Finally a Ride!

Today I rode 9.4 miles at Marsh Creek State Park. Because of the record breaking snow we had this winter and frequent rain, I had not ridden the Fantom 29 since January 24. That's 55 days since my last ride. February 2010 was the only month where I had zero rides. Pitiful. I will have to make it up some how.







Anyway, the ride was great and the Fantom 29 performed well. This was my first ride after the 50 ride maintenance.











The trails were pretty dry except for the usual areas on the old railroad bed.

609.4 Miles: Replaced Stretched Chain

Today I replaced my "stretched chain". The chain actually does not stretch, but each link pivot point wears into an oblong shape. The grit that gets captured in the oil is what causes the wear.

I was surprised that this happened so quickly at 609.4 miles, but I guess mountain biking is harder on the equipment.

The picture on the left shows the worn chain with my Nashbar chain gauge. When the gauge can be slid in place, the stretch is 1% and a replacement is recommended.




This picture shows the new chain. The gauge cannot fit in the link and therefore is not 1% stretched.

You want to replace the chain at this point because if you don't the cassette and even chain rings would then wear to accommodate the stretched chain. This chain is only $15, so it is not that expensive. The new chain comes with a quick link, so it is easier to remove for degreasing.
If you replace the chain and the cassette or chainring are worn, then you will have trouble shifting.


I lined the chain up and you can see that the bottom old chain is about a half a link longer over the length of the chain. The amount of wear is amazing.

I also got this nice hex wrench set at Nashbar. It was on sale for just $20.

609.4 Miles: 50 Ride Preventative Maintenance

If you look at my preventative maintenance plan that I posted on September 03, 2008 it is pretty conservative. So I have been adjusting it based on my experience. The Fantom 29 with my riding style requires very little preventative maintenance.




The following is the recommended maintenance for up to 50 rides. I will do the following maintenance:

Every 5 Rides: Inspect wheel true, degrease drive train, clean & wash bike

Yes- all good ideas. I checked the wheels and they are still true. I degreased the drive train.

Every 10 Rides: Inspect nuts & bolts, Inspect & tighten cranks, lube cables- brake & gears

Yes- all good ideas

Every 25 Rides: Inspect chain stretch, Inspect wear of chainrings, replace grips

Yes to inspecting chain stretch and chainrings. I am going to have to replace the chain as my chain is just at 1% stretch. This is surprising to me since I only have 609.4 miles. The chainrings are fine.

No to replacing grips because they look fine.



Every 50 Rides: Grease nuts & bolts, Replace cables & housing, Replace chain. Replace tires

I checked the brakes. Including the backing there is 4mm front and 4.5 to 5 mm rear. Avid recommends replacement at 3 mm so I should have at least another year.

Yes to greasing nuts & bolts. I also lubed the fork seal.

No to replacing cables & housing. They look fine. I did this on my road bike at 2580 miles.




No to replacing tires. They look fine also. I had over 4000 miles on my road bike on the same tires and probably could have put on more. I replaced them on March 5, 2010

THE FANTOM 29 IS READY FOR ANOTHER YEAR!

New Camera

I had been using a cheap Vivitar camera that I got at Walmart for $20 for my ride pictures. I liked it because it was small (I can have it in my back shirt pocket) and cheap (in case I crash and break it). Well the camera broke on its own. It would not always turn on.

I still wanted something cheap but not as cheap as the Walmart camera. The Walmart camera was internal memory only (no card) and when you removed the batteries the pictures were lost.

I bought a Kodak C180 at Staples for $49 (On sale $69.50 - $20.50 Rewards Rebate). It is small and light. I can put a card in it or use the 16 MB internal memory. Although it is a 10.1 megapixel camera, I have it set for 1.2 megapixel since that is all you really need for the web. This gives me 34 pictures in the internal memory. With a card, I can take some videos.

You should see some better pics ahead!

Motobecane Fantom 29 Two Year Review

Well I have been riding the Fantom 29 for 2 years now. Since the 18 month review I have had no problems at all. The bike continues to perform well.

I have noticed that I have not been riding the Fantom 29 as much as last year. It has been due to the rain we have been getting here. I usually mountain bike ride on Sunday mornings and road bike ride most other days. It seems there has been a lot of rain on Sunday mornings or late Saturday night to make the trails too muddy. Also this winter we have had record snow. I like riding the Fantom 29 in the snow, but we have had 3 greater than 20 inch snow storms this winter and that is too much snow to plow through. Once it melts it also keeps a muddy mess for a long time. I am going to have to step it up!

Below is a summary of the 2 years. I am way overdue on the 50 ride maintenance. The bike has been performing well. My most pressing need is probably to degrease the chain. I will try to perform the maintenance before spring.

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

June 27, 2009 494.5 miles Flat Front 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: 59 (I did 38 year 1 and only 21 year 2)

Mileage : 609.4 (405.3 miles in year 1, only 204.1 miles in year 2)

Average mileage: 10.3 miles per ride

Longest Ride: 35.2 miles Blue Marsh Lake

Two years Blogging !!

Today is the two 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: (19, I did have 20 at one point but someone dropped out) John Adamo, Blog do Rubinho, Nickie Goomba, SS MtnBiker, Dakota2K1, Vince, frank sieckmann, Shawn, Graceson, Sam, 29erRider, bicyclist124, Daniel Parker, mike cazz, Chip, Igor, Mike, Bradley, Patrick also owns Fantom29.

Thanks for following!

Number of posts: 105 (95 the first year alone because I wrote about every ride)
Number of Comments: 145 (93 the first year) I like comments please keep them coming.
Number of visits: 22,096 (Since February 16, 2008 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, Israel, Hungary, Canada, New Zealand, Taiwan

The Motobecane Fantom 29 performed extremely well and has required little maintenance. In the first year 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.

Since the first year I have changed 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.

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

600 Miles!

Today I rode 12.7 miles at Marsh Creek State Park. The Fantom 29 performed flawlessly.

I was able to hit 600 miles on the Fantom 29.

It was extremely cold, about 28 degrees F and windy.

I was able to check out the Eagles Santa on the way to the park.

There were some ice patches particularly on the hills. Caution required.

I saw 7 hunters with shotgun and one bow hunter.