Well I recieved my '08 fantom comp last night. Whew Whee :eek: is all I could say. It was definately worth the wait! It rides like a million bucks but left change in my pocket for a few add ons like a multi tool, tubes, patch kit, pump, and new pedals (Don't care much for the half step in half platform style it came with). I'll post some pics soon from the trail. :D

Congrats on the Moto!

congrats! can't wait for the pics, this is the bike i've settled on.

the plan is i will live vicariously through you until i get mine. so pics... pronto :)

Well so far everything about the bike is great except for the chain. There are links that are so stiff that the chain skips and jumps. I thought it was an adjustment problem with the shifting system but on further inspection the chain looks like a switchback trail map. I'm ordering a new chain as we speak because even after soaking it in oil overnight some links are still stiff as hell. Pics coming as soon as the chain is remedied.

You can fix that with a chain tool. You just use the spreader side to spread the link out a little to where it doesn't kink.

Thanks Natrab for the advice, but there are more than a dozen troubled links. I'll give it a try if no one wants it shipped back to them for an exchange. I think it was some kind of defect or problem at the assembly plant for a chain to be that stiff at multiple locations. It is difficult to bend many links by hand. That can't be right.

Here ya go
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d181/bassandgrass/DSCN0918.jpg
This pic was taken after a ride in Capital Forest.

Well so far everything about the bike is great except for the chain. There are links that are so stiff that the chain skips and jumps. I thought it was an adjustment problem with the shifting system but on further inspection the chain looks like a switchback trail map. I'm ordering a new chain as we speak because even after soaking it in oil overnight some links are still stiff as hell. Pics coming as soon as the chain is remedied.
Man I had the same exact thing on my Motobecane :eekster:

I Had to replace my Chain for the same reason. That KMC Z9000 is really tight for some reason. So tight that it makes your crank skip and jump. Very annoying. So many tight links that is was not worth trying to fix it. I just replaced mine and my bike rides so great now.

what kinda pedals did you go with? are those Odyssey Triple Traps?

so you're sure it's mechanical and not just sticky?
all new chains are kinda sticky, from what I've seen. I think it's the preservative which is meant to be cleaned off prior to riding.

if it's just sticky, simple green in a chain cleaner, cleaned and dried, then lubed with some dry wax lube might do the trick.

yeah those are triple traps. The chain was cleaned repeatedly and soaked in motor oil overnight and the links were still too tight. I replaced it long ago with a sram. rides like a dream now!

heheh, yeah, I was on a pedal kick a while back.

my friend just got his Moto a few weeks ago. wouldn't shift for crap.
it was a lot better once we pulled and cleaned the chain properly.