REI.com has a Cannondale 29er 4 Caffeine on sale for $ 999 plus $59.94 PA Sales tax for a total of $1058.94. The shipping is free with in store pickup. So right off the bat it is $463 more expensive than the Fantom 29.
Here are the specs: http://www.cannondale.com/bikes/08/cusa/model-8FS294.html
The Fantom 29 has Avid BB5 Brakes with 185 mm rotors while the Caffeine has Shimano BR-485 160/160 mm. The Avid BB5 are about $40 more.
The Fantom 29 has WTB MotoRaptor 29 x 2.1 with FX28 Rims vs WTB Dual Duty FR, 32 hole rims with WTB Prowler 29 x 2.1. I will call it even.
Both have RockShox Dart 3 Fork but the Caffeine has 80 mm travel vs 100 mm for the Fantom 29..
The Motobecane Frame is aluminum, the Caffeine says its is "Caffeine Frame Technology" and is also aluminum. When you compare the 2 geometries they are almost identical for the 17" frame.
The Fantom 29 has Shimano Deore Mega-9 Rapid Fire 27 speed trigger shift at $90 for pair vs SRAM X-5 at $50 for the Caffeine.
The Fantom 29 has Shimano Deore XT long cage rear derailleur RD-M761 at $85 vs SRAM X-5 at $40 for the Caffeine.
The Fantom 29 has TruVativ 5D 22/32/44T Crankset vs Shimano FC-M4428 22/32/44. I will call them even.
Both have Shimano Deore front derailleur.
Conclusion:
The Fantom 29 has $125 more in parts. The Caffeine's Relative Value Factor is 0.445, the lowest I evaluated so far. The Fantom 29 is a better value. I guess Cannondale will believe its name will account for something and can charge the higher price.
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
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
Cannondale 29er 4 Caffeine: 1059, -125, 0.445
Monday, March 31, 2008
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Saturday Ride
This morning I did my usual ride at Springton Manor Farm. I rode 7.9 miles. So far I have 48.6 miles on the Fantom 29. The bike performed flawlessly.
Now 48.6 miles is not a lot of miles on a bike. My fitness routine this winter has been usually strength training Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in my basement. Mountain bike ride Saturday and Road Bike ride Sunday. I always do this first thing in the morning and that is why I have not been bike riding during the week. I will have to wait until there is sunlight at about 6 am. In the Philadelphia area civil twilight will be at 5:56 am on April 14 and sunrise will be at 6:24 am.
What is civil twilight you say?
"Civil twilight is defined when the sun is 6 degrees below the horizon. This is the limit at which twilight illumination is sufficient, under good weather conditions, for terrestrial objects to be clearly distinguished; at the beginning of morning civil twilight, or end of evening civil twilight, the horizon is clearly defined and the brightest stars are visible under good atmospheric conditions in the absence of moonlight or other illumination. In the morning before the beginning of civil twilight and in the evening after the end of civil twilight, artificial illumination is normally required to carry on ordinary outdoor activities."
Bottom line it is light enough to ride at civil twilight.
So far this year I have ridden:
162 miles on my Raleigh Grand Prix
48.6 miles on my Motobecane Fantom 29
24.3 miles on the Mongoose Pro I was using before I bought the Fantom 29.
Now 48.6 miles is not a lot of miles on a bike. My fitness routine this winter has been usually strength training Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in my basement. Mountain bike ride Saturday and Road Bike ride Sunday. I always do this first thing in the morning and that is why I have not been bike riding during the week. I will have to wait until there is sunlight at about 6 am. In the Philadelphia area civil twilight will be at 5:56 am on April 14 and sunrise will be at 6:24 am.
What is civil twilight you say?
"Civil twilight is defined when the sun is 6 degrees below the horizon. This is the limit at which twilight illumination is sufficient, under good weather conditions, for terrestrial objects to be clearly distinguished; at the beginning of morning civil twilight, or end of evening civil twilight, the horizon is clearly defined and the brightest stars are visible under good atmospheric conditions in the absence of moonlight or other illumination. In the morning before the beginning of civil twilight and in the evening after the end of civil twilight, artificial illumination is normally required to carry on ordinary outdoor activities."
Bottom line it is light enough to ride at civil twilight.
So far this year I have ridden:
162 miles on my Raleigh Grand Prix
48.6 miles on my Motobecane Fantom 29
24.3 miles on the Mongoose Pro I was using before I bought the Fantom 29.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Motobecane Fantom 29 vs Motobecane Fantom Pro
I received a couple of comments about how the Fantom 29 would compare to the Fantom Pro. So here it is....
How about comparing brothers? Of course the Pro is nicer with higher end components but is it a better value?
The only differences between the two bikes are the fork, brakes and crankset.
The 29 has Avid BB-5 Brakes vs the Pro with Avid Juicy 3 Hydraulic Brakes. The Juicy Brakes are about $130 more.
The 29 has RockShox Dart 3 Fork at $125 vs RockShox TORA RS318 with lockout, 100mm at $380 for the Pro.
The Fantom 29 has TruVativ 5D 22/32/44T Crankset at $70 vs TruVativ FireX 22/32/44T at $140 for the Pro.
Conclusion:
The Pro has $455 more in parts. It costs $795.95 on bikesdirect. Its Relative Value Factor is 1.32 and therefore is the best value of the bikes I evaluated so far. Maybe I should have bought the Fantom Pro, but again I did not want to spend a lot of money. So I am still satisfied with my Fantom 29 purchase.
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
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
How about comparing brothers? Of course the Pro is nicer with higher end components but is it a better value?
The only differences between the two bikes are the fork, brakes and crankset.
The 29 has Avid BB-5 Brakes vs the Pro with Avid Juicy 3 Hydraulic Brakes. The Juicy Brakes are about $130 more.
The 29 has RockShox Dart 3 Fork at $125 vs RockShox TORA RS318 with lockout, 100mm at $380 for the Pro.
The Fantom 29 has TruVativ 5D 22/32/44T Crankset at $70 vs TruVativ FireX 22/32/44T at $140 for the Pro.
Conclusion:
The Pro has $455 more in parts. It costs $795.95 on bikesdirect. Its Relative Value Factor is 1.32 and therefore is the best value of the bikes I evaluated so far. Maybe I should have bought the Fantom Pro, but again I did not want to spend a lot of money. So I am still satisfied with my Fantom 29 purchase.
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
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
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Price Point
Today I ordered the following from PricePoint.com:
2 Price Point Tube 29er Presta 29 x 2.1-2.35 $3.98
1 Park Tire Lever Set (3) TL-1 $2.98
1 Sette Torx ST-14 Tool Kit - 14 Tools $29.98
Total: $40.92
TAX: $0.00
POSTAGE & HANDLING: $6.49
INSURANCE: $1.25
TOTAL$: $48.66
I usually order from Nashbar and I am satisfied but I thought I would give PricePoint a try because their prices seem good. It looks like the prices at PricePoint on parts and equipment are slightly better than Nashbar. The prices for clothing seem better at Nashbar. PricePoint does not charge sales tax except if you live in California, so this will save me 6% right there. PricePoint does charge $1.25 for "insurance" for each order. Pricepoint's shipping charge is about the same as Nashbar.
I ordered a couple of tubes since I just used my one and only spare. I also ordered tire levers to put in my seat bag once I get it from Nashbar.
I also ordered a Sette Torx ST-14 Tool Kit. It is only $30 and seems to have the tools needed to do most repairs on my bikes. I will be able to report out on the quality and functionality in future posts.
2 Price Point Tube 29er Presta 29 x 2.1-2.35 $3.98
1 Park Tire Lever Set (3) TL-1 $2.98
1 Sette Torx ST-14 Tool Kit - 14 Tools $29.98
Total: $40.92
TAX: $0.00
POSTAGE & HANDLING: $6.49
INSURANCE: $1.25
TOTAL$: $48.66
I usually order from Nashbar and I am satisfied but I thought I would give PricePoint a try because their prices seem good. It looks like the prices at PricePoint on parts and equipment are slightly better than Nashbar. The prices for clothing seem better at Nashbar. PricePoint does not charge sales tax except if you live in California, so this will save me 6% right there. PricePoint does charge $1.25 for "insurance" for each order. Pricepoint's shipping charge is about the same as Nashbar.
I ordered a couple of tubes since I just used my one and only spare. I also ordered tire levers to put in my seat bag once I get it from Nashbar.
I also ordered a Sette Torx ST-14 Tool Kit. It is only $30 and seems to have the tools needed to do most repairs on my bikes. I will be able to report out on the quality and functionality in future posts.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Chainstay Nicks
I noticed on the chain stay on the chain side there are a bunch of nicks where the chain is hitting. There is a glossy thick paint on the chain stay as a form of protection but it does not seem to be working too well. I know on my Raleigh road bike there is a solid strip of material on the chain stay for protection.
I remember reading on the Internet somewhere an idea to wrap an old piece of tire tube on the chain stay for protection. I now have an old tube so...
Voila! I now have a chain stay protector.
I used a strip of the old tube and then wrapped it all up with electrician's tape.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Post Flat Repair Ride
After I repaired the tire I was able to get a ride in. I rode 8.2 miles.It was cold with temperature in the low 30s, windy with some snow flurries.
I rode down to Springton Manor Farm (SMF) and rode the trails. It was a good workout particularly going up the hills.
I had no problems with the bike. When I came home I did hose down the bike as it was pretty muddy.
31.8 mile FLAT FRONT TIRE!
Today when I went down to the basement to get my bike for a ride, I noticed that the front tire was flat. This was only after only 31.8 miles of trail riding. Although it is real easy to fix a flat tire, I am going to classify this as a major repair since it interrupts riding time.
When you fix a flat you need to determine what caused the flat or it will just happen again. Also I usually just replace the tube rather than do a repair since tubes are inexpensive ($5).
I carefully removed the tube from the tire then investigated the possible causes. Here are my findings are:
1.) Leaking valve : with some pressure in the tube I placed the tube in a bucket of water. No bubbles were coming from the valve. This was not the cause. There was about 1 bubble per second coming from the tube 180 degrees from the valve stem location.
2.) An external object punctured the tire and tube: At the location of the leak there were no objects on or in the tire. I also checked the entire inner and outer surface of the tire, there were no objects. This was not the cause.
3.) A sharp point on the rim or a spoke poking through the rim tape punctured the tube: The rim tape was intact. At the area of the leak is also where the rim seam occurs. This is where the aluminum rim is weld to form the circle. It is too coincidental that this was the leak location. The tube leak was more on the outside diameter than the inside diameter so it does not exactly line up to the seam. Although the rim seam felt smooth, it possibly could be the cause.
4.) A tube manufacturer's defect: I cut out the section of the tube to examine the leak. The hole is so small that you cannot see it even when you stretch the rubber. There are 2 main seams in the tube but there appears to be two minor seams also. Each seam is 90 degrees apart. It looks like to me that the leak is on one of the minor seams. I believe this could be the likely cause.
To address the rim seam possible cause, I cut a piece of the old tube and glued it over the rim seam.
To address the tube manufacturer defect possible cause, I replaced the tube. The original tube was schrader valve tube and I replaced it with a presta valve tube. The schrader valve is a bigger diameter hole on the rim, therefore you need to insert a presta adapter into the hole. The presta adapter is just an aluminum sleeve.
The original tube was a Cheng Shin 700 X 52/47 tube #20097632. I googled Cheng Shin and found that they are the 12th largest rubber manufacturer in the world. They go by the name of Maxxis in the United States.
This is a presta valve.
When you put the tire back on the rim, pay attention to the rotation arrow to install the tire correctly. I then inflated the tire to 40 psi.
When you fix a flat you need to determine what caused the flat or it will just happen again. Also I usually just replace the tube rather than do a repair since tubes are inexpensive ($5).
I carefully removed the tube from the tire then investigated the possible causes. Here are my findings are:
1.) Leaking valve : with some pressure in the tube I placed the tube in a bucket of water. No bubbles were coming from the valve. This was not the cause. There was about 1 bubble per second coming from the tube 180 degrees from the valve stem location.
2.) An external object punctured the tire and tube: At the location of the leak there were no objects on or in the tire. I also checked the entire inner and outer surface of the tire, there were no objects. This was not the cause.
3.) A sharp point on the rim or a spoke poking through the rim tape punctured the tube: The rim tape was intact. At the area of the leak is also where the rim seam occurs. This is where the aluminum rim is weld to form the circle. It is too coincidental that this was the leak location. The tube leak was more on the outside diameter than the inside diameter so it does not exactly line up to the seam. Although the rim seam felt smooth, it possibly could be the cause.4.) A tube manufacturer's defect: I cut out the section of the tube to examine the leak. The hole is so small that you cannot see it even when you stretch the rubber. There are 2 main seams in the tube but there appears to be two minor seams also. Each seam is 90 degrees apart. It looks like to me that the leak is on one of the minor seams. I believe this could be the likely cause.
To address the rim seam possible cause, I cut a piece of the old tube and glued it over the rim seam.
To address the tube manufacturer defect possible cause, I replaced the tube. The original tube was schrader valve tube and I replaced it with a presta valve tube. The schrader valve is a bigger diameter hole on the rim, therefore you need to insert a presta adapter into the hole. The presta adapter is just an aluminum sleeve.The original tube was a Cheng Shin 700 X 52/47 tube #20097632. I googled Cheng Shin and found that they are the 12th largest rubber manufacturer in the world. They go by the name of Maxxis in the United States.
This is a presta valve.
When you put the tire back on the rim, pay attention to the rotation arrow to install the tire correctly. I then inflated the tire to 40 psi.
I will now need to buy a replacement tube. Maybe I should get 2 just in case the other tire also has a "manufacturing defect".
I will not preemptively replace the tube so I can report what happens.
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