Fantom Cross CX
 

Would this bike be something you guys would consider comparable to the trek crossrip? because it sure seems that way to me? my other question is does anyone have one and have some thoughts on it they could share.Im a newbie to bicycles as an adult and this will be my all arounder bike.Thanks

I have one that I bought secondhand on craigslist. Not a single part matches the build from bikesdirect, so I have a feeling it was bought as a bare frame from bikeisland.

I love it, very comfortable, very capable, not very light in the least. It's also the biggest bike I own by the numbers- it's a 61 and most every other bike I have is in the 56-58 range.

http://i.imgur.com/tXbM6l.jpg

The biggest question, and the one that always follows any BD bike, is whether you are comfortable building and adjusting a bike out of the box and whether you know which size to buy without the guidance of the sales staff at a shop.

Well, the Trek is a lot more expensive because it has a Trek logo on it. ;) As Dan said, if you can handle assembly and sizing, go for it.

I have a Fantom CX and I love it all to pieces. Mine has not been as upgraded as Dan's though... just a bar/stem/seat/rack/fenders/granny ring and D/A bar-end shifters. But most of that was not upgrades, just damage repair after falling out of a bike rack on the freeway.

I loved my CX so much, I bought an Uno to go with it for when I don't feel like shifting.

And finally, a picture:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-r...0/IMG_1724.jpg

how much assembly is required with a BD bike? I use to be an auto mechanic and now I manage auto mechanics instead of me doing it.So Im mechanically inclined.No time on bikes though.I was planning on doing the basics and then taking it to my LBS and having them do the tuning part.

Mostly just screwing stuff together. You'll have to put the handlebars in the stem and line up the stem/bars/fork and put the wheels in. That part requires very little finesse.
The hard part for the inexperienced would be lining up the brakes and derailleurs, and of course dialing in the fit. But if you're an auto mechanic, you could probably watch the videos at BD or at parktool.com and get the idea. But you will still want to take it in pretty soon after to get the wheels checked out. Sometimes they're a little loosey-goosey and need to be tensioned and trued right off the bat.

Once you get it all set up though, it is a great bike. I have flogged mine mercilessly on-road and off, commuting, day-tripping, joyriding, and trailer-towing, for three years and 4500 miles or so. A few parts are nearing end-of-life, and I will be swinging some upgrades soon. :)

It's like a 20 minute assembly from BD. Sure, lots of us will tear the bike down, re-grease and re-assemble, tension the wheels, readjust everything...but that's mostly obsessive behavior. Frankly, watching HS kids assemble bikes at the local LBS I doubt you're getting any better attention to detail by getting your all around bike locally built.

I had a stock Fuji CrossComp, an Alumicross and built up my own TriCross, which gets alot of saddle time,... more than my carbon Roubaix. Major fun. The CX is great all around bike for adults getting into biking. And with a high quality wheelset and tires they can go pretty fast for a multipurpose, hybrid type bike.

big Fantom fan i see ;)

thanks for the replies guys,and for the pic bigben thats a super nice looking bike.I wish they had that color still,lol.

Nevermind now I see that they still have it in that same grey color you have.Thats the one Im going to get.Thanks for the pics that really helped.

You could say that.

So now what I need to figure out is the sizing for when I order.Im thinking a 54 is what I should get.Im 5'8 and a half to be exact.I wear a 30in inseam but thats a little long on me "I have short legs".When I measured myself from the floor to the bottom of scrotom area trying to get a rough idea of stand over height I measured out at 28 and a half inches.Any insight on Motobecane sizing would help,thanks.

Mine is a 54cm and I am 5'9"ish with a ~29-30" inseam. So based on that, I would vote for the 54 as the 52 might be too small.

ok that helps thanks bigben

If you haven't worked on bike wheels before, and have an idea of how to tension and true them, then you might want to take them to a mechanic sooner rather than later. My Fantom CXX wheels didn't come anywhere close to where they needed to be. That's not a knock against BD, it's just what you sign up for when you buy from them.

I have a Fantom CX frame built up with other parts. It's a good frame. If I was going for a budget CX bike, I would definitely look at the complete bike.

Yeah I figured I would put the bike together and then take it to my LBS and have them do final adjustments to the duearailers and the wheels and so on.

^^ I knew I'd seen this "build it up and have a shop tune it" idea before, but I didn't think it was in this very thread!

This thread should offer a decent idea of the requirements to set up a BD bike.

I'd imagine if you were to get it bike shaped (mount the bars, levers, saddle...) and rolling on its wheels, any shop would give it a tune it up for the standard rate (+/- $50).

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-8...211030844c.jpg

There we go. SCR-5s and urban camo bar tape.

Lookin' good!

Does the Fantom Cross have room for 35s, and fenders**********

I think so. I ride with 32s, and the 45mm fenders do have some room left. However, the lack of a chainstay bridge will make mounting a rear fender a little bit of fun. Dan, you may wish to share how you did it... so I can do it too. ;)

Yes, I routinely run continental (something... Edit: sportcontact, wonderful tires) 37's with some ancient bluemels lightweight fenders without a shred of issue.

Fenders:
For the lack of chainstay bridge I drilled a hole (PITA to do, had to use a drill press, any handheld drill would just dance off) in the little fender clip for the chainstay bridge and used the FD pulley bolt to anchor it there. The fender is a little rotated back, but other than that, I haven't noticed any issue with the shifting (probably used a washer too, I'll have to look in the morning and be back with pictures). You can just barely see it in the full resolution picture I have up on imgur.

I thought I was pretty clever. http://i.imgur.com/bQUZD.gif

interesting,I didnt realize it would be that big of pita to mount a fender on it

You are pretty clever. I may have to try that myself... not with a drill press, but at least pounding the hole with a nail and enlarging it with a drill.

OH, it's not a PITA, I survived just fine for a long time with a partial mtb fender under the rack. All this came because I wanted the matching [free, already in the parts bin] bluemels to the front.

Here's the old, Zefal (?) MTB fender, you can see it running under the rackattached to the brake bridge, and then clamped around the seattube. I DID Have to put a notch in it so the Fd cable would run smooth. I still have the thing, it could be yours (PM and it's yours for the price of shipping).
http://i.imgur.com/sThhXl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Ui3Wcl.jpg



I also could have used a fender like a planet bike that just has the slot down at the bottom and either a zip tie or an old reflector mount:

http://i.imgur.com/oPENcFY.jpg