Another Marsh Creek Ride

Today I rode 9.5 miles at Marsh Creek State Park. Again, the Fantom 29 has performed flawlessly.

On the Blue Trail where is parallels Chalfont Road there is a downed tree. I will email the Park Superintendent to see if I can have it removed.

I also found this little guy tied high up in a tree. The Ludwig's Corner Riding & Driving Club conducts scavenger hunts in the park so maybe he was one of the prizes. I moved him lower so he could be spotted better. Hopefully someone will give him a good home.

Speaking of scavengers... I saw this dead deer on the way to the park. There were about a dozen Turkey Buzzards on it when I first approached. You can see one flying away in this picture.

Some pics of the Turkey Buzzards.

Exustar E-SM621 Mountain Bike Shoes

I bought some mountain bike shoes at Nashbar.com. I don't ride with clipless pedals on the Fantom 29 but I do on my Raleigh Grand Prix road bike.





I have Exustar road shoe E-SR421. I have had them for about 1 year and they are awesome!. I only paid $25 at Nashbar.com. They are comfortable and seem durable. The only problem is that they are vented shoes so they are really cold in the winter.

I have been using trail shoes that I purchased at Walmart for $18 for my winter road bike riding after swapping to regular pedals. I also use these shoes on my Fantom 29. When I swapped pedals this year I noticed that I really like using the clipless pedals better. My pedaling seems smoother.

So I decided to get some mountain bike shoes. Nashbar had the Exustar E-SM621 shoes on sale for $34.99 and had a 15% discount sale. So I was able to buy them for $29.74 plus $7.75 shipping and $2.25 tax. I ordered them Tuesday 12/09 and received them Friday 12/12. I ordered size 45 which is equivalent to US men's size 11. I already had a spare set of SPD cleats to use. The shoes did come with extra screws.

I really think the quality of these shoes are good. They also fit perfectly. They come with toe spikes. Since I will be using them for road bike riding, I did not install the toe spikes. There are substitute flat screws instead which makes them more like touring shoes.

As I have said before, I do not use clipless pedals on the Fantom 29. I like to be able to jump off the bike at any time when I am trail riding. Also I don't mind getting my trail shoes muddy. Now that I have mountain bike shoes I may give them a try on the Fantom 29.

Today I tried out the shoes on my road bike. It was a good test as it was cold --- 18 degree F with 22 mph winds bringing the wind chill to 2 degree F. I took my normal 11 mile fitness route. The shoes were great! They fit well and my feet were not too cold.

Motobecane Fantom 29 vs Novara Ponderosa

REI.com has the 2009 Novara Ponderosa for $949 plus $56.94 tax with free store shipping for a total of $1005.94. How does it stack up to the Motobecane Fantom 29?

The detailed spec for the 2009 Novara Ponderosa are on the REI website.

The Fantom 29 has Avid BB5 Brakes vs Avid BB-7 for the Novara Ponderosa. The Novara Ponderosa is worth about $30 more.

The Fantom 29 has WTB MotoRaptor 29 x 2.1 tires with WTB FX28 rims vs the WTB Prowler MX 29x2.1" with the WTB SpeedDisc All Mountain rims for the Novara Ponderosa. The Novara Ponderosa is worth about $50 more.

The Fantom 29 and the Ponderosa has the RockShox Dart 3 Fork.

The Motobecane and Novara Ponderosa frames are aluminum. I like the Fantom 29 black color over the Brushed Silver of the Ponderosa.

The Fantom 29 has Shimano Deore Mega-9 Rapid Fire 27 speed trigger shift at $90 for pair vs SRAM X7 Trigger at $50 for the Novara Ponderosa .

The Fantom 29 has Shimano Deore XT long cage rear derailleur RD-M761 at $85 vs SRAM X-7 at $45 for the Novara Ponderosa .

The Fantom 29 has TruVativ 5D 22/32/44T Crankset at $70 vs Truvativ Firex 3.1(44/32/22T) at about the same for the Novara Ponderosa .

The Fantom 29 has Shimano Deore FD-M510 front derailleur $26 vs SRAM X-7 at $29 for the Novara Ponderosa .

Conclusion:The Novara Ponderosa is even in part overall value. It is about $411 more that the Fantom 29 so the Fantom 29 is a better value . In fact , the Ponderosa is second to the last of the bikes I have evaluated.

The $600 Fantom 29 works for me.I like the Fantom 29!

As an on going recap here is a list of the bikes I reviewed. They are ranked by a Relative Value Factor (RVF) . The RVF is the price of the Fantom 29 + or - the value of the major parts difference (Delta) divided by the price of the bike.

Bike Price Delta RVF

Motobecane Fantom Pro: 796, 455, 1.32
Motobecane Fantom 29: 596, 0, 1.0
Windsor Cliff 29 Comp: 549, -73, 0.951
IBEX Section 29: 1034, 378, 0.942
Raleigh XXIX+G: 1100, 368, 0.876
Diamondback Overdrive : 600, -122, 0.790
Marin Alpine Trail 29er 667, -122, 0.711
Specialized Rockhopper Disc 29er: 760 ,-144 ,0.595
Novara Ponderosa 29er: 1006, 0, 0.591
Cannondale 29er 4 Caffeine: 1059, -125, 0.445

Springton Ride Again

Today I rode 8.3 miles at Springton Manor Farm. The fantom 29 performed flawlessly.

My workout seemed harder than usual. Maybe it was the 29 degree temperature, riding through hard crusted snow, riding through soft grass, that I don't ride as much in the winter or a comibination of all of these.


I picked up the trail at Burgess Park on RT 282. This is an old rail road bed with some of the ties still in place.








The Brandywine Creek was flowing pretty fast with all of the rain we had recently.







I hadn't ridden at Springton since October 05, 2008 and noticed a downed tree on the downhill section of the Bartol Trail. It is a pretty big tree. You have to stop abruptly coming down the hill and carry your bike over it. I emailed the Park Superintendent to see if they could remove it.





I ran into a couple of horse back riders when I was on the trail.

Nice and muddy!

Winter Wonder Land!

I was going to do my usual Sunday fitness ride but I woke up to about 1 to 2 inches of snow. I wanted to ride the Fantom 29 in the snow but it was not to be.

Maybe next time!

Riding Again!!!

I hadn't ridden the Fantom 29 since November 02 because of rain, being away for work and last week I was in El Salvador building houses with the Fuller Center for Housing.

So today I hit the trails at Marsh Creek State Park. I rode 13.9 miles and the Fantom 29 performed flawlessly.




I noticed that the fence to the quarry was repaired. Previously a tree had fallen and crashed through this gate. You could easily just walk through the gap that was created.






The lower part of the park at the old railroad bed was still rather soggy.







I took the opportunity to get a few shots of the Fantom 29 by some cabin ruins.

Some interesting Fungi.

Fall is Here

Today I rode 9.8 miles at Marsh Creek State Park. The Fantom 29 performed flawlessly. The weather was nice and sunny with temperatures in the low 40's. The Fall colors are not at its peak in Southeastern PA but they are getting close.
















When I took the trail to the quarry, I noticed the trail was blocked. I don't think anyone intentionally placed the trees there, I think they just fell. I carried the Fantom 29 over the debris. Further on up the trail a mountain biker came from the other direction. First biker I have seen in a while during my Sunday morning rides.
I know I must have passed it many times, but today I noticed a massive rock wall on the side of the old railroad track trail. I am guessing that it was a loading dock for the quarry.

It looks like there will be a race next Sunday. The 4th Annual Mountain Bike Fall Classic I guess I will avoid Marsh Creek next Sunday.

I saw this sign on the old railroad trail near Lydell Road.

300 Mile Milestone !!

Today I rode 9.8 miles at Marsh Creek State Park and reached the 300 mile mark on the Motobecane Fantom 29. Again the Fantom 29 performed flawlessly.

It was chilly this morning-- about 42 degrees F. So I put on the balaclava.





Pretty scary!










And Bradley, you are right. These are Hedge Apple Trees. This website actually sells them for $24 per dozen. They are sold as insect repellents.