Motobecane Fantom 29 One Year Review

Evaluation
Frame: After getting a longer seat post and adjustable stem, the 17" frame fits me well. The black finish is holding up well- no scratches. The chainstay nicks were the only area that needed some attention.

Brakes: Excellent stopping power. Very easy to adjust for brake wear.

Shifting: Very smooth.

Drivetrain: The 22/32/44T crankset and 11-32T cassette provides a range of 20 to 116 gear inches. I usually ride in the middle chainring which provides 29 to 84 gear inches.

Tires: MotoRaptor 29x2.1 perform well in the trails that I ride. They provide excellent traction. The 29er wheels do well for climbing and rolling over obstacles.

Fork: The Dart 3 performs well. I rarely use the lockout, but it is a nice feature to have. I can ride downhill fairly fast and the fork absorbs the terrain well.

Maintenance: Overall very low. I have had 3 flats due to manufacturing tube defects. Not really Motobecane's fault, just cheap tubes. I will use tires with slime in the future.

Overall Ride: The Fantom 29 has proven to be an excellent addition to my fitness regime, providing an excellent off road riding workout.

Repairs

March 15, 2008 Loose Bottle cage holder

March 22, 2008 31.8 miles Flat Tire

March 23, 2008 Chainstay nicks

August 02, 2008 Bent Derailleur Hanger

August 11, 2008 203.6 miles Flat Tire

October 05 2008 285 miles Flat Rear Tire

Maintenance

Normal chain lube after every 2 to 3 rides

Adjusted brakes to compensate for wear a couple of times

25 ride PM on September 06, 2008

Riding Statistics

Number of Rides: 38

Mileage : 405.3

Average mileage: 10.7 miles per ride

Longest Ride: 35.2 miles Blue Marsh Lake

Number of Rides: Marsh Creek State Park: 16

Number of Rides Springton Manor Farms: 16

Number of Rides Thun Trail: 2 average : 23.7 miles

Number of Rides Blue Marsh Lake: 1 , 35.2 miles

Number of Rides French Creek State Park: 2, average: 8.7 miles

Number of Rides at Warwick Park: 1, 10.4 miles

One Year Blogging!

Well today is one year anniversary of this blog!

The reason I started this blog was to document my evaluation of the Motobecane Fantom 29. When I was looking to buy a mountain bike to vary my fitness regime, I saw that the Fantom 29 seemed like a good deal. However, there were not a lot of reviews. Most of the reviews were from people that did not have the Fantom 29, but rather complained about its quality or support since it was not purchased at a local bike shop.

Some blog statistics:

Number of Followers: (6) Patrick, Mike, Sam, Graceson, Bradley and 29erRider

Number of posts: 95

Number of Comments: 93 (some were me returning comments). I like comments please keep them coming.

Number of visits: 1615 (Since December 14 based on Sitemeter.com)

Countries of visitors: United States, Phillipines, Finland, France, Spain, Portugal, Austrialia, Venuezula, Dubai UAE, Germany, Brazil, Sweden, Mexico, Italy, Belguim, United Kingdom, Poland.

The Motobecane Fantom 29 performed extremely well and required little maintenance. Therefore most of my blog posts were more about my rides rather than the bike itself.

I have one year of posts that documented every ride I took on the Fantom 29. This should give the reader an idea of how the bike performs and what you can do with it. I will now change up the blog and only post when : 1.) I have a periodic review every 6 months, 2.) There is significant maintenance or 3.) When I ride in a new location that I have not reported on.So there should be fewer posts but I hope more informative.

Thanks for reading. Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.

400 Miles on the Motobecane Fantom 29

Today I rode 9.5 miles at Marsh Creek State Park. The Fantom 29 performed flawlessly and has passed the 400 mile mark.

There was a light snow last night and everything was covered. It was a beautiful sight.

I took my usual route up to the quarry, then south along the struble trail, north along the Struble Trail then up the blue trail back to Chalfont Road.

This little guy continues to hang out on the trail to the Quarry.