. There have held true through some really rock trails. You can buy these wheels separately for $300 buck which makes me consider buying another set as a backup/ tubeless set up. We will see. I will talk more about the wheels at a later date. So far I love the Avid Elixir CR Carbon brakes on the bike from a braking stand point. I will report later on the long term stamina of the brakes. So far though they stop really well and they have a nice smooth confidence inspiring feel with sweet look carbon levers. They are also Avid's top of the line brake out right now boasting new technology to the disc brake market. Motobecane has come a long way with their bike specs and the 2009 Fantom Team proves it.

I got my new XTR pedals the other day and now I am ready to compare the original weight of the Fantom Team to my customized version along with what it cost to get me there. My initial out of box weight for the bike is NOT accurate since I accidentally weighted the bike with my Python tires on it. The original stock weight for the bike was 25.14 but after weighting the pythons and doing some math the real weight is 25.9 pounds stock. The final weight for my finished version is 26.8 pounds LG. Here is a breakdown of what I added and its cost or would be cost purchased off eBay:

Motobecane Fantom Team =$1899.99

XTR crank $384 - the cost after selling the FSA Team crank for $253 =$131.00

XTR cassette- I didn't sell the Ultegra cassette since I have 2 9sp road bikes =$140.00

XTR pedals- bike does not come with pedals =$124.00

Hutchinson Python Tires- I already had these tires but buying a pair is =$59.00

Total cost for the Fantom Team is: $2353.99

This is still a great deal on what so far has been a great bike that I like to ride. Keep in mind that If you have to have the bike built by a mechanic bring all the new parts in and have them put them on while the bike is being built. This will save you a lot of time and money. You will probably be looking at $200 or less for labor to have a shop build the Fantom up like mine.

IMPRESSIONS AFTER THE BUILDING FANTOM TEAM

The overall build of the bike was OK. Bikesdirect claims you can build the bike in 1/2 hour but some will take an hour. Take your time and set aside an hour 1/2 to build the bike. I think I will put together a check list to help you guys build your bikes. The claimed weight of a medium Fantom Team is a claimed 24 pounds even. I don't know how this is possible. As you can see on the scale, my Large Fantom Team with my Python Tires on it weights 25 pounds 12 ounces with no pedals. Normally you should expect a 1/2 pound increase in weight with each size increase. If someone can tell me how much their med Fantom Team weights, I would really appreciate it. I will be fare and check the weight difference between the Kenda Klimax tires and my Hutchinson Pythons. My finished bike for now weights 26 pounds 12 ounces. Sorry but I can't see much more weight coming off the bike. Now we will see how the bike rides. Who knows, maybe the bike will feel like 25 pounds.

November 25 2008


My first official ride was as Rockville Park in Rockville CA. I went out to Cali for Thanksgiving and though it would be a great opportunity to break the bike in. I set the bike up with the Hutchinson Python tires because I didn't want those skinny tires around tons of rocks. I also left the 1/2 inch spacer above the stem and the suspension set to 5" front and rear. The trail head starts from a parking lot which proceeds immiediately up,up,up, a fire rode. As I winded and twisted my way to the top, with the suspension locked out, I could only notice how quick the bike climbed. I got to the trail I wanted to ride which is slow and covered with rocks, literally. The Fantom felt agile and quick as I threw busts of power down to climb obstacles. The suspension did great helping the rear tire stay planted to the ground. The bar position sucked because there would be a little drop of 2' and the positioning on the bike made is uncomfortable to pull up and enjoy the drop. I was able to get the bike out on some open fire road and feel the bikes speed. The new brakes were not broken in yet but since the trail was slow it was ok. Overall I was happy with the first ride but was excited to switch the spacers to the bottom and try it out.

November 24 2008

I got the bike today! I realized that I had not been this excited about getting a bike for a long time. It was like being a kid again. I went down to UPS to pick the bike up and watched them as they brought the bike out on a dolly with the BOX VERTICALLY IN THE AIR. I looked at the arrows on the box pointing "This Side Up". O well. I got the bike home and while unboxing I noticing the packing was done well minus the front wheel could have been a little better protected.

A little bit of paint was rubbed off the rim. The lockout cable for the front fork had unraveled which I quickly wrapped and put a cable end on.

I started building the bike just like an Average Joe Biker. To save weight Motobecane puts Ultegra 12-27 cassettes on their bikes. I am not strong enough to push a cassette like this in the Rocky Mountains. So I put a XTR 12-34 cassette on that I had sitting around adding 22 grams over the Ultegra. If you go on eBay you can find an XT 12-34 cassette for $77 or an XTR 12-34 for $140. The XTR is 31 grams lighter. Keep in mind you may want a 32t not a 34t. A 34t may cause the front end to come up and cause you to shift your weight forward.



I also changed out the FSA crank for XTR saving 74 grams. eBayers love FSA stuff. I sold the FSA Team crank for $253 and bought XTR for $384. $131 bucks for an XTR crank is a good deal. Please remember that special tool are required to take off and install cranks. XTR cranks require 2 additional tools costing me $20 on eBay.

The reason I put the XTR crank on is 2 fold. I wanted the bike to be FULL XTR and I have experience building many bikes with FSA cranks with not great results. Don't get me wrong, FSA makes nice stuff but when Shimano makes a new crank with all the cool engineering, they do an awesome job. Basically Shimano leads the bike industry for component innovation. Shimano also has design patents that they will kill to protect. These patents force other companies to design around Shimano all while trying to accomplish the same outcome with their products. FSA wants their cranks on new bikes. They want bike companies to put their cranks on new bikes. So FSA has to change designs even if the ISIS system worked great. If a company wants to survive they have to design around Shimano patents. The FSA Team crank that comes on the Fantom is a nice crank and once I took the chain off the chain rings to check the cranks ability to spin freely, I was impressed. In the past most FSA integrated crank systems had a lot of tension on the bearings only spinning one rotation. When I pulled the FSA bottom bracket out there was no and I mean no grease in the shell.

This is not surprising because if Motobecane put lube in all the BB shells then that would cost some money in grease. We couldn't have that. BB shells are a high torque/stress area of a bike and lube does need to be put on the threads and on the inside of the BB cups.

I kept the old chain, which is too short for the XTR 34t cog on the bike so I cannot accidentally cross chain the gears big to big or the rear derailleur will explode. I will just be careful because the chain is 38 grams lighter than a none hollow pin chain.

The gears were all set up the limits set correctly. The brakes took a little bit of work since the front rotor does not come on the bike and BikesDirect does not supply a torx wrench to put the bolts in. Luckily I had one. Remember to put the bolts on in a star formation. The rear rotor had one loose bolt and the rear brake caliper had one loose bolt. The main pivot behind the bottom bracket shell was loose. Just make sure when you build any bike to check every bolt. The wheels are true to the eye and the bearings feel fine. I want you to know that when a bike is built at a bike shop you can run into many of the same issues I had with the Motobecane. Bikes are assembled very quickly in the factories then boxed, ready for the bike mechanic to build it. The best bikes are built with personal care, the right tools, and by a PROPERLY trained bike mechanic. I left the 1/2 inch spacer on the top of the stem and switched the tires out for Hutchinson Pythons for now. The Fantom is all set to go and I am off to Nor Cal.

December 6 2008 22.5 miles



I knew the trail was going to be busy today because its December 6th and in the high 40s. As I approached the trail head by the zoo I could see a guy just starting which I like because it gives me something to shot for. Well I had my hand full!! The guy was on a single speed and moving fast up hill. I really started pushing the bike, jumping into the big ring, standing and pushing big gears, going wide in corners. This was the Fantom's first race pace. The bike felt great, instilling my confidence in the Fantom as a great cross country/marathon bike. It took me 10 minuets to catch the guy and the pass was great. We came down the hill though switchback singletrack and I was right on his rear tire. We popped out on a fire road to cross though Red Butte Garden as the trail splits. I took the right and he went left so I shifted down and beat him just as the trail comes back together. I was a tad winded at that point. The rest of my ride got me to the entrance of our awesome down hill course "Bobsled. This trail is so much fun. There are jumps, hugh berms, old cars turned into rust filled table tops. I wanted to see how the bikes suspension took the brutal trail. As I took the bike up and down the 10 plus 10 foot high berms riddled down the course I realized I was having a blast on the Fantom. Sure a riser bar would have been nice along with bigger tires but it was all good. I am still looking to get the suspension plusher. It may be hard to compare the new designs on the market to the Fantom but we will see with time.

December 5 2008 8 Miles



Today was a short ride so I decided to put a hard effort and go as fast as I was able. I put more - air in the fork in hopes of accentuating the small bump performance of the fork. I am also running my Pythons backward from the recommendation and I felt the tires grab better under braking. I am thinking of putting some bar ends on the bike to aid with sprinting.

December 3 2008 22.5 miles

Well needless to say I switch the tires back to the Hutchinson Pythons. I worked on the brakes a little and checked they periodically though out the whole ride and they held their position with no rotor rubbing. I think the trick when I put the rear wheel back in the frame was to take the bike out of the stand, making sure the wheel was evenly in the dropouts by push down on the frame and then I tighten the skewer. The brakes also worked GREAT. I went into a switch back a little to fast and hit the brakes thinking I was a goner but I slowed enough to make the turn.

I wanted to test out the strength of the wheels today I made it a point to take the more rock filled lines on the trail. The wheels took the abuse and I felt very much in control weaving down the technical sections. The bars are 23" and feel narrow to me but I am used to big riser bars. I will just have to lean the bike over more to get a better sprint out of the saddle. I noticed the rear end of the bike was flexing in certain situations. When I got home the main pivot behind the bottom bracket was loose. As for the fork, I will be looking for a little more small bump performance from the fork after this ride.

December 1 2008 12 miles

Well I am back home in Salt Lake City and excited to take the Fantom to my local trail. I put a wireless computer on the bike to keep track of my miles now that the break in rides are all done with. I like wireless computers because from a maintenance perspective there is no wire to bother with when taking the front end apart. I put the Kenda Klimax tire back on the bike since I was familiar with my trial and felt they would be fine to ride with (OOO just wait). I inflated the tires to the minimum suggestion of 40psi since I wanted the tires to provide some type of traction on the trail.

As I left my house to go ride the Shore Line Trail I noticed the tires were fast on the rode. It was funny to look down at the tire since I am used to the 2.4 Mountain Kings on my Giant. Its about a 10 minute rode ride from my house to the trail so its a nice warm up. I was really enjoying my ride on the trail until about 2 miles in I ripped the bike right though a rock bed and a few minutes later I felt the rim bottom out. CRAP, snake bike.

I quickly pulled the super lite condom thin race tube out and put in a nice burly tube and Co2ed that tire nice and hard. I was back riding for a while even did a nice climb to overlook SLC proceeding with a great singletrack ride along the hills. The trail edged down hill a little so I pick up some speed and bunny hopped a big rock in the middle of the trail to only land in a 10' rock bed after it and sure enough I heard a weird noise which proceeded to feeling the rim bottoming out AGAIN. Snake bite and I was out of tubes.

I have not bummed a tube since 1995 while riding in Santa Rosa CA. SLC has the nicest mountain bikers so I knew I was going to be fine. By the time I got the tire off a nice guy rides up and offers assistance. He gave me a tube but said it had been in his camelback for 10 years and may have a hole rubbed in it. I installed the tube and the air was holding ( for now). I got a minuet down the trail and sure enough another flat.

I pulled the tube and there was a wear mark from rubbing something for 10 years. By the time I got the tube out another cyclist stopped by and I bummed another tube. This was a nice $8 Torrelli tube which I felt bad about taking. By this time I was out of C02 and used the guys pump. Off I was and being a little more careful with the rocks. I got to the top of our down hill trail Bobsled and felt the rear tire which felt soft. A guy came up and I asked to use his pump. I had to ride my bike down hill through lots of rocks through City Creek Canyon. I made sure the tire was hard to allow me to get home. 2 miles down the best part of my whole ride, the reason the we climb up mountains, BOOM another snake bite.

It was right before this great tight singletrack section. I walked a long way home that day!! The tires worked great and did provide ample traction. There are just better suited for smooth trails. This was also the one ride I didn't bring my cell phone so my wife thought I was dead. 4 flats, 3 snake bites and 1 crappy tube flat.

Not my best ride. While all this was going on I as able to focus my attention to the brakes. Since I was taking the rear wheel out so much, I noticed the rear brake was rubbing pretty bad. I fixed it on the trail by loosing the brake bolt, making sure the caliper wiggled back and forth, pulled the brake lever, and then retightened the bolts. This worked to recenter the brakes. At least while I walked all the way home I didn't have to listen to the brakes rubbing. Both rotors were a little out of true and need adjusting.

November 26 2008

Well I got the spacer moved to the bottom and I was off to Pena Adobe park in Vacaville CA. Today is a rainy, rainy, day with a little chill in the air but I set out for ride # 2. The trails at this park are not marked what so ever which kills me because they charge you 3 bucks to get in. Any way after about a half an hour of riding around looking for a good trail I found this fire road that pointed up into the beautiful hill that surround this area. So I locked out the suspension and climbed. The bike was a nice steady climber and swapping out the stem made the bike a lot more comfortable. What was cool about this ride was as I got hirer up the fire road, I found myself in the clouds. As I got to the top I could see a twisting ribbon of singletrack weaving through the grassy hills and I prayed there would be an inlet to the trail coming soon. Sure enough there it was and bam I was off surfing sweet singletrack with sticky mud and switchbacks. A first for me was as I was riding down the trail, there would be these crumbled pieces of dirt sections about 10' long on the trail unaffected by the rain. When I hit these sections of dry dirt the accumulated mud on my tires would grad this dried dirt creating a larger tire till it hit the brake arch and then KABOOM there would be an explosion of dirt everywhere. You would think the Sierra Club was out to get me. This happened about 10 times and after a while I stated enjoying it. The suspension felt a little firm for this trail since there were all these tiny hoof marks in the trail from cows or something but it felt much better than a hard tail! The bike was great in the 10 plus switchbacks I rode through and the few technical sections the trail provided, the tires covered with mud were the only thing holding the Fantom back. The brakes finally broke in on this ride and were great. I finished the ride and the Fantom did everything you would expect a fullsuspension cross country bike to do.