VernMoto

I have pulled the trigger on this Motoecane Carbon Fiber. It is designed and engineered in China of Taiwan by the same companies that make frames for Trek and Specialized. My concern on this bike is the knuckle. It just does not look as robust as I have seen on Trek bikes that essentially use the same frame. Any opinions?

cxwrench

Do not be fooled. The engineering expertise that goes in to that frame is nothing like that of the Trek. Just because they are made in (possibly) the same facility doesn't mean a thing. 'Essentially' the same frame? Not even close.

dsbrantjr

Seems like a moot point since you have already ordered the bike.

Iride01 

While the Trek and Specialized bikes might have a more robust looking knuckle and more stronger anything else you can point to, the question is really if you need that.

If you are not going to put your bike through some of the more extreme abuse some riders do then it may not be a problem to worry about. Also, if you are at the light end of rider weight and do put your bike to all the abuses that some others do, then again it might not be anything to worry about.

What I'm trying to say is if knuckle design X can take a gazillion units of force and design Y can only handle 3/4 of a gazillion units of force, then what does it matter if the weight and forces you put on the bike are only going to be 1/2 a gazillion units of force?

If this is one of your first bikes or it get you what you want at the price you want, then don't worry. I don't think bikes should be a one time purchase thing. Ride them till you get tired of them and get another.

VernMoto

Oh, it is not too late though. It is on order. I was looking at Trek and Specialized at my LBS. Could not find all I wanted for less than $6000. Folks at the LBS will not even talk about bikes they do not sell.

VernMoto

Thank you for the very helpful information. Probably 1/4 a gazillion units of force. I will be using this bike as a trail bike to replace my hard tail Specialized with 26" wheels. I have been riding road bikes since the 80s and I have some great road bikes. But there are some great trails close to me in Houston. Parts of the trail are pretty rough riding with roots, holes and sometimes curbs to jump over. I see these guys out there with their 10k Specialized and wonder why I should spend that much for a full suspension. I am hoping this bike is more than adequate. It is good to hear from those in the know about these full suspension CF bikes, because I have no Idea, except for how much more a LBS would charge me for the same specs.

VernMoto

My research would indicate otherwise. Then again, I am not going to pound the bike through a double black diamond. Probably more like green circle..LOL I just want it to last at least 5 years before it is all outdated and old school like my last purchase of a Specialized in 2007 at the LBS.

Andrew R Stewart 

Well what's the warranty and the company that backs it up? Does this company have a history of offering replacement options after the sale? These aspects speak loud, or don't.

As far as becoming outdated... find a rock to hide under. Andy

Darth Lefty 

But it's got a slack seat angle and no dropper! horrors

VernMoto

Slack seat angle? I think you are talking out of your butt. Already going to spend some $$ on a sweet dropper. Haven't decided which one.

VernMoto

I got it on BikesDirrect. They have an outlet store not too far from me and they offer a 30 day money back guarantee. Anything damaged or defective they replace it for free. The bike has a Warrantee. All Bikes (Frames + Parts) Covered for a FULL Year from date of purchase against defects PLUS BONUS MotoArmor Warranty By Frame Material: Carbon Fiber=100 Year Bonus. They even cover crashes.


Wait, hide under a rock? II know bike tech just keeps exploding, but is it that fast? Are bikes going to have automatic transmissions and weight 5 pounds soon...LOL

cpach

The frame is likely made by a large manufacturer that produces frames for us based, mainstream brands but I'm pretty sure that frame isn't produced by Giant (who build all of Trek's imported carbon frames) or Merida (who build all Specialized frames and own like 49% of specialized). Both of those brands do all of their design in house and then contract the manufacture. Also the suspension kinematics of that bike is dissimilar to either of those brands.

I suspect the linkage in question is fine, for what it's worth.


BD bikes are a good deal, especially on the higher end, but they really benefit from professional assembly so if you aren't an experienced home mechanic I strongly recommend you bring it to a good shop fully boxed. You'll still save a lot over buying standard retail. If they give you a hard time about the bike's origin, find another shop.

deacon mark

In 2010 I bought a Bikes Direct Motobecane Immortal Spirit. It is a CF racing bike and it was wonderful. I road it for 3 years had 10,000 miles on it never a bit of trouble. Sold it for like $700 is looked like new. I once compared it to a Trek 4.5 Madone I used for a ride just to see. No different in the the ride and frankly the threaded bottom bracket made it a better bike. Your bike will be a winner.

Steve B.

That of course, is what Trek/Specialized/Colnago/Bianchi/Giant/etcetera, etcetera want the masses to believe. Is the reason Colnago can sell a $3500 FRAME. I'm skeptical that there's a difference worth $3500.

veganbikes

A Fauxtobecane is not anywhere close to the quality, engineering...of Specialized or even Trek or any other similar large brands, It is likely made in Taiwan (or maybe China), quite cheaply probably of a generic open mold from a little while ago. The reason it says Motobecane on the side is to give BikesDirect some prestige. You don't want to buy a generic frame from some unknown but "Motobecane, I heard of them" and even if it is not the same company with any relation to the past other than dredging up old logos it still can work.

It might be built in the same factory a lot of Ti frames out of Taiwan come from the same factory but it all then comes down to did someone pay money to design a frame and do some testing on it or did they just go and say get it done cheap. You can order straight off the generic menu or you can actually craft the dish and work out a recipe and bring that to the chef to produce.

zacster

I was looking at the BD website and came to two conclusions. First, their website still sucks. It is still the same basic layout it always was. Second, the components on the bikes are the same components everybody else uses. Ultegra is Ultegra. Their frames look a little old school CF, without the touches the Specialized, Trek and the other name brands may have.

Given the price of the complete bike these frames can't be much different from the $300 Chinese frames you see on ebay. They may be OK, they may not be.

What I still find tacky though is the Motobecane name slapped on. Why don't they just create their own brand instead of trying to conjure images of a long dead French company? Nobody they are marketing to remembers them anyway.

Trakhak

It's understandable that people who work in bike shops bad-mouth BikesDirect bikes like the Motobecanes. If I still worked in a bike shop, I'd be annoyed, too. However, I've bought two BikesDirect Motobecanes in the last 15 years, and I'm more than satisfied with both. For a given frame and component quality level, buying from BikesDirect is like getting a bike at an employee discount. Their weakness is that, although they do provide a warranty, they can't provide the level of after-purchase service that a bike store can.

Bill Kapaun

You prefer Schwinn?

VernMoto

Thanks for the advice. The bike has arrived and I was thinking about giving a try at assembly, but I don't put bikes together professionally. I am glad you siad it as well. Defiantly going to have it professionally assembled. My LBS is BikeBarn and they want $250 to assemble. They also seem pretty annoyed at me for not purchasing the $7000+ Specialized they have in stock. I am looking for another shop.

VernMoto

I remember when these guys were using the Windsor brand name. Made no difference to me as long as the bike has quality.

As far as the BD web site. Man, try looking at Specialized or Trek web sight. Talk about overwhelmingly too much. A LOT of money goes into those websites and what do you get for all that? Mark up. In the 70s Radio Shack made a fortune for selling things with 400% mark up. When I worked for Pontiac I used to laugh at the prices the dealership paid per unit vs what the sticker price was.

deacon mark

Wish you lived near me I would do it way less than $250. That seems a lot of money to build up a bike that is about 90% built.

sch

I suspect some of the posters recall the events of ~10-12yrs ago as discussed in these two articles
https://www.velonews.com/not-all-fra...terfeit-bikes/

https://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear...ake-bike-gear/

Motobecane brand was long ago sold by its original owner to the present purveyors which appear to be Taiwan
based. It was a so-so brand out of France in the 70s when I started riding like Gitane and Peugeot making
decent but not great bikes. Its current iteration seems to have held up over time with decent frames. It
is possible the OP bike frame is actually made in Taiwan, but a bit more likely to be mainland in origin. Saw
a recent article in ?WSJ? ?NYT? about Giant which reported that in the neighborhood of half of their production was
mainland based.

I suspect the frame will do fine on nearly dead flat Houston trails. As one ATB rider said, ATB frames are disposable.

veganbikes

The Bike Barn in Houston Texas lists on their website:
You might be quoting something different? Maybe you were also looking at a bike fit? Bike fits can be $250 and up or you had other services you were looking at?

VernMoto

I was told "Starting at $250" when the guy was trying to sell me the Specialized. He said something like "You have to get the bike fitted as well" I think he was referring to bikes they sell at the shop. In any case, I got the impression they wanted to sell me a bike, not really help me with getting any sort of good deal.

I found an old bike pro shop in Seabrook that siad he would assemble for $40. His bike shop is connected with charities that try to get everyone on a bike. https://www.facebook.com/slowtwitchniche/ Did some research and found some pro's in this group that say they will not let anyone else touch their bikes. Unfortunately, there is a wait.

mattcalifornia

From the way you describe it, I wonder if you'd be better off with a hard tail bike. Or even a gravel bike. You'd be surprised at what you can do with little to no suspension. Unless you're bombing nasty downhills or doing serious drops, you can ride lots of rough stuff and trails without rear suspension -- and even without front suspension. In the early 90s, I lived in a ski town in the Rockies and had a hard tail/hard fork Fisher mountain bike. I mountain biked almost every day on some pretty gnarly trails without any problem (well, I did have to replace my headset twice). For the type of riding you are describing, I would give serious consideration to something lighter, stronger, less complicated and less likely to fail.