Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - I ordered a Brand new 2006 Motobecane MESSENGER road racing TRACK bike.

I ordered this relatively inexpensive bike off Ebay. Anyone have one of these?
Any good?

Best choice you ever made!!!!

I have had one for about a month now. I was not sure if I would like riding a fixed gear and this was cheap entry. I alternate using it with my road bike for training. As soon as I realized I liked riding it, I upgraded the wheels to the Mavic CXP 22 that has been mentioned on this forum. I have the original wheels to convert another old bike if I want. I also changed the brake pads and threw on clipless pedals. The new wheels made a pretty big difference. I think if I would have known I was upgrading the wheels from the beginning I would have looked at an IRO bike to begin with, it would have been more a little more than I ended up spending.
The way I ended up going, I have an extra wheelset for another fixed gear bike and I like the way the bike rides now.
Here is the link to the wheels:
http://shop.greatdealsonbikes.com/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=GDOB&Product_Code=TR01&Category_Code=TR

Kenal0

The OP must write ebay auction titles for a living.

Paging alanbikehouston! Paging alanbikehouston!

pics?

Sweet! You must be so psyched! New bikes are awesome. Ride the snot out of it and enjoy :D

Hey,
I got one of them from bikes direct for my son. I posted on another thread,but to summarize. The wheels are cheap, but serviceable. The frame is excellent. The gearing is too high unless you have Eric Hayden legs. I got a 42 tooth rocket ring from Harris cycles to get the gearing into a reasonable range. My boy is hard on equipment, so the cheap wheels may not be a problem. If he rides it alot, I'll upgrade them. If I were getting a bike for myself,I'd probably go the extra for and IRO since by the time you upgrade the wheels you would have about the same money in the bike. Toodles,Frogge.

Here is the link to the wheels:
http://shop.greatdealsonbikes.com/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=GDOB&Product_Code=TR01&Category_Code=TR



What do think of the wheels? Prices seem very reasonable if they are really building the wheels as they say.

Jim

Thanks for that link.

I can't wait to try this bike out.

I'll post some pics once she arrives.:)

The thread title screams viral marketing to me. cough (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_marketing)

he has an interesting avatar. It looks like it's watching me

What's viral marketing?

Are you saying I'm being dishonest about buying a bike?:(

I'm just looking for more info and looking to see what experiences others have had with this bike.

:mad:

Since alanbikehouston seems to be out riding these days:

There are millions of Americans who bought the REAL Motobecane's....the bikes made in France. THAT Motobecane was an actual bike company that employed engineers, designers, and skilled builders. That once great name is now owned in the USA by the semi-shady hustlers at BikesDirect.

Here at the Forums there are only about twenty regular members who own the "new" Motobecane's...the bikes imported from Asia by BikesDirect. By "members" I mean those folks who post in threads unrelated to Motobecane and BikesDirect. The people who post ONLY about Motobecane and ONLY about BikesDirect products are obvious not true members, they are simply shills for BikesDirect.

However, those twenty "real" members keep two or three Motobecane threads going on the front page of "Road Cycling" at all times...a lot of work, but they get help. Each month, a BikesDirect employee joins the Forum to post "I just found a bike with a list price of $3,000, on sale at BikesDirect for just $899 including free shipping. It is the bestest bike I ever saw...maybe the bestest bike in the whole world". And, the shill will provide a convenient link to BikesDirect, or to one of BikesDirect E-Bay auctions.

"Bike Forums", two years ago, was a place "newbies" could come for factual, reliable information about bikes. Thanks to the hard work of BikesDirect, and about twenty helpful friends, it is rapidly becoming the "BikesDirect Bike Forums"....factual, and reliable information? No. But we CAN tell you where to go if you want a bike shipped "free", directly to your front door.

Members of Bike Forums ride bikes made by over a hundred different bike companies, purchased from thousands of different retailers. The 20 or so actual owners of "new" Motobecanes represent less than 1% of the total members of Bike Forums. Yet, that tiny group continues to generate almost 100% of the threads at Bike Forums that "steer" members to just one particular bike retailer. Again, Mr. Bikes Direct...why not just start your own Bike Forum (as Schwinn, and others have done), and leave THIS Bike Forum alone?

What's viral marketing?

Are you saying I'm being dishonest about buying a bike?:(

I'm just looking for more info and looking to see what experiences others have had with this bike.

:mad:

Use the search function. you'll find a million threads about it. they are always on ebay, and there's always someone wanting to know about them, and it apparently doesn't occur to a lot of people to search. I'm not tryina be pissy here, if you want (a lot) more information, hit the search the forums link, and you can find about a million pages of people saying pretty much what's already been said here: "Rideable entry level bike with low end components, the wheelset in particular is marginal. always on ebay for $300. Spending a few extra dollars on an IRO is not a bad idea." It can get pretty repetitive, so there's the cliffs notes if you don't really wanna wade through 300 pages of that.

You're excited about yer new bike and I don't wanna pee on your parade, so let's just say for $300 you can't go too far wrong. Ride the piss out of it enjoy it. Ignore people who say you need to upgrade the cheap components right a way. Replace them when they break, or when you think you're ready for something better.

What's viral marketing?

Are you saying I'm being dishonest about buying a bike?:(

I'm just looking for more info and looking to see what experiences others have had with this bike.

:mad:


cough (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_marketing)

Click the link.

Thanks for the heads up. I've never heard of this company before and I'm relatively new to this forum.

Again, I plopped down just under $400 for a bike sight unseen, something I've never done before and was hoping someone might be ablt to help determine whether or not I had made a bad decision.

I have no relationship with this company and resent the implication that I'm dishonest. I'm a pathologist working in the DFW area. You are more than welcome to check up and see who I am.

My other bikes are a Bob Jackson road bike
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=192857
, a Bianchi WUSS and a Specialized Stumpjumper.

Simply never had a single speed road bike before.

Thanks for the heads up. I've never heard of this company before and I'm relatively new to this forum.

Again, I plopped down just under $400 for a bike sight unseen, something I've never done before and was hoping someone might be ablt to help determine whether or not I had made a bad decision.

I have no relationship with this company and resent the implication that I'm dishonest. I'm a pathologist working in the DFW area. You are more than welcome to check up and see who I am.

My other bikes are a Bob Jackson road bike
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=192857
, a Bianchi WUSS and a Specialized Stumpjumper.

Simply never had a single speed road bike before.


Like some of the OP's said, there are a lot of shill posters here from Bikes Direct and their other affiliates. It is tough to tell who is legit at times. Go out and enjoy that real nice Bob Jackson I saw in your other post. Good luck on the Moto also.

Tim

Thanks again for the heads up. :rolleyes: I just saw a few other threads that have shed some light on the situation. No hard feelings.

I have a rush hour with very similar components. It was a great buy for testing the waters with a fixed.

I hear alot of stuff about the importance of good wheels and don't get me wrong they are important however, you need not change them out until worn out especially if you're strapped for cash like me :) Anyway, I'm still riding my stock wheels and they do the job fine. The first thing you will want to do is lose the stock 'pedals'. Next, don't worry about the gearing until you try it! I'm riding 48 / 15 with 165 cranks, I fell in love with this setup on my first ride. Even if it's a little hard at first, give it a go for at least 6 rides. Then after that go lower if you must. But trust me, your legs will get stronger and you may not need to. About the crank set, they are the suck. And I believe your ride has the same cranks as mine. They are a slightly modded double. You can even see where the 2nd ring was supposed to be, but its not drilled. But not to worry, the cranks are functional and I still ride mine [for now]. The ring is garbage and you will have to rotate it a few times before you find the sweet spot. It took me a few hours before I got it to a place where the chain tensioned more or less evenly. The chainring has a little 'rivet' that shows where the orientation of it should be [aligned with the crank arm] Ignore it, in fact I pulled the rivet out on mine with a pair of pliers. I hope this helps and congrats on the purchase!

Thanks so much for your input. My primary goal is to increase my leg strength. I'll leave the gearing alone and try it out.

Next, don't worry about the gearing until you try it! I'm riding 48 / 15 with 165 cranks, I fell in love with this setup on my first ride. Even if it's a little hard at first, give it a go for at least 6 rides. Then after that go lower if you must. But trust me, your legs will get stronger and you may not need to.

Firstly gearing is a personal thing so there are no hard and fast rules.

I would go lower if you've never ridden SS or fixed. Mashing a big gear is a good way to injury yourself as well as make it difficult to gain handling skills to ride the bike.

48x15 is close to track gearing which is great if you don't have to stop and start all the time. But unless you're very fit or young, riding that higher a gear in urban settings will hurt, maybe not now but in a few years time. Again, this is personal opinion.

Its best to start lower, build up your strength and speed, work on your spin and then move higher. But as I said gearing is a personal thing.

Since alanbikehouston seems to be out riding these days:

There are millions of Americans who bought the REAL Motobecane's....the bikes made in France. THAT Motobecane was an actual bike company that employed engineers, designers, and skilled builders. That once great name is now owned in the USA by the semi-shady hustlers at BikesDirect.

Here at the Forums there are only about twenty regular members who own the "new" Motobecane's...the bikes imported from Asia by BikesDirect. By "members" I mean those folks who post in threads unrelated to Motobecane and BikesDirect. The people who post ONLY about Motobecane and ONLY about BikesDirect products are obvious not true members, they are simply shills for BikesDirect.

However, those twenty "real" members keep two or three Motobecane threads going on the front page of "Road Cycling" at all times...a lot of work, but they get help. Each month, a BikesDirect employee joins the Forum to post "I just found a bike with a list price of $3,000, on sale at BikesDirect for just $899 including free shipping. It is the bestest bike I ever saw...maybe the bestest bike in the whole world". And, the shill will provide a convenient link to BikesDirect, or to one of BikesDirect E-Bay auctions.

"Bike Forums", two years ago, was a place "newbies" could come for factual, reliable information about bikes. Thanks to the hard work of BikesDirect, and about twenty helpful friends, it is rapidly becoming the "BikesDirect Bike Forums"....factual, and reliable information? No. But we CAN tell you where to go if you want a bike shipped "free", directly to your front door.

Members of Bike Forums ride bikes made by over a hundred different bike companies, purchased from thousands of different retailers. The 20 or so actual owners of "new" Motobecanes represent less than 1% of the total members of Bike Forums. Yet, that tiny group continues to generate almost 100% of the threads at Bike Forums that "steer" members to just one particular bike retailer. Again, Mr. Bikes Direct...why not just start your own Bike Forum (as Schwinn, and others have done), and leave THIS Bike Forum alone?

Take this **** elsewhere. The guy didn't even buy it from BD so what is this banter all about?

Yours truely, a BD shill who rides his motobecane Grand Sprint and loves it.

Orange or blue?

Kenal0

Like some of the OP's said, there are a lot of shill posters here from Bikes Direct and their other affiliates. It is tough to tell who is legit at times.

It actually isn't. Just click on that little button that says "Find More Posts By..." and you'll get a pretty clear sense of whether or not the OP is legit.

49 cm orange. I'm 5'5'' and I like a tight smaller frame. My Jackson is a 50cm.

I think white tape would look good on the handlebars.

It actually wouldn't look good.


It would look great.

Post a pic, after you put the tape on. I went with the blue.
If you are used to clipless pedals you will want to throw some on. I found that trying to get into the toe clip when crossing an intersection turned out to be more difficult then just clipping in since I was used to it.
Have fun you will like it.

Kenal0

I wound up getting a "Dawes" Lightning SST from one of BikesDirect.com's eBay accounts. I, too, thought it would be a cheap, easy inroad to fixed bikes. Sadly, in the ranking of BikesDirect.com bikes, the "Dawes" bikes are way below the "Motobecane" bikes as far as quality is concerned. Some of the components aren't bad -- the Truvativ Touro cranks are OK, and the Alex RP15 rims are... serviceable after being trued.

The first time out on a real ride, though, I fully stripped the cog. Or the hub; I can't tell because I can't get it off. Anyway, I was so disgusted that I had a new rear wheel built with a Mavic MA3 rim and an IRO hub, and moved all the parts to an old Bianchi Strada LX frame. Unfortunately, that frame had a crack and I've since moved all the parts back to the "Dawes", with the new rear wheel and new bars, stem, and brake lever. As soon as IRO is back from the hospital I'll be ordering a front IRO hub to lace into another MA3 so I have matching wheels. At that point, I'll take pics and actually try putting some miles on the bike. Hopefully the really cheap "Dawes" frame will hold up.

My point in all this? I hope your BikesDirect.com "Motobecane" is of much higher quality than my BikesDirect.com "Dawes". In the future, though, I'd highly recommend staying away from the BikesDirect.com bikes, and instead just grab an IRO, or a Bianchi Pista, or, heck, even the Redline fixie looks cool.

Hey,
This thread is interesting as there appears to be a conspirosy theorist that expects nobody has legitimate questions about cheap internet bikes and that everything is some advertising campaign. I will post pictures of my Motobecane Messenger complete with mods.. Personally, I would have prefered that the companies didn't rip off the old names and simply called them nice Taiwan frames. I bought a "Scattante" which was supergo's brand name and the company had no real history. The bike is great. Anyway, the hubs on the Messenger are cheap and although the ads say it has sealed bearings that's a reach. Good wheels really make a bike and I'm a believer in either building good ones or buying good ones. The exception to this is when the wheels are going to be subject to abuse. Until my son learns, I expect he'll abuse these pretty well. I trued them up and set the cones properly and expect that they'll be an adequate starting point. The Cranks on my bike are TruTaviv Touro and are dedicated track with a 48 chainring. I swapped that out since my experience so far is to go with lower gear and higher cadence. Toodels,Frogge.

I kinda like the green "Mercier" Kilo TT, is anyone with me?

http://i8.ebayimg.com/03/i/07/0c/94/d3_3.JPG

Firstly gearing is a personal thing so there are no hard and fast rules.

I would go lower if you've never ridden SS or fixed. Mashing a big gear is a good way to injury yourself as well as make it difficult to gain handling skills to ride the bike.

48x15 is close to track gearing which is great if you don't have to stop and start all the time. But unless you're very fit or young, riding that higher a gear in urban settings will hurt, maybe not now but in a few years time. Again, this is personal opinion.

Its best to start lower, build up your strength and speed, work on your spin and then move higher. But as I said gearing is a personal thing.

fixedpip is right, don't injur yourself :) I'm sorry if I sounded suggestive in that way. Even I myself had a little training before riding the 48 / 15. I was commuting on a MTB in top gear and never switching out. I can't say that my legs didn't hurt for several days either because they did! Do what your body tells you and don't jump in too fast.

this thread reeks of bull****. i don't beleive for a second pathdoc is anything other than a rep for motobecane. his avatar, caption, and answers all seem way too prepackaged. right after someone calls him on being a viral marketer, he goes and starts some bs thread about track drops.

well if he is a shill he's pretty good. he's been posting for about a week and a half on non-bikes direct topics in several different forums.

I'm not saying they DON'T try to promote themselves here, but overall I think bikeforums does more to discredit bikes direct than to advertise it. before I cam here i looked at those bikes on ebay with the same sort of interest a lot of newbs here show. Much like full suspension Walmart bikes, they look pretty nice when you don't know what to look for.

You sir are absolutely incorrect. Please feel free to research who I am. I am a physician, a pathologist by training having finished medical school at LSU in Shreveport in 1992. I completed my residency at the Ochsner Clinic in New Orlears in 1997. I currently work for the leading anatomic pathology service provider in the country and I managae a lab for a 200 bed hospital. Bike sales would not interest me and would be a serious pay cut.:eek:

I asked the handle bar question because I like the way the older style bars look. I didn't know the name of those bars but I'm considering putting them on this bike.

this thread reeks of bull****. i don't beleive for a second pathdoc is anything other than a rep for motobecane. his avatar, caption, and answers all seem way too prepackaged. right after someone calls him on being a viral marketer, he goes and starts some bs thread about track drops.

way to jump to conclusions.
he even posted in the "explain your screen name thread" last week.

You sir are absolutely incorrect. Please feel free to research who I am. I am a physician, a pathologist by training having finished medical school at LSU in Shreveport in 1992. I completed my residency at the Ochsner Clinic in New Orlears in 1997. I currently work for the leading anatomic pathology service provider in the country and I managae a lab for a 200 bed hospital. Bike sales would not interest me and would be a serious pay cut.:eek:

ugh.

ugh.

that word always reminds me of babysitting my lil' sister and Salute your Shorts on Nickelodeon.

What am I missing? Why can't I ask a simple question?

Anyone wanting to contact me, simply email me
hebert11@swbell.net
When I respond you'll have my office contact info.
Pretty easy to verify who I am.

the point is you don't have to prove who you are by giving us your cv.

relax. it's just the bike forum.

don't worry about people thinking you're fake. If you ignore those comments they go away, its one of those really simple lessons you're supposed to learn in kindergarten (unless you were too smart and skipped straight to 1st grade). Anyways, you seem to have received some good comments on what you got, and have some information to do some more exploring. Next time its probably best to consult your LBS (local bike shop) as they can lead you in the right direction.

More importantly why do we NEED to verify who he is? If he's shilling for bikes direct he'll have to outshout all the IRO parrots to make any real headway here. If he's not, though, it's really obnoxious to alienate new members every time we suspect they are a troll or a shill. What does more long term damage to the forum accusing all newbies of being fake, or the occasional fake trying to shill a crummy product or just annoy people?

Hey for all you know I may be a Soma shill since I have this inexplicable love for my bike and my handlebars. or maybe... maybe I'm shants.

What am I missing? Why can't I ask a simple question?

Anyone wanting to contact me, simply email me

When I respond you'll have my office contact info.
Pretty easy to verify who I am.

dude, i think the conversation has moved beyond you personally. your question was valid, but unfortunately close to some that have proven to be fraudulent. seriously, don't post personal information on the internet. especially when people are pissed off at certain individuals with whom you MIGHT be confused (i think at this point it's pretty obvious you are legit).

enjoy the bike, don't worry about what people say (both good all-around strategies)

or maybe... maybe I'm shants.

At least you weren't juvi-kyle. That was one of the wierdest experiences of my life.

I am chuck norris.

I am here to promote my upcoming educational video on how nuclear scientists accelerate neutrons. It is really a very simple process, I walk in the room and the neutrons start running away and crash into other atoms and they (the other atoms) split.

If he's shilling for bikes direct he'll have to outshout all the IRO parrots to make any real headway here.

ru saying tony has the same thing going as bikesdirect :D

Death by Roundhouse has increased %1000 since the birth of Chuck Norris.

I kinda like the green "Mercier" Kilo TT, is anyone with me?

http://i8.ebayimg.com/03/i/07/0c/94/d3_3.JPG

I hate to admit it, but I do like the green

I hate to admit it, but I do like the green

shishi is clearly a covert operative for the color green

ru saying tony has the same thing going as bikesdirect :D
actually I'm saying quality product and good customer service trump shills every time when it comes to generating good word of mouth.












but then I would say that since I'm actually an IRO shill ;)