ZippyThePinhead

I got one of the Motobecane Le Champion titanium bikes last year. I have about 2000 miles on it to-date. I got the one with the FSA crank/Ultegra 6700.

I don't care that many folks here on the Bike Forums seem to be negative on BikesDirect. Bottom line, the bike is a great value. A friend of mine is a professional bike mechanic, and he's ridden just about everything. When I brought my new Motobecane to him for a quick once-over/tune-up, he commented that the appearance of the welds (an indicator of quality) was comparable to bikes costing twice as much. If you want to spend twice as much to get a bike that is just as good, that's your business, and you should do whatever works for you. As for me, I got this bike for around $1300, brand new, off eBay, and in my view it was a screaming buy. I'm entirely satisfied.

My experience with the bike so far has been consistent with his vote of confidence; the only problem I've had was a clicking sound from the cranks/bottom bracket, now fixed. Regarding the fork, I was initially skeptical as well. I even went so far as to buy an aftermarket fork to replace the no-name carbon fork that came with the bike. But over the last 2000 miles I have relaxed a little, and have decided to use the stock fork for the foreseeable future.

BTW the frame is/was made by Dodsun, in Taiwan. They make frames for many companies. Judge for yourself:

sced

Buy what you like, but if you use the search you'll find a lot of posts/threads in these forums about the Ti Motos. You had asked about a rando that will take wider tires, which that linky describes.

Nachoman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inAaJrDEQoc

Here's a little youtube interview with Bill Holland, a local San Diego frame builder, that specializes in building ti frames.

canali

thanks, good to hear.

canali

thanks for the youtube link on bill holland (integrating carbon and Ti)

however he doesn't seem to have a website (tried google searches no luck...unusual in this day and age).

Nachoman

Right no website. If you're looking for contact info on him, he's in Spring Valley (san diego). My next bike will be an exogrid.

needawheel

someone had problems

needawheel

but stiffness is almost same since same material?

needawheel

How many thousands

needawheel

ABG doesnt honor warranties

needawheel

NOT with ABG.

needawheel

not me. why buy from company which built so many broken Ti frames.

needawheel

not me

needawheel

yes expensive

giantdefy

Litespeed was sold in 1999 to ABG. Frames that I see that have issues are newer ones.

NEEDAWHEEL, you seem to be on a posting ramage with a new account. Why you trying so hard to get your post count up?

hodie21

What's it weigh?

I just bought a regular helix and I haven't built it up yet.

jr59

I don't think mine was made in China!!!

hodie21

Mine wasn't made in china either.

Here is mine.

Frame/Bars/Stem/Fork/Headset/Seatpost made in USA.

Seat/Components Asian made.

Wheels. It's a mix. Hubs are made in USA. Spokes/nipples and rims are made in Asia.

eja_ bottecchia

My Bottecchia is NOT made in China, neither are its Campy, Selle Italia and Mavic components.

My Litespeed is 100% USA-made. Its componebts are made in Japan, France and Italy.

So NOT all bikes and NOT all components are made in China,

No need to buy Chinese-made bikes if you don't want to.

laserfj

60 Posts in the past two days (none before that)... most of them a couple of words...

Interesting...

KoolKeith

I picked up a rival equipped Motobecane Le Champ earlier this year. It was by far the best value I found in any new road bike, and probably one of the best purchasing decisions I've ever made. It absolutely slays and is extremely comfortable on century rides. One of the wheels was slightly out of true when it arrived, but that was maybe a 10 second adjustment.

I really don't see what the difference is between ordering from bikes direct or lynskey

hodie21

There is a HUGE difference in the frames. I also have owned a Motobecane Ti frame.

Lynskey frames are a work of art and much stiffer and different geometries than Moto frames. Moto frames are great frames but they are manufactured in mass. I just ordered one of their mountain bikes and plan to buy a cross bike from them soon also.

KoolKeith

Certainly there is a difference in geometries, but that is hardly an issue of quality. Also, I dig the big generic motobecane lettering. I've found the motobecane to be plenty stiff, though haven't ridden a lynskey. Perhaps you're right. At some point I'm sure I'll consider a second ti bike with higher end components and move the moto to commuter status, but If your budget is 1600 max and you don't want carbon, I don't see a better deal out there.

I imagine the ordering process to be comperable. I've never seen a ti bike in a lbs, so either direction I went wouldn't allow for a test ride, which is one of the main deterrents I've seen in people in not going the bikes direct route. I've never heard of any quality issues in the moto ti and I scoured the web before buying.

hodie21

I have zero complaints about Motobecane bikes or Bikes Direct. I have ordered 2 bikes from them so far. Both have been great bikes.

Just saying that there are some differences between the two.

I agree that for 1600 you can't beat a moto ti bike. They are some of the best deals out there.

eofelis 

Made a trip to Steamboat Springs, CO a couple of weeks ago to meet with Kent Eriksen and talk ti frames. Ended up spending the whole day there chatting with him and his wife. Great folks. Very nice ti frames. We didn't even make it up the street to the Moots shop.

My bf has just about got his geometries worked out the way he wants his new ti road frame to be and he may be putting his order in soon with Kent.

I need to work some things out with my current bikes to decide how I want my new road-sport touring ti frame to be. Mine will happen next year. I want to get a high quality steel fork for mine. Maybe Nobilette. All Colorado.