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I’ve been thinking about trying a couple new things in 2008: 29ers and singlespeeds. Over at bikesdirect.com the Motobecane Outcast 29 looks to fit both bills since it combines big wheels and simple gears for under $400. Of course it doesn’t have any suspension up front which I would want to add.
Questions:
– Can anyone tell if the wheels are cheap/heavy?
– Is it possible to upgrade to a geared system if I find that single speeding sucks? (it seems like you could, the specs mention a replaceable rear derailleur hanger)
– How much would I need to spend on a decent suspension fork?
– Are the brakes and components decent or are they bottom of the line?
– Has anyone ridden a Motobecane? Are they a BikesDirect house brand or are they sold offline as well?
– Anyone dealt with BikesDirect before? The $399 price includes shipping which seems to good to be true…Specs from the website:
Frame MOTO29X Aluminum with TrailTuned PowerStay Design, DualProfile Downtube with reinforced Gusset, replaceable rear derailleur hanger, 2x H2O bosses
Fork StraightBlade CrMo Unicrown
Crankset TruVativ Aluminum 42T 170mm with bash guard {PLUS EXTRA 33T}
Bottom Bracket TruVativ sealed
Pedals Mountain Platform
Front Derailleur N/A
Rear Derailleur N/A
Shifters N/A
Cassette/Freewheel 18T FW – plus 18T fixed cog included in parts box
Chain single speed
Hubs GRAVITY PRECISION BEARING Aluminum (black) – FLIP-FLOP REAR
Spokes Stainless steel
Rims Alex 29 Black anodized Aluminum
Tires Kenda Nevegal 29×2.2
Brakes Tektro Aluminum V-Brake
Brake Levers Tektro Aluminum for V-Brake
Headset Tioga Alchemy Ahead Threadless Sealed 1.125 inch
Handlebar Black Finish Aluminum 6061 T6
Stem Black Finish Aluminum threadless
Tape/Grip WTB DualCompound
Saddle WTB SpeedV
Seat Post Black Finish Aluminum Mountain 27.2mm
Seat Post Clamp Super Light Alloy with bolt -
I know next to nothing about these bikes other than I’ve seen them sold in BikesDirect adds in the back pages of bike magazines.
I did a quick search on Wikipedia, and found this:[i:21nx7ipe]"Motobecane USA assembles bicycles consisting of Kinesis Industry Co. Ltd. or Alu-Mate Material Ind Co., Ltd. frames, both manufactured in Taiwan, and has no relationship to the long-time French bicycle industry manufacturer, Motobécane. The bicycles are sold exclusively by the Cycle Spectrum and BikesDirect.com chain, and a few select eBay merchants.
Other bicycle brands associated with this group include Dawes USA, Windsor America, Cycles Mercier, and Bottecchia USA."[/i:21nx7ipe]
There’s a Motobecane forum over at MTBR, and I did a bunch of reading for you. The consensus on the Outcast is that they’re heavy, and Motobecane’s on a whole are aimed at low-budget riders.
A heavy 29’er singlespeed is not cool. The key to singlespeeding is momentum, and though a 29" wheel keeps momentum up through inertia, simple gravity is gonna negate that real quick. It’d be hell trying to bring a boat-anchor 29" SS up to cruising speed.
There are companies that offer derailleur hangers for horizontal dropouts, but I don’t think a derailleur & suspension fork is going to help out this one much. Companies that know 29’ers who spec their frames with rigid forks do so with suspension-corrected rigids. That means once you throw a squishy fork up front, it won’t throw your geometry off. It takes a lot of re-engineering to get a 29" frame right, rather than just opening up the clearances for the bigger wheels. Dollars t’donuts the Motobecane Outcast’s rigid fork isn’t suspension-corrected.
For what you’ll pay in upgrading to a 29’er fork anyways; and a better drivetrain, the attractive entry-level price of a Motobecane isn’t so attractive anymore.Get a Surly Karate Monkey, and build it how you like. It can be geared/SS, as well as having a suspension-corrected front-end. Salsa’s El Mariachi would be an excellent choice too, and you can get those as complete bikes with a 1×9 geared setup; with the option of going 1×1.
I’ve been eyeing a Salsa 29’er for a while, but now the whole 650b/27.5" thing is here, and I think all I have to do is wait another 6 months and make a pick then. 😎
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"Bombardier" wrote
There are companies that offer derailleur hangers for horizontal dropouts, but I don’t think a derailleur & suspension fork is going to help out this one much. Companies that know 29’ers who spec their frames with rigid forks do so with suspension-corrected rigids. That means once you throw a squishy fork up front, it won’t throw your geometry off.
While I have only been riding MTB for the past three years, I know Motorbecane from when I was riding a lot in the 80s, in high school and college. They were premier "French" bike mfr and if you were going to have a good bike then you would get one of these. I didn’t have the dough at the time so I got a Univega instead.
They seemed to have popped up recently in the MTB scene and are trying to make a quick name for themselves and like everyone else they got a aluminum 29er. Oh hum…yawn. If you are going to ride rigid, do you self a favor and get steel. Aluminum is way to harsh, unless you are really buff trails.
A big thing on 29ers is toe overlap with the front wheel. Some bikes don’t have it (those that are done right) and yet a lot do. If you are looking for an entry level 29er and want to go rigid, try the Monocog. I think they are running around the same price. Or, if you want to spend a little more, the Haro Mary.
New 29er forks will run you $5 to $7 Hundy brand new. Probably get one on the ‘bay for cheaper than that. Nothing wrong with some Monkey Loving, that’s for sure. I almost got the Karate Monkey when I found the Qball. The Kona Unit 29 is really sweet and you can’t go wrong with a Salsa. I have been toying with the idea of getting a Dos Niner.
As for the 650b scene, that is something consider as well. Get the best of both worlds.
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Yeah, I thought this sounded too good to be true 😢 I’m having a tough time shopping for 29ers and/or single speeds because none of the shops I’ve been to have them on the floor to test. Even if they do they usually don’t have my size (extra tall). What’s the best way you’ve found to try before you buy?
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"GreenGiant" wrote
While I have only been riding MTB for the past three years, I know Motorbecane from when I was riding a lot in the 80s, in high school and college. They were premier "French" bike mfr and if you were going to have a good bike then you would get one of these. I didn’t have the dough at the time so I got a Univega instead. They seemed to have popped up recently in the MTB scene and are trying to make a quick name for themselves and like everyone else they got a aluminum 29er. Oh hum…yawn. If you are going to ride rigid, do you self a favor and get steel. Aluminum is way to harsh, unless you are really buff trails.
I’ve met a few guys on rigid aluminum 29’ers that liked ’em. I suspect that aluminum wouldn’t be too harsh as long as the manufacturer designed in some compliance to the rear triangle. Aluminum can be too harsh, just as titanium can be too "dead" feeling if done wrong.
A big thing on 29ers is toe overlap with the front wheel. Some bikes don’t have it (those that are done right) and yet a lot do. If you are looking for an entry level 29er and want to go rigid, try the Monocog. I think they are running around the same price. Or, if you want to spend a little more, the Haro Mary.Just looking at the picture of the MB Outcast29’er now, I can see clearly that there’d be toe-overlap; unless you’ve got tiny dogs, or set the balls of your feet on the pedal.
I’ve considered the Redline Monocog for myself a few times, as well as the Kona Unit & Fisher Cobia. I never looked at the Haro Mary, there’s not been any here at the LBS’s to check out. A Salsa DosNiner or Fisher Hi-Fi Plus29 are definitely at the top of my list of drool-worthy 29’ers
The cool thing about the Kona Unit & Fisher Hi-Fi 29", is that they come in extra large sizes (20-22" Kona, 21" Fisher), and are priced pretty reasonably. The Hi-Fi Plus is an extra attractive deal, at $2089 MSRP; if you want to go the full-boinger & geared route.
eBay would be a good place to look for 29’er bikes & suspension forks, especially once the 650b thing really takes off, since a lot of people will be unloading their 29’ers to make room. -
"trek7k" wrote
Yeah, I thought this sounded too good to be true 😢 I’m having a tough time shopping for 29ers and/or single speeds because none of the shops I’ve been to have them on the floor to test. Even if they do they usually don’t have my size (extra tall). What’s the best way you’ve found to try before you buy?
Find a good shop that will get you a demo. When I was looking to buy the ‘Horse, a few local shops said they would get me a demo of the bike they wanted to sell me and none of them came through – thus they didn’t get the sale. I have found that the high end shops usually have demos.
Of course, as bomberman mentioned, you can probably get something off the ‘bay for a better price than buying one new and see if you like it. If not, flip it, or part it out. You might come out better, you never know.
Not sure where I read this, maybe MTBR, but it was someone’s opinion that the 650b will not have the same impact as the 29er. Guess we’ll see.
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"GreenGiant" wrote
Not sure where I read this, maybe MTBR, but it was someone’s opinion that the 650b will not have the same impact as the 29er. Guess we’ll see.
Nah, the 27.5" is already leaving the 29" wheel’s influence in the dust. It took years before the 29’er really became accepted & supported by the whole of the MTB industry. The 650b has already accomplished in less than a year what the 29" wheel took at least two-three years to do. The biggest reason for this is that the 650b doesn’t require such a radical redesigning of bicycle frames to fit the wheels. A lot of existing 26" frames will take a 27.5" wheel with no issues, it’s just most forks don’t have the clearance between the wheel & the fork arch. Fox & Maverick are the only ones that do, IIRC.
By next summer, Kenda is due to have at least 3 new 650b tires out; and several wheel manufacturers are stepping up as well. A lot of small frame builders are putting together 650b mountainbikes, and Haro has a already done a prototype 650b Werx to test the feasibility of working the larger wheel onto existing frames.Ok, time for me to stop hijacking the Bossman’s thread. 😳
(I’m just really geeked about this subject.) -
Okay…one of the fascinating things about the sport of Mountain Biking is it’s diversity, and that is more prevalent today then ever before. Once upon a time we simply called them Fat tire bikes; however, Fat now comes in sizes. You’ve got your 26, 29, combo 69er’s, and now 650b’s.
Don’t get me wrong I think variety is great but, I just want to have fun, what does all this amount to for the average trail rider?
Bombardier you know more about the tech crap then anyone else I know, perhaps you can break it down for the industry unconscious among us? Where would each type of trail rider benefit from each tire size and which type of rider should avoid a large tire or tire combination? Which bikes can be converted with out jepordizing the integrity of the bikes geometry?
If someone can explain it I’m sure you can…after all you even sold me on carbon bikes 😮
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Prophet: *Sold you on carbon-fiber?!?? Now that’s just crazy-talk. 😼 But I’ll explain the wheel thing…. In a blog post. 😉
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Well, what ever happens, it’s cool that there is even more variety out there. I am tempted to get a 650b wheel set to try out. I could really use one for the rear wheel of my commuter right now. I have what amounts to a C-Hair’s width running a 700c wheel on a 26er frame – why you ask?
Because I can and it’s fun to try different things and this is to hold me over until I get my road bike from my Dad’s house to rebuild into a commuter.
Took her out yesterday for quick 10 mile jaunt to test it out and it rides nicely. Just need to fine tune the rear der and I need an 8 spd cassette because the shifter I have is for only 8. Of course, the other option is to convert my to the commuter but I am not ready to do that just yet.
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I bought one of these bikes from Bike Direct. It was mentioned that it came with a 33t ring. But it was not in the box. They sent one out a week later. Put it on,went for a ride,and the tire rolled off the rim. Put it back and it rolled again. Now I admit that this could be a problem with the wheel. But another problem was that the wheel kept sliding in the dropout. I tightened it down to the point of bending the Axel. But it still slides. The chain tension-er just pops off. So it is no help. I’m 6’3" 240lbs. So this is not a big guy bike. The 21" is speced with the same parts as the smaller size. So you would have to upgrade to get a good fit. No QR hubs. just bolt on. For the price of upgrades ,this bike could run up towards $500. You can get a Redline at a shop for that price and get a far better chain tension-er. But I saw that you could get a frameset for $95. If your a big person,this would be the way to go. But then,I can think of better framesets for $100. I’m sending mine back because of the defect,but bike direct says I’m responsible for the shipping. Another good reason to skip out on this one. Motocane does some heavy advertising on MTBR.com. So bad reviews about thier bikes don’t seem show up
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my friends dad has a motobecan, its pretty cool. i heard those bikes were expensive though?
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I have a Motobecane FantomPro 29. No problems, at all. More expierenced riders with expensive bikes seem to like this bike. Not too heavy and components are much nicer than you can get on a "brand name" for the same money.
I bought this bike as I didn’t want to spend lots of $$ to see if I liked MTBs. I have a nice road bike but I will not hesitate to look at the Motobecane bikes when it’s time for a new one….
I can’t find a problem with them yet…
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