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Motobecanes Titanium FatBike final specs and release date.

85K views 504 replies 82 participants last post by  tankhead10 
#1 ·
#49 ·
I was talking to a friend who owned a bike shop and sold Cervelo as his main line of bikes. He reminded me of the stress he was under waiting for $5+k triathlon bikes to arrive after he had customers calling daily for updates. All had prepaid and wanted their ride immediately....and God forbid there was an issue.

When we see first hand the process of bikes coming in from overseas it gives us a glimpse of the industry.

BD should be given serious props for being transparent with the process and taking a lot of public heat.

In thend, it's all about biking and getting more people on bikes.

Ride on!
 
#235 ·
Maybe it's been answered before, but what is the deal with the Motobecane and BD hate?

I was at my LBS and test rode some bikes in the last few weeks. The 2016 Kona WO was particularly interesting because it was a good fit while the Carver Ti was a little out of my price range. I had not told them about deciding on a NTB Ti yet when during discussion one of the owners mentioned how heavy a current bike build was going, and said "It'll be heavy, like Sturgis Heavy". Since I was interested in all bikes that fit my criteria (to replace my aged Pugs), I knew the weight of the Sturgis to be the same as the WO, around 35/36 pounds. I did not mention this since the Sturgis was obviously the distant relative no one talked about, but I am unsure as to why. The NTB/Sturgis has a nice build, better than the WO, and very similar dimensions with nearly identical pricepoints. For a few hundred more, I chose the Ti due to it being Ti (I love my early Merlin road bike) and the superior build components.

I know the LBS don't make money off BD bikes but you'd think they'd be happy to get the business from upgrade/maintenance/failures than nothing at all. It's been said many times the LBS doesn't make a lot of the bikes they sell, they make it by other avenues.

Now I'm hesitant to take the bike (when it arrives) to my favorite LBS just for that reason, should it need anything. I don't really want to go to another one since I don't trust them, trust built over years of interaction. So what do you do?
 
#302 ·
I finally took the NTB out for a spin despite still being so sick I can barely breathe.

I love the bike. I removed the Snowshoes and installed my Nates tubeless with Zip tape, SunRingle strip, and 3 oz Stans each. It's down to 33# 12oz with the 424 pedals and the rest stock. I'll get it down a little more with lighter bars, stem, seatpost, saddle, and a carbon fork for winter. I'm also going to ditch the 36T for a 32T which is what I'm used to on the Pugs, although it was only a 11-28.

I have to say, I love this bike. It is so much less like a truck than my Pugs and more like a mountain bike. The X9 shifters take some getting used to coming from XT's, but maybe they'll be OK after I get used to them.

Bicycle frame Bicycle tire Bicycle wheel Bicycle fork Bicycle wheel rim

Bicycle tire Bicycle wheel rim Wheel Bicycle accessory Spoke

Tire Bicycle wheel Bicycle tire Bicycle frame Wheel


The Nates are much more aggressive than the Snowshoes, handle better at lower pressures, and are only 2mm narrower than the Snowshoes on the same Mulefut's at the same pressure (with the same tube), 4.5" wide my butt!

Nate:
Yellow Text Line Font Parallel


Snowshoe
Yellow Text Line Parallel Composite material
 
#303 ·
I finally took the NTB out for a spin despite still being so sick I can barely breathe.

I love the bike. I removed the Snowshoes and installed my Nates tubeless with Zip tape, SunRingle strip, and 3 oz Stans each. It's down to 33# 12oz with the 424 pedals and the rest stock. I'll get it down a little more with lighter bars, stem, seatpost, saddle, and a carbon fork for winter. I'm also going to ditch the 36T for a 32T which is what I'm used to on the Pugs, although it was only a 11-28.

I have to say, I love this bike. It is so much less like a truck than my Pugs and more like a mountain bike. The X9 shifters take some getting used to coming from XT's, but maybe they'll be OK after I get used to them.
Hope you feel better soon! I'm an XT snob so I just move my XT drivetrain from bike to bike (started on my Moonlander, then my Fatboy, now on my Sturgis Ti). I run with a Framed Alaskan Carbon fork during the winter and would vouch for it so far (~100 miles?) Post #257 of the current thread

That's really interesting about the Nates being so close to the Snowshoes. I was just about to ask why you went with a much smaller tire. I had heard that the Snowshoes were much smaller than their listed size. I've been considering 4" tires for summer use myself - now that I have the Bluto I don't need the extra "suspension" of 5", and I don't need the float on dry singletrack. I loved the Knards on my Krampus so that's likely what I'll end up with if I go that route.
 
#313 ·
The fork is a 100mm bluto, but each fork has 3 labels for 80,100,120mm so find the middle scale for 100mm then saddle up gently next to a wall and with the red band see where she settles on the 100mm scale. Sag is set by air pressure. The fork also has a psi scale for your weight as a starting point. My req is to ride hard with the corresponding psi to your weight and see how far up the orange rubber moves. If you bottom out it will go all the way to the top. Hard ride with one or two bottom outs is perfect. Sag will be set by air pressure. Rebound is a red knob on the bottom of the stansion. Slow rebound if you like by twisting it towards the turtle.
H
 
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#325 ·
Received my 21" Ti night train 11-18-2015 ordered 11-15-2015; Awesome. Been riding a surly Pug 13k miles for three years. Put 125 miles on it new NT and Novatech rear hub pawls failed in free wheel. Contacted novatech direct and they shipped replacement pawls and spring next day by USPS. USPS failed delivery, but finally got them in 6 days later. Went to remove front snow shoe to put in light tube damage damn bead. OMG pissed! Tight fit I have ever seen. Put surely nate 120 tpi off old pug. works great. Went for first ride after pawl failure. Bike falls over while putting bar mitts back on and breaks off damn DR drop out. Thank god it ships with spare. Ensure you lock tight the hex screw on drop out, lost mine after first ride.

Should be spare screw with spare drop out. This is my fourth BD purchase, I have a Ti 29er and wife has original 15" BD fat bike that was released 2 years ago. I have nothing but great things to say about BD. My original Ti29 frame failed after 15k miles, and they warrantied it, but took 3 months to get, but they upgraded it to new design with tapered head set. Worth the wait!

I am extremely hard on bikes. Actually cracked the surly frame on drive side rear drop out at 10k miles. Welded back up and modified structural support.

BD does not have the replacement drops out listed on their web site yet; gone contact them direct to get a new spare.
 

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#328 ·
Received my 21" Ti night train 11-18-2015 ordered 11-15-2015; Awesome. Been riding a surly Pug 13k miles for three years. Put 125 miles on it new NT and Novatech rear hub pawls failed in free wheel. Contacted novatech direct and they shipped replacement pawls and spring next day by USPS. USPS failed delivery, but finally got them in 6 days later. Went to remove front snow shoe to put in light tube damage damn bead. OMG pissed! Tight fit I have ever seen. Put surely nate 120 tpi off old pug. works great. Went for first ride after pawl failure. Bike falls over while putting bar mitts back on and breaks off damn DR drop out. Thank god it ships with spare. Ensure you lock tight the hex screw on drop out, lost mine after first ride.

Should be spare screw with spare drop out. This is my fourth BD purchase, I have a Ti 29er and wife has original 15" BD fat bike that was released 2 years ago. I have nothing but great things to say about BD. My original Ti29 frame failed after 15k miles, and they warrantied it, but took 3 months to get, but they upgraded it to new design with tapered head set. Worth the wait!

I am extremely hard on bikes. Actually cracked the surly frame on drive side rear drop out at 10k miles. Welded back up and modified structural support.

BD does not have the replacement drops out listed on their web site yet; gone contact them direct to get a new spare.
I'm not sure you losing a bolt means they should always include spares. Regardless, if doing trail side repair with small parts I usually grab a flat Rock to put them all on or hold them in my mouth. Something to think about.
 
#474 ·
It was not tubeless, the axle was bolted (I think), and the tire was at 10 pounds. There is absolutely no way it'd fit. The FBR tubeless at any pressure on 100mm rims fits with about 1/4" chain clearance in the lowest gear, for comparison.
 
#478 ·
Rather than walking out, when it's on the stand set the chain so you can put it in the 3rd or 4th cog, then shorten the chain and install a master link. That way if it happens again, you can shorten the chain by removing a section and at least ride out as a singlespeed.
 
#498 ·
Hello
Well after 5 years of ownership, I can say that I still love this bike. I have put the most miles on the bike this year cause of covid. However, the Guide brakes took a **** again with that replacement plunger lasting 2 years to the month. Just ordered two sets of Jumbo Jims 4.0" for a ridiculous price and will be good for another 4 years or so.
I also had the rear hub replaced with Bitex hub from the hub store. Blue.
So glad I did not keep that FAT BOY 5 years ago and that I bought this instead. The frame really is beautiful. How's everyone else doing with theirs?
 
#8 ·
If it's anything similar to my experience with the current moto x7 than rehaul everything to correct assembly, ditch the tires for something better like Surlys and hope the frame is designed well with acceptional welds and alligned dropouts. My frame's geometry is off more than a walmart bike with a bad offset in the rear. Reassembling will reveal any problems but it could be a steal if kosher.
 
#16 ·
Two of my friends just bought bikes from them... One for his wife, the other for himself.
The guy that bought the one for his wife bought an X7/X5 cable disc brake bike. Fine for the beach riding she's going to do with it.
The other guy bought an X9 bike with Guide brakes. VERY nice. Wheels are heavy.
No issues with the frames at all. The welds on Chinese bikes are surprisingly nice.
I haven't heard anything bad about their Ti frames. I'd probably buy one if I thought I could make use of a Ti bike.
 
#17 ·
Yeah their frames are legit...built by Kenesis, like a lot of other quality bikes out there. They save coin on the parts spec and yes, the heavy wheels. If it were available at the time, I would only bought the Bullet frame and fork combo they have now. Still a very good option to buy the whole bike and upgrade over time...real happy with the bike and can still wheelie it no prob with the longish chainstays! ;)
 
#18 ·
I am too happy with my Borris frame to spend the coin.

But so very glad to see them release it.

Hoping that their Motobecane line comes out with a legitimate FS Fatty before long.
 
#22 ·
Did a ride with a guy on a Motobecane Ti mountain bike. Very nice in person, and he loved it. Good rider, too.

I've always loved ti- wanted a Seven ti roadie for years. There are a lot of custom ti builders out there that will take a lot of your money for one of their frames. I think in the end I'd just do steel instead, save a buttload of money.
 
#27 ·
Sure looks like it but hard to tell because bd only shows one picture of the Ti bike. Down tube looks simpler forming that the Ora frame but everything else looks spot on. Maybe a custom variation? What is the Reach and Stack of your 21" frame? ETT 651mm is good for my 6'7" height but would like details...
 
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