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Motobecane Fantom Cross UNO

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Motobecane Fantom Cross UNO

Old 08-27-08, 03:38 PM
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The levers included are generally used with traditional drops on CX bikes and commuters so that the rider can brake from the flats. Personally, I don't understand why drops aren't included with the bike, unless it is to meet a price point. That being said, I will still be ordering one and a $35 pair of Cane Creek levers. Not a deal breaker. I've said it before and I'll say it again, 4130, clearance for 1.9's, track ends, a flip-flop hub, and canti's. Its got the tire clearance I always wanted in a San Jose and is cheaper than a Cross Check. I can build and maintain it myself. I'm sold. Its my next fixed Monstercross bike.

-Rob.
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Old 08-27-08, 07:04 PM
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yeah, those were all my plusses too.

and it's in cromo. its really just perfect everything i was looking for.

i build an old nishiki from the frame up and think this will be retiring it, i also prefer to do all the maint. myself, for the life of me i dont understand why so many people want to give their bike to the lbs for every little thing.

very excited for this to get here.
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Old 08-27-08, 07:58 PM
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Nice bike, but the small chainring, no aero levers, and the decals turn me off to it. Great price though.
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Old 08-27-08, 09:45 PM
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I am just consistently amazed that a bicycle retailer comes to these forums and solicits and then actually uses the advice received here. That is unheard of in any other retailer that I know of. Kudos to the folks at Bikes Direct for offering us the chance at getting real input. Nice basic CX bike BD.... if I were in the market for one of those that would be really hard to pass up.
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Old 08-28-08, 03:30 AM
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Originally Posted by Hirohsima
I am just consistently amazed that a bicycle retailer comes to these forums and solicits and then actually uses the advice received here. That is unheard of in any other retailer that I know of. Kudos to the folks at Bikes Direct for offering us the chance at getting real input. Nice basic CX bike BD.... if I were in the market for one of those that would be really hard to pass up.
Thank you
What amazes me is that more oem spec guys do not come on the forums and get advise.

I am happy to hear what cyclists want and try to supply it

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Old 08-28-08, 11:20 AM
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Originally Posted by bikesdirect_com
Thank you
What amazes me is that more oem spec guys do not come on the forums and get advise.

I am happy to hear what cyclists want and try to supply it

mike
Who knows for sure that they do not?
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Old 09-03-08, 07:41 PM
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Anyone know the approximate weight? I'm pretty interested, but I would like it to weigh more like a roadbike, and not like a mountainbike.
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Old 09-03-08, 09:51 PM
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My god, it even has front fork rackmounts. Awesome.
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Old 09-06-08, 12:47 PM
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Ordered it today, ships the 15th. Awesome.

Oh, for the record, they updated the website to say that it fits 1.7's, not 1.9's. I thought 700x42/1.9 left allot of wiggle room. Oh well, 1.7 should be plenty.

-Rob.
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Old 09-06-08, 05:13 PM
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another question. On the white version, are the rest of the components still black?
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Old 09-18-08, 01:47 PM
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White frame photos

Never had a white frame before, didn't realize how difficult it is to get a decent photo. Sun or shade, don't matter... here ya go.







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Old 09-18-08, 04:23 PM
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I got mine today! All built up and rode it home in fixie mode!
The official weight with all shipped components on board is 22.92 lbs.

Anyone offer any good advice for getting the decals off?
Can I re-spray it after and avoid having to take it to anyone to get it done?

I got black Tektro levers to replace the chrome ones, pursuit bars to replace the drops, complete with a bar end brake lever for when I want to ride it fixed, new vittoria green cross tires to race on, Kenda Kross Supercross tires for winter riding, MKS steel toeclips and Crank Bros Mallet C's to replace the pedals!

I'll have pics up soon!
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Old 09-19-08, 06:13 AM
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Originally Posted by sequoia78
Anyone offer any good advice for getting the decals off?
Can I re-spray it after and avoid having to take it to anyone to get it done?
I believe someone from bikes direct answered this on a post, here or in another forum. They said that all of their decals are under the clear coat, and can't be removed. You could sand, bead blast, or strip it, but its a $400 bike. How much do you want to invest. I would suggest a piece of black or white tape.

-Rob.
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Old 09-19-08, 07:17 AM
  #39  
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Originally Posted by bbattle
Who knows for sure that they do not?
Yeah, I don't know why SE keeps making up new log-in names to ask for feedback on the Draft, tho.
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Old 09-19-08, 10:36 AM
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Originally Posted by robcycle
I believe someone from bikes direct answered this on a post, here or in another forum. They said that all of their decals are under the clear coat, and can't be removed. You could sand, bead blast, or strip it, but its a $400 bike. How much do you want to invest. I would suggest a piece of black or white tape.

-Rob.
Well Rob, since I'm a broke-ass college student about to have a baby, I don't want to invest too much! But I do want to have a bike that I like to look at...
And as far as black tape, have you seen the decals on this thing? There's a ton of them, and they ain't exactly small!
I read in a previous post somewhere that some people us a blowdryer to remove the decals.
I can get a compressor and airbrush to spray clear coat with, just wondering if anyone has done it, knows what clear coat to use, etc...

There are some low cost powder coaters in the PDX area as well, so if I have to, I'll wait and go that route.
I've kind of been kicking around the idea of retro-reflective paint on some of my components anyway, so maybe I'll just do it all at once.

Thanks for the feedback!
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Old 09-19-08, 11:02 AM
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Originally Posted by sequoia78
Well Rob, since I'm a broke-ass college student about to have a baby, I don't want to invest too much! But I do want to have a bike that I like to look at...
And as far as black tape, have you seen the decals on this thing? There's a ton of them, and they ain't exactly small!
I read in a previous post somewhere that some people us a blowdryer to remove the decals.
I can get a compressor and airbrush to spray clear coat with, just wondering if anyone has done it, knows what clear coat to use, etc...

There are some low cost powder coaters in the PDX area as well, so if I have to, I'll wait and go that route.
I've kind of been kicking around the idea of retro-reflective paint on some of my components anyway, so maybe I'll just do it all at once.

Thanks for the feedback!
Yeah, I've seen them. I own one

The biggest decal is 34.5x3.5 cm. You could easily cover them with electrical or black duct tape. If your tape wasn't matte, I don't think you would notice it from 10'.

I read the hair dryer post somewhere as well. Don't know if you could, but I doubt it.

If you shop around you can probably find someone to blast it for $50-75 and if you aren't too picky with colors you can usually have them use the paint/powdercoat left over from someone else's project for a serious discount. Nothing to loose in calling around.

Congratulations on the baby

-Rob.
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Old 09-19-08, 11:10 AM
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Thanks Rob! We're excited! Fighting over names is a nightly game at our house these days!

I'll go get some electrical tape until my student aid award letter arrives and I can drop it in to have it powdercoated. There's a shop here in Bend that does it for $90, and I know a couple of places in Portland that can beat that price and still let me pick whatever colors I want from about 3,000 options.

I'll post some pictures here when it's done!
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Old 09-20-08, 07:45 AM
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Here is mine. Right after riding 20 miles of technical single track and 24 miles of road to commute to said single track and back. I am lucky enuf to live near to a nice single track network that gets ridden ALOT so the trails are hard packed and fast. I love not having to load my gary fisher RIG in the car to go ride. If the trails are relatively dry - the UNO Cross will get the call. Overall I was pleased with the gear ratio for road and trail. I think i cud go to a 36 tooth... but i would loose my 18mph pace on the road.
Added aero levers and put on 700x34 hutchinson tires. Haven't take the bash guard off yet...but i will be. Gunna try to lighten her up a bit more.

Bike came without the brake cables installed and the wheels were terribly out of true. Had to tighten and go over the entire bike etc - maybe a total of 3 hrs of tinkering to get it right and rdy for assualt.


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Old 09-20-08, 11:36 AM
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Originally Posted by teamhaze
Here is mine. Right after riding 20 miles of technical single track and 24 miles of road to commute to said single track and back. I am lucky enuf to live near to a nice single track network that gets ridden ALOT so the trails are hard packed and fast. I love not having to load my gary fisher RIG in the car to go ride. If the trails are relatively dry - the UNO Cross will get the call. Overall I was pleased with the gear ratio for road and trail. I think i cud go to a 36 tooth... but i would loose my 18mph pace on the road.
Added aero levers and put on 700x34 hutchinson tires. Haven't take the bash guard off yet...but i will be. Gunna try to lighten her up a bit more.

Bike came without the brake cables installed and the wheels were terribly out of true. Had to tighten and go over the entire bike etc - maybe a total of 3 hrs of tinkering to get it right and rdy for assualt.


That looks great. How'd you take care of your decals?
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Old 09-20-08, 01:33 PM
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thx - for 400bux delivered - and some parts i had laying around.... u cannot beat it.

Sprayed....
i took care of the decals by lightly sanding... then airbrushing with flat white i had on hand that just so happened to match it perfectly... then clear coating. Total time spent was about 2 hrs with letting the multiple light coats to dry.

Very hard to tell its been sprayed IMO - even in the sun.
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Old 09-20-08, 01:34 PM
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very nice looking. I need one of these.
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Old 09-20-08, 02:05 PM
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Originally Posted by olderbikerzzz
I just bought one, this is essentially exactly what I was looking for when I was searching for my all terrain commuter all those months ago.

everything else i saw took away as many features i was looking for as they were offering, so I am very happy with the feature set. was in between the 61 cm and the 64, ended up going 64.

i have a question though, why are the breaks being put where they are and not further down on the drop bars like normal?


i know i already made the payment but it would be nice to see some offered with racks and fenders, i think a lot of people will be getting these for urban commuters where they will be spending significant amount of time going thru construction zones

glad it was offered in cromo, aluminum would have been a dealbreaker for me.
Yeah ... it seems that it could make a nice winter fix.
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Old 09-26-08, 12:00 AM
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Just got my Fantom Cross UNO today (Thursday 9/25) after ordering it late last Friday. Initially I was told that the 58cm, white bike I ordered was out, but they wound up locating one of two in their warehouse - so I got lucky. My daily commuter for the past year has been a black single speed, so I'm ready for a color change. Sorry for anyone else looking for a 58cm UNO in white...

The bike arrived in good condition - the box had one tiny hole and was otherwise in good shape. The canti brakes, which stick out from the frame, were wrapped in large rubber bands to prevent them poking through. This is my second BD purchase this year, and I continue to be pleased with their packing jobs. All points of the bike where parts make contact are wrapped and secured nicely.

I took the bike out and did a finger-tight assembly just to get a look at it. I'll be doing a partial parts swap over the weekend so I won't be riding the bike until then, but out of the box it's an overall great value. Some thoughts:

Overall finish quality on the frame seems okay. The welds aren't particularly pretty, but what do you expect at this price point? I was a little disappointed by some weld "voids" I noticed around the rear canti brake bridge, and around one of the dropouts. A thicker paint job would have hidden these, but then a nicer frame wouldn't have them to begin with. As for the paint, it appears uniform with no runs though I did notice a flaw or two here and there. The clear coat is thin over the logos - you can feel them when you run your fingers over them. This is good for people looking to sand them away before doing a respray. I'll tape over them. As logos go, they aren't that ugly (on the white bike) but they are everywhere - on the top tube, down tube, and seat tube... I mean, come on! That's a lot of logos. The headbadge is glued onto the head tube and should come off without much effort. The track ends are stamped with threaded eyelets - not the worst I've seen. The fork really looks nice - I love the lugged crown - it really classes up the whole package. Very handsome rake and the front rack eyelets are a very nice touch for anyone wanting to turn this into a good cargo bike. It's a feature that is actually sort of hard to find nowadays - I don't even think the Surly Cross-Check has it...

I haven't weighed the bike, but it feels like its in the 23lbs range without pedals. Maybe I'll weigh the frame when I have it torn down over the weekend...

Component-wise the bike feels just a tiny bit better than the other BD bike I've had experience with: the 2009 Dawes SST which I got for my girlfriend. On both of these bikes the move to threadless stems is a very nice step up from the quill stem alternatives. Tires and wheels are a little better here as is the overall quality of the frame and fork - but not by much.

The two points of criticism I see leveled at this bike are the cross-only levers, and the location of the rear brake cable stops at the seven-o'clock position along the top tube. In my case I'm swapping out the bars, levers, and stem for another setup, so the cross levers don't affect me. As for the cable stops - nearly every single-speed out there that has these braze-ons, has them at this position. True, I'd like to see them at 11 or 12 as I do carry my bike up the stairs, over my right shoulder, but it's not a deal breaker for me. Personally, I'm fussy about brake levers and handlebar setups in general, so I'm glad BD skimped a little here, allowing customers to either live with the cross levers or spending more to get exactly what they want... At this price, if you don't like the levers, you should have enough cash left over to buy whatever you want.

Why did I buy this bike? Basically I need something to get me through Chicago's winter. I need clearance for fenders, wide tires, and a cargo rack. I generally ride 700 x 28, but during the winter I like to play around with different tires - the roads here are absolutely destroyed in the winter months with potholes and cracks... fat tires come in handy sometimes. I also have some Kenda studded snow tires, which have yet to see any real use...

I'll post more and maybe add some pics when I have the bike setup later.
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Old 09-26-08, 08:52 AM
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Did your cog and lock ring have loc-tite on them?

-Rob.
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Old 09-26-08, 12:10 PM
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How is sizing on these bikes, I am 6'4 and was wondering if the 61cm would be big enough, the sizing chart on BD is alittle wierd, anyone have one thats around that size? could you maybe give me some feed back on sizing?
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