Just thought I'd share before her maiden voyage and she gets all dirty :)

[KVW]

So... technically this wouldn't be the bike's maiden voyage since the history behind this is that I used to own a motobecane 15.5" ti fantom pro 29er I purchased last summer... My buddy, inspired by my recent purchase also bought the same bike but the next size up at 17.7" since he's taller. We both love our bike but we had our gripes with our the sizing we chose...

It's said, this is one of the risk you take in buying something online before you can test ride something... Bikesdirect will allow you to return and exchange for a different size within one week of your purchase however this is the thing... since we are just getting to the sport as were complete noobs, we really didn't know what our "correct size" is.

As a newbie, to even realize and make the determination if the bike is the wrong size or "you're just not used to it yet" or to even develop a preference takes time and experience and numerous rides! This is why I have to laugh a little when I see the advice often given to newbies to "go try out as many bikes as they can at your LBS". Well, I tired many bikes at bike shops and I couldn't help but think "ummm... they all feel right"... just subtle differences - I don't really know which one is 'more correct for me'. So what really happens is you end up choosing whatever one looks best, or blinding choosing with whatever the salesman is pushing, or whatever seems like a 'best value' and just hope for the best

Anyway, went off on a tangent there but what your seeing is my buddies 17.5" frame with my components (you can see my original 15.5" ti fantom in my profile gallery). We both pitched in and purchased a new 19" Moto Ti Flyteam 29er frame-only from BD for him, and whatever money we recoup from selling off my 15.5" frame, it lessens the overall loss for both of us. The silver lining is that it was a great learning experience stripping down both bikes and reassembling them on the new frames.

So here she is - I just finish putting her together around 4am last night and I'm here at work on about 3 hours sleep, lol but it's all so worth it. I asked my roomie to snap some pics of it while it's still clean before I take her out tonight on her first ride.

And yes, I most certainly did remove that hideous "MOTOBECANE" decal on the down-tube to show off more of that wonderful raw titanium.

Components list include:
SRAM X9 shifters
SRAM X9 derailleurs
Crank Bros Carbon cut to 660mm handlebar
FSA OS-115 100mm Stem
FSA Orbit XL II cartridge bearing headset
Rockshox Reba RLT 15mm thru-axle 100mm fork
Wellgo MG-1 /w Ti spindals pedals
2x10 config 26/36t SLX 170mm crankset
BBG Superlite 36t bashguard
Sram PG-105011-36 10spd Cassette
Avid X5 hydraulic brakes
Gravity turbo dropper seat post
Sette Flex-x saddle
Sun Ringle Charger experts 28mm wheelset
Maxxis Ardent 2.4" tubeless front tire
Maxxis Ikon 2.2" tubeless rear tire

[CCMTB]

Just curious; why didn't you go clipless?


Sent from my mountain bike while crashing

[crclawn]

Just curious; why didn't you go clipless?

+1

Weight and cost? It looks good. I would spring for some anodized bar end plugs in white to go with the pedals and forks. I would also consider removing the stickers off the rims. i think the bike would look better without the red on the rims, just black, white and the natural color of the titanium. But looks pretty darn good as it sets. I was thinkin about doing that same set up with the x9 shifters and slx crank but in a 3 x 9 on my cannondale, but I saw the X0 build kit from PP for like $730. I rode with straps my first two years. Have you thought about clip ins?

[KVW]

Originally Posted by CCMTB

Just curious; why didn't you go clipless?


Sent from my mountain bike while crashing

Originally Posted by crclawn

+1

Weight and cost? It looks good. I would spring for some anodized bar end plugs in white to go with the pedals and forks. I would also consider removing the stickers off the rims. i think the bike would look better without the red on the rims, just black, white and the natural color of the titanium. But looks pretty darn good as it sets. I was thinkin about doing that same set up with the x9 shifters and slx crank but in a 3 x 9 on my cannondale, but I saw the X0 build kit from PP for like $730. I rode with straps my first two years. Have you thought about clip ins?

Well, a long time ago, about 15 yrs ago used to mountain bike (although never really got as in to it as I am now) and I tried clipless and had some umm... less than thrilling experiences with it so this time around I was just going to buy a quality set of platform pedals and some decent shoes (Teva Pinners). However on some of the bumps that have caught me off guard, I've had my feet lift off the pedal and had some close calls. Those gnarly set screwes on those mg-1s are sharp as hell. I'd rather not have the skin torn off my shin so I looked in to installing those toe clips just to prevent that particular scenario.

I had to reverse swap the left and right pedal axles to get the toe-clip holes orientaiton correct which is why i went ahead and go the ti axles since I had to take them apart. I wear them loosely so i can still pull my foot out quickly to dab the ground - they only serve the purpose to prevent shin gouging. Eventually I may take up that challenge of trying clipless again... not sure when but eventually.

Yah I thought about debaging the wheels. I'm not sure if it'd look better plain or with something there. Getting rid of some of the color though, I see your point. Hmmm...

As far as the bar ends... well i found out real quick that dremeling of 20mm of my crankbros CF handlebars may have not been the best move. Half way through cutting in to the handlebar, I was like, WTF is all this metal dust? Turns out the handlebar ends were aluminum reinforced for bar ends! That wasn't in the description when I bought that from bike bling - it would have been nice to know! I probably wouldn't have cut them and left them at 680mm. But I was already committed to cutting it at that point so I finished the job and those little cut-in-half aluminum ends fell right out so there's no longer any support for bar ends.

[Sailor Ripley]

Very nice looking bike. I don't mind the rim decals but I don't think it would detract if you re to remove them either. Have fun!

[fatcat]

decals? I have 4 bikes and each of them have decals so it doesn't matter. What matters there's this
slow. old, fat yet handsome guy riding them. Put the Motobecane decals back on
and be proud! Don't hide that family member that has a speech impediment ether

[KVW]

Originally Posted by Sailor Ripley

Very nice looking bike. I don't mind the rim decals but I don't think it would detract if you re to remove them either. Have fun!

Thanks! Yeah, I think I'm going to leave em for now...


Couple more pics before I took her out for a night ride. Some close ups of the drivetrain and handlebar.










Btw, these grips I got on chain love for 3 bucks a pair and they are by far the best most grippiest grips I've used so far. Perfect thickness and firmness. Although they fit on so tight you'll have to cut them off if you dont have an air compressor. I like em so much I went back and bought 3 more pair when they showed up on CL again.

Anyway, I just got back from my ride and wow it's completely a new bike! I can't say it was soley my frame size change that made all the difference since I made several changes along with the frame. Mainly the Sun Ringle Charger wheelset and going tubless.

Compared to the Vuleta XRP pro's wheels and the crappy WTB 2.1" Prowlers that originally came with the bike, man... what a difference in build and quality. According to my park tool scale, i lost 430grams in the rear switching to the tubeless setup with the chargers & ikons. Even the front lost 100grams despite putting that heavy Ardent on the front. Man those Ardents... Wow that tire is beastly! My bike has been transformed in to a steamroller; there's no stopping it! I also dropped the handlebar which is why you see so much steer tube poking up past my stem. I'm liking the height but afraid to commit to cutting the tube to make it nice and flush.

Ok guess I'll stop whoring her out now. Just really happy with the end result. Thanks for stopping by people.

[specialize]

wow nice !

[crclawn]

R those just the normal folding ikon and charger
s or r those the tubless?

[bigbadwulff]

I too disliked the SPDs I got for my older mtb and switched back to cages. The new(used) bike I got came with Crank Bros pedals and I like them a lot. Very easy to get out of in comparison with the other clipless I had a long time ago. They take a bit to get used to getting into but that is a faint memory now after only 2 weeks with the bike.

Great-looking bike!

[TAPnTX]

Wow that frame is a piece of art

Cant wait to hear the ride report.

Congratulations on a fine looking bike


Todd

[Guerdonian]

Nice looking bike! Go get her dirty, and tell us what you think!

[KVW]

Originally Posted by crclawn

R those just the normal folding ikon and charger
s or r those the tubless?

this is the version I got.

Maxxis IKon Kevlar eXC 3C MaxxSpeed 29er Tire from BikeBling.com

Came out to 52 bucks w/ mtbr 10% discount code plus shipping and tax.

I probably should have gotten then EXO version that adds added pinch protection. Oh well...

I will say one thing, the Ikons were MUCH harder to get beaded tubeless vs the Ardents. The Ardents popped right on with hardly a flinch - I bet you could do it with a floor pump! It took several attempts with the Ikon even with the string trick! But it is one extremely light 29er tire!

[GTscoob]

Is your rear tire on backwards? My Ikon has the IKON 3C EXO on the drive side of the bike when oriented correctly.

[KVW]

Originally Posted by GTscoob

Is your rear tire on backwards? My Ikon has the IKON 3C EXO on the drive side of the bike when oriented correctly.

Yeah they're on backwards. I was looking at the tread pattern and it looked like it would grab more if I mounted it backwards. So I did a search on mtbr to see if it's ever been brought up and found this post here:

Maxxis Ikon vs. Conti Race King

I figure if it came from a maxxis rep, then hopefully it's true.

[iliketoridebikes]

what i really love about this bike is its simplicity

[FujNoob]

That there is a good looking bike. Enjoy your ride.

[CaveGiant]

Just chiming in to say that is a nice looking bike.

I am with you on no clipless, once you learn how to use those pedals properly you will not need the cages, but until then they will help learn.

[dsherrets]

Beautiful bike. I'm waiting for bikesdirect to re-stock so I can order one.

Curious about how tall you are, inseam, etc since you did not like the fit of the 15.5".

I am planning to buy the 15.5". I'm 5'8 and order my pants with a 29" inseam.
I'm a little concerned about the top tube being too short though.

[KVW]

Originally Posted by dsherrets

Beautiful bike. I'm waiting for bikesdirect to re-stock so I can order one.

Curious about how tall you are, inseam, etc since you did not like the fit of the 15.5".

I am planning to buy the 15.5". I'm 5'8 and order my pants with a 29" inseam.
I'm a little concerned about the top tube being too short though.

I'm actually relatively short at only 5'7" but I also have a disproportionately compact torso with long limbs. When we purchased the bike, I had the mindset that it was safer to get a bike a bit to small for you rather than a bike too large as a lesser evil. Hence my purchase of a 15.5" frame and me convincing my friend the same with him getting the 17.5" when he could almost fit a 19" (he's 6ft tall). But now I'm totally in the opposite school of thought and would rather have a bike slightly too big for me than too small if i have to side with any kind of error. Provided of course your feet can at least touch the ground while standing over the top tube, I believe its better to get a shorter stem than a longer one to compensate. Also, I kind of prefer the more aggressive leaned over stance. Sort of like a Roadie but not so extreme.

The kicker for me is when his bike finally arrived, we switched bikes and I was in shock that I could clear his top tube so easily. It was almost as if there was no change! I mean the only time I did gain more significant clearence between my crotch and the top tube was if i pushed my ass backwards under the seat where I would never anyways. But standings over the middle just past the front of my seat, it was virtually the same! This is when I knew I shouldve gotten the 17.5. Because these Ti motos do run rather short top tubes for their seat tube sizes and I liked how his top tube lenght fit better. Now that could be my own personal preference talking there - maybe the top tube lenght is perfect but not for me... nor for him.

There's also one more thing, because there's such a steep drop from the top of the head tube to the top of the seat tube on the 15.5", it makes the middle triangle very cramped. Its somewhat hard to pull my water bottle out from under there and its not even possible to use the largest size water bottles. Not to mention, that nifty little frame bag I'm running up there in those pics, impossible to fit on the 15.5". Its shaped like a Trials bike, lots of inconveniences emerge when you run a frame with such a funky shape.

Again, just personal preference at this point, maybe all those little quirks don't mean much to other 15.5" 29ers users out there (motobecane isn't the only ones who suffer from this when you make a 29er frame that small), but I say if you can fit a 17.5" even if its borderline and you barely fit it, I would say go with the 17.5 over the 15.5.

[zerogravity]

Thats a nice looking ride you got there!

[manabiker]

Congrats on the new bike, a wireless computer would clean it up some,
also the brake hose is on the outside of the fork where it could catch a snag
or get damaged in a fall, squirting out the brake fluid,
and ripping off the comupter wire. That bike needs some dirt on it.. Happy Trails

[hunrugger]

Originally Posted by iliketoridebikes

what i really love about this bike is its simplicity

[GChambers]

Nice!!! I'm building a Raw Misfit SS with the same shock, wheels and crank. Should be done tonight.

[rufio]

Gravity Turbo + Hardtail 29er = Awesome