RubeRad

It's been about a month now I've had my new hardtail, and I have concluded it's a screamin deal. It's a Motobecane Fantom 29Pro SL hardtail from BikeIsland (aka leftovers and returns from BikesDirect), only $749 for a Reba RL fork, XTR drivetrain, and 'tubeless-ready' wheelset*. They still have a pile of them left in 19" and 21", I bet there's a whole lotta clydes in here that would fit well (I'm a hair under 6", 250lbs, and very happy on the 19". My wife got a 17.5" full-sus, and I find it too small; bars too close, and had to raise the seatpost to the limit).

Here are some pics showing the buildup:

Straight outta the box:


Wheels, handlebars, front brake, RD mounted wrong:


Rotors, seat, RD corrected, all done!


I love the color, my pics show the orange kind of darker and more saturated, in reality it's a little towards pastel, I think it looks like orange sherbet, so I have named the bike Bert.

I was surprised to find a double crankset on a mountain bike, but I guess that's a thing nowadays. It's FSA Afterburner, which has a proprietary 3-arm spider. I was worried that low gear of 30/36 would give my clyde self trouble on the hills, but I managed to buy a 27-tooth granny ring to replace the 30, for only $9 off fleabay. Not that different I know, but every little bit helps; and it still shifts between 27/42 just fine.

Speaking of shifting, I LOVE the XTR shifters, not only can the upshift lever be operated in both directions ('trigger' with the index finger, or push forward with the thumb), but it can do TWO clicks in one push or pull (and the downshift thumb lever can do up to four clicks). I've always loved triggers, but now that I can do everything with my thumbs and keep my fingers on the brake levers at all times, it's awesome.

I am getting a bit of the 'avid turkey gobble' from the elixir 7 hydraulics, but I'm expecting to be able to work through it.

Planning on tubelessing the wheels when I have time over Christmas.


* I know that link shows a different bike, but here's what's up. Before I ordered, BI confirmed by email that the bike was (a) orange and (b) 2013. When I purchased, I was expecting the bike pictured and spec'd on the page (except orange), and I would have been happy. But it appears BI has pasted the wrong info on that page (and I have since informed them, but I guess they're too busy to fix it). Google shows a series of orphaned BD webpages for "Moto Fantom Pro29 SL", with various dates: 2010, 2011, 2015 (mine), and the current model, 2016 (which differs from mine in having a SID fork, tapered headtube, XT crankset, etc). Note that the URL of the 2015 page says "xii" (implying creation in 2012), and it says "2015...FINAL CLEARANCE" and lists orange 19" and 21" models remaining (which is what's listed at BI). So when the 2016 model came in, they moved the 2012-2015 inventory over to BikeIsland.

RubeRad

Hmmm. I guess nobody likes my new hardtail.

PhotoJoe 

Nice bike.

Sometimes I regret selling my old RockHopper.

RubeRad

What do you have instead?

jsigone

I need to go ride w/ you one of these weekends. really digging the orange frame and nice set of parts hanging off it

PhotoJoe 

I sold the MTB to help fund my road bike.

RubeRad

Well if you have no MTB and are in the 5'11-6-3" range, this might be a good opportunity for you!

Sounds fun, I'll PM you next time my wife&I know in advance we're going to go out (don't worry, she's faster than me!). Probably be some opportunities coming up this Christmas. We need to get back to Daley Ranch and try again (first time was so hard!!)

RubeRad

Only three left in 19"! (but fourteen left in 21")

RubeRad

I ran into a problem, the crankset came loose and the left arm was almost falling off while riding. I tried tightening and re-tightening it and using blue threadlocker, but it kept coming loose, had to carry a 8mm on every ride just in case. (Note this is the "NBD" (no bolt design) style with one high-torque crankbolt, not the kind with low torque straight in, then secured by a pair of sideways pinchbolts.

Contacted FSA, they very promptly, no questions asked, gave me a warranty replacement. Even though they told me to only send the crankset, no BB, no rings, they sent me back a whole crankset+BB+rings. (And then when I told them I had to use my original BB because the new one was not smooth, they sent me another BB!)

The new one is still "afterburner", but it's a 4-arm spider making my previous rings useless (i guess why they sent new ones). And the new rings are 36-22. Fortunately, I'm glad for the drop in gearing.

Anyways, word to the wise, if anybody picks up one of these, make sure the crankbolt is carefully torqued to spec (it's printed on the bolt). I never did, just assumed it was ok from the factory. So I don't know if mine failed because it was defective or because it had never been properly torqued.

Just checked, only one left in 19", five more in 21". I'm kinda hoping they'll still have one 21" left in two years when my son goes off to college, and maybe they'll take just $500 for it...

dr_lha

Yep, my DB had one of those FSA cranksets with the set extracting bolts, and after about 100 miles I noticed it was wobbling. Turns out that the factory install of the bolt must have been just finger tight.

It's a good idea when assembling any bike in a box, to go over all the critical bolts with a torque wrench.

I'll admit I much prefer the Shimano design, given that you don't need a massive car sized torque wrench to tighten it.

RubeRad

Definitely, this is my lesson learned. I had gone through the drivetrain and brakes and headset, but didn't think about the BB.

FSA also makes cranksets with sideways pinch-bolts, it definitely seems like a better design, maybe they're phasing out the single-bolt concept. If I ever shop for an FSA crankset, I will definitely look for a pinch-bolt type.

RubeRad

Question: I am currently happy on the 19". I'm seeing that there is one 19" left, and FIVE of the 21". Thinking ahead, my son is going to college in 2 years. He's just a hair shorter than me right now, and I expect another couple inches out of him, so I will keep tracking this bike, and hope that there are still some 21" left in a year or two, and I would offer BI like maybe $500, and it would fit my son. OR, if he doesn't grow anymore, or I give him mine...

Geometry Shows the difference between 19" and 21" is mainly in the seat tube. 0.7-0.8"=18-20mm more top tube, and 18.5mm more wheelbase. Also higher standover, which I"m fine with.

Would I be able to just get a shorter stem, and use 2" less seatpost, and feel pretty much exactly the same on the 21"?

jsigone

if the head tube is the same length then yes it will feel the same cockpit wise

The handling will be a TAD different with the longer wheelbase when in tight turns and switchbacks. Nothing that can't be solved by rubbing the edge of the trail for switches. I ride my 21" rockerhopper SS (90mm stem) all the time at mission trails and never have a problem with those switches. I have a 19" (110mm stem) as my race bike, longer stem for climbing stupid steep stuff

I'd stick your son on the 19" you have and you take the 21" and run a 70mm stem vs the normal 100mm that comes with it. You will have to lean forward a bit more when the grade kicks up to 25%+ realm. Plus side the downhill gets less weight over the front axle so can feel more neutral or easier.

IMO stand over is over rated since you will 98% chance never have two feet on the ground at the same time when clipped in. If your son gets taller or longer torso than you, flip bikes.

RubeRad

25% grade HAH! I don't foresee tackling such a steep hill -- up or down! What's the definition of slope percentage again? rise/run as a percent, such that 45deg = 100%? Or rise/(rise+run) such that pure vertical is 100%?

Standover: these mtb have such sloping top tubes, there's tons of standover, no worries there.

But in general, I think there's 100% chance I will never have two feet on the ground at the same time when clipped in. Unless something really bad happened to at least one of my cranks/pedals!

My son does run more to the torso than I do, gets that from his mom. Currently he drops my seat like 2-3 inches when he rides my bike even though he's basically the same height. Partly why I worry about if he would be able to handle the 21.

But thx for the feedback, I will keep watching the remaining inventory. It's old stock of the model sold 2013-2015, I bought mine nov '15, when they're down to just one 21" I'll re-evaluate and maybe make them an offer.