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I ordered a Brand new 2006 Motobecane MESSENGER road racing TRACK bike.

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I ordered a Brand new 2006 Motobecane MESSENGER road racing TRACK bike.

Old 05-04-06, 01:22 AM
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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?
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Old 05-04-06, 01:31 AM
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Best choice you ever made!!!!
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Old 05-04-06, 06:23 AM
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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:
https://shop.greatdealsonbikes.com/me...tegory_Code=TR

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Old 05-04-06, 06:25 AM
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The OP must write ebay auction titles for a living.
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Old 05-04-06, 06:42 AM
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Paging alanbikehouston! Paging alanbikehouston!
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Old 05-04-06, 06:43 AM
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pics?
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Old 05-04-06, 06:45 AM
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Sweet! You must be so psyched! New bikes are awesome. Ride the snot out of it and enjoy
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Old 05-04-06, 06:48 AM
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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.
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Old 05-04-06, 07:12 AM
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Here is the link to the wheels:
https://shop.greatdealsonbikes.com/me...tegory_Code=TR



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

Jim
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Old 05-04-06, 07:15 AM
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Thanks for that link.

I can't wait to try this bike out.

I'll post some pics once she arrives.
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Old 05-04-06, 07:59 AM
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The thread title screams viral marketing to me. cough
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Old 05-04-06, 08:07 AM
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he has an interesting avatar. It looks like it's watching me
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Old 05-04-06, 08:21 AM
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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.

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Old 05-04-06, 08:24 AM
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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?
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Old 05-04-06, 08:34 AM
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Originally Posted by pathdoc
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.

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.
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Old 05-04-06, 08:37 AM
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Originally Posted by pathdoc
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.

Originally Posted by curlybro
Click the link.
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Old 05-04-06, 08:38 AM
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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
https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycling/192857-bob-jackson-owner.html
, a Bianchi WUSS and a Specialized Stumpjumper.

Simply never had a single speed road bike before.
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Old 05-04-06, 08:46 AM
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Originally Posted by pathdoc
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
https://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
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Old 05-04-06, 08:58 AM
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Thanks again for the heads up. I just saw a few other threads that have shed some light on the situation. No hard feelings.
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Old 05-04-06, 09:15 AM
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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!
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Old 05-04-06, 09:41 AM
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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.
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Old 05-04-06, 09:42 AM
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Originally Posted by tokidokizenzen
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.
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Old 05-04-06, 09:45 AM
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Originally Posted by bbattle
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.
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Old 05-04-06, 10:15 AM
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Orange or blue?

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Old 05-04-06, 10:19 AM
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Originally Posted by cs1
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.
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