fmw

Thanks, and thanks for reminding me by posting the image. I took the yellow saddle off and replaced it with a plain black Aspide Arrowhead. I need to make a new image. The yellow on the saddle clashed terribly with the red tires. I put it on the QS2 which has not only yellow tires, but yellow spokes as well.

WheresWaldo

I saw the new pics of the QS2, as pretty as it is, I am not a fan of sloping top tubes. That's why I like your Litespeed better.

fmw

And the new Litespeeds almost all compact geometry now. Certainly the Firenze is. I don't mind the compact geometry when it is slight like the QS2. I don't like it when it gets extreme like the new Litespeed Ghisallo. My Firenze is really a very nice bike. It takes quite a bit to beat it. Glad you like it. It is my personal favorite.

Lecterman

Actually, my friend and I rode some hills yesterday with 3 other people. One was on a Roubaix Elite, another on a Cannondale R1000, and another on a Griffen Kompressor (Very sweet BTW)

Us, we were on our 80s steel Centurions and rode just as comfortably and at a better pace than the others. And our bikes cost waaaaaaaaay less than theirs. So I vote for Centurion

clfjmpr44

I could shill for Habanero again. Chili Pepper Ti is the best way to fly!
A

ViperZ

Hey.....! If you meant Moi... I'm shilling for a new ride now





My Commuter

Skinny tired Ti Bikes are Passé

jim-bob

I never really liked motobecanes the first time around, I don't see anything particularly compelling about the cookie-cutter bikes now bearing that name.

ViperZ

It's what we all really have in common, it's not the bikes, but the Grarage doors

I should start a thread "Post Your Garage Doors"

fmw

Yes and it's getting to be a hassle hauling my bikes all the way to Canada just to make a few images!

ravenmore

yes. i know what you mean.













yep - pretty average, unintersting fare really. Oh hey, look - not a single garage door in site. Hmmmm, guess you have to actually own a garage door first.....

WheresWaldo

That's not fair, you live in an apartment!

ravenmore

details, details.....

ravenmore

I may be riding/shilling an Orbea soon. I don't know, my sponsor still hasn't gotten back to me on that.

I have to admit I've had a bad case of titanium envy lately due to certain recent threads.

BeeTL

You see how it works?

They lure you in with the cheap Motobecanes, but pretty soon you're into the lighter, faster stuff...and before you know it, you're HOOKED!!!

ravenmore

lol - they should start a 12 step program.

Man, hadn't looked at the Moto gigi in a while (pink bike). Almost forgotten how pretty it was. Belongs to my now ex-girlfriend. Man I miss that bike.....

shawnj73

I am going to be a shill for my other love. Just for Alan; I am posting my MTB that has no Shimano; Intense Frame, Chris King Hubs, Chris King Head Set, Fox Rear Shock, XO shifting all made here in the U.S. Seat Post, Cranks, and Stem made by Race Face in Canada. Hope Hydraulic Disc Brakes made in the U.K. We all know where the seat comes from. Easton Handle bars. Marocchi Fork. A.B.H. is this ok?

Thanks guys for letting me vent!!

Tubified

I am a newbie to this board. however, I am hardly a newbie to cycling. I was interested in the IF Moto and found this board and some others in the course of my backround research on the bike. I realized that these bikes likely had no connection whatsoever to the original motos except their sort of retro looking logo. I ended up giving the IF a try and, despite owning 2 steel Serottas which I will always love dearly, I find the IF to be a great ride. There are undoubtedly hundreds of other great values out there as well. And, as much as I would detest it if there were real shilling going on by manufactures or dealers on this board, I find it interesting that a few (one?) would jump to that conclusion because someone (a newbie yet) has decided to buy a bike out of the maintstream. Hell, I have 2 old Nishiki's too. I rode close to 4000 miles on one of those (a $350.00 bike) a few years back. I still have that bike and it rides great. But as an older rider now, I like the smoothness of the fiber frame, which wasn't availble at the time. I guess, now that I think about it, maybe I am really a Nishiki shill. Please don't tell anyone.

Ostuni

rubbing my eyes here...

same frame, right? or did i miss something big ??

edit: okay, things coming into focus.... remembering the history now.... recognizing the common bits and pieces.... mourning the wheels....

daytonian

Did Raven sell his Top's to FMW?? I know there were truing issues but just curious. It's been a few days, catch me up on the soaps.
Oh, and I'm currently shilling for Litespeed, Specialized, Shimano, Vittoria, 3T, Giro, Cannondale, and Pearl Izumi for the grassy knoll paranoid what'syourpurposehere mofo's.

KrisPistofferson

One thing to keep in mind:

"Google" is a popular search engine on the internet. If you have, say, a new bike you're excited about, and run a search on it, chances are Bikeforums will pop up on the first page. It gets that much traffic. Anytime there are threads with "too many newbies," people always accuse these companies of sending minions to the forums, and it's just ********. These people find their way here on their own.

KDB

Back to the original thread:

This is a solid issue. I read a lot of posts on this forum and started a few threads to compare ebay/bikesdirect/lbs options before purchasing. The opinions, experiences, and info I gained was very helpful. I eventually did buy a Dawes from ebay (the belief is that both chickabike and sprtymoma (SP?)who sell on ebay are really bikesdirect in disguise).

While everyone has their favorite bikes, reasons for buying, and personal experiences; a shill is giving you nothing but a disguised advertisement. We've had other discussions about bikesdirect's marketing methods on other threads and IMHO, they do take advantage of buyer ignorance; something that BF can really help to counter.

So, I don't know if it's possible for mods to screen out threads and posts that are from bikesdirect shills, but I do support the idea.

Bike Lover

I am relatively new here too. I saw a discussion about MB and had posted the sale on the carbon frame (IF) that Raven and others ended up getting. By NO means am I a shill. It was a relevant post in a topic. I noticed the sale and to be helpful, I posted it where it was relevant, where I was reading/keeping up with interest on a bike or two.

I was and still am looking for a decent inexpensive bike. Does this mean I will get a BD/MB product? It may, and hence my interest in what others have to say and my attraction to threads with either in the title. Because of this, I tend to post in those threads because of my interest. Again, I have absolutely no relation to BD/MB and would feel unwelcomed if people started calling me shill for BD/MB.

There are already things that turn me off about this forum, all the ripping on "cagers" for one (the main one and the one that really bothered me was when people where happy that some poor lady lost her entire arm in a roll-over accident, in an "evil" SUV) but what I really like is all the information that can be gathered about expensive or inexpensive bikes, new technologies, bike fitting, etc. This is why I return (frequently, almost daily) but post little (I'm learning after all). If anything, I could be called a "lurker" but not a "shill."

Personally, I think that a couple of people (may be store owners) are up in arms about the 50 lb gorilla (BD) and the word being spread that the bike aren't bad, particullarly for the price. If you review the MB/BD postings, you'll find the same couple of people (really one, but I won't name names here) is accusing everyone who posts anything positive said as being a "shill." They do it enough and people start wondering: "is it true?" (the old saying of "if it's repeated enough, it becomes true" comes to mind).

So before people start getting kicked off the board because they are thought to be "shills" I would like to know the definition. Personally, the way this thread started heading (I'm a shill for X) is fairly accurate. People are excited/happy with certain things and post about it. It does not make one a shill. Are we trying to impose our/your own opinions what people can post and what topics are permissable? If so, I'd imagine (hope/pray) most people would start leaving this board and find somewhere else they can freely discuss bikes, components, safety and the like.

Anyway, sorry for the long post here but this is ridiculous!

thewalrus

The HTML they use for the tables describing the bike specs are identical to the bikesdirect site... Ebay is just another venue to advertise and sell as a store. I very rarely bid on items, I prefer to shop for 'Buy it Now' priced stuff.

compare the spec box to the bikesdirect website:
https://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-ROAD-RACING-...QQcmdZViewItem

WheresWaldo

Bike Lover, well said +1

This is not the only forum that some call others shills. The other prominent road bike review forum, I will not mention their name, also suffers from the same thing. Any mention of Motobecane and/or BD will result in a barrage of messages calling you a shill for BD. It's really a shame. Like you I started frequenting this board to learn and to share. It started with the tandem I bought in January and has progressed from there. I have learned much more than I could ever share on this forum and that's also why I have a star next to my username. There are only two forums that I frequent where I have paid my admission fee and that is Bike Forums and Free Golf Info. That says alot about the quality of the forums and the people who particpate in them.

thewalrus

Since I'm obviously a bikesdirect shill (HI ALAN!!!), I thought I'd post this... Isn't the Motobecane Messenger $395? Here's bikesdirect selling a steel-framed fixie for $307. It comes without brakes or levers, but is drilled for front and rear brakes.

https://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-2006-TRACK-B...QQcmdZViewItem