Mountain Bike Reviews Forum banner

Just bought me a fantomDS x4

3K views 16 replies 3 participants last post by  thunder 
#1 ·
Haven't had a new bike in a LONG time. I did build up a hecker 6.1 26" frame with the parts off an old trek liquid few years ago. Honestly I love the heckler but I'm just too curious about the 29er thing so enter the fantomDS 29er.
Hydraulic brakes, tubeless ready.... Pretty pumped to see how I like her. In the end I'll probably do a little shootout and pick the bike I enjoy more.

Pics coming when I get her. I haven't seen anyone on here with this particuliar bike yet unless I missed it.
 

Attachments

See less See more
1
#2 ·
You'll probably like the other ones better. This level of suspension is seriously lacking. Small fork stanchions, non-adjustable rebound (and a very basic one at that), and coil spring fork. The rear spring works OK, but still not as good as a better one with a good quality hydraulic rebound.

Doing a fork upgrade in time will really make a huge difference. And I'd highly recommend swapping out the QR skewers to some shimano style internal cam skewers or the DT Swiss RWS skewers. I found on my gravity FSX, if I used the stock skewers, the rear end and fork had a lot of play. Swapping skewers and making sure they were nice and tight made a huge difference in the corners.
 
#4 ·
I missed the shipment friday so I just finally got it last night. Nice looking bike and well packaged. I have it mostly setup now just need to tune the shifting and brake pads. One thing that is odd is that the seat post is incredibly long. With the bend in the tube it fits in it is useless at that height. Literally sticks out a over a foot. Really surprised they even ship that long as no one could use it without cutting it down. No big deal for me but for a complete newbie it would be an issue. I'm gonna air it up tonight and ride to the park with the kids before even thinking about doing a tubeless convertion. Good thing is that it has screw on valves on the tubes so I'm just gonna cut them out and reuse them along with gorilla duct tape when I do convert it. Hope to be on the actual mountain tomorrow but we'll see. Pics coming
 
#5 ·
Strange. The seat tube looks like it's straight on the stock pictures from bikesdirect. As long as you go at least 1" below the 2nd brace against the seat tube (where the top tube meets it), cutting the seat post should be fine. If it's catching on something in the seat tube (weld blob or deformed weld point), it's not good. Shouldn't have left the factory, and worth an e-mail to bikesdirect. They are seriously long seatposts though. My gravity had one of these 400mm ones, and I use a fair majority of it. going on 4th year with it and haven't had any problems with bending under 240lb rider.

For the tubeless conversion, if you haven't bought sealant yet, go by a local LBS to get the sealant and ask for some junk mountain bike tubes they're throwing away. Cut the stems out of them instead. Always nice to have good tubes as a backup in the car (or carried with you) in case something happens on the trail. Always hate cutting a ride short due to a puncture tubeless sealant won't fix. Also, I don't think the motobecanes stock tubes use a removable core on their presta valves. Makes tubeless setup a complete pain if the cores are not removable.
 
#6 ·
Well finally got the first ride in. Bike felt great. Not as plush as my heckler 26" but still nice. I enjoyed the large wheel size but didn't go real technical today so I'm still deciding. Great on climbs though! Will get another ride and a pic in.
 
#10 ·
I just cut the post. No big deal, just thought it odd. I'm really liking the big wheels so far. But this bike does need better suspension. I may bump up both fork and rear if I keep her. Next up is a ride on my old 26er to see how they feel different. I'm really looking for the bike I like best before I put too much into the moto. I will tell you the brakes felt awesome and it climbed great. Also loved the fee of the tubeless front tire. I'm doing the rear one tonight. I think for a lowly $200 I could upgrade to rockshox recon 1mm air fork and a fox float rear shock. I know not top of the line but then again I'm not a top of the line rider:)
 
#11 ·
The recon would be a great upgrade. I'd hold off on the rear shock for now unless the weight bothers you. It's not great, but it's not bad. You can actually adjust the oil flow to slow down the compression and rebound. The fork really is junk though.
 
#12 ·
Well, I've got 5 rides in between the moto and my heckler. Riding them back to back to see what I like and what I miss. So far I love the longer wheelbase and ground clearance on the moto. I rode the heckler yesterday and kept hitting pedals and couldn't roll over rocks I'm pretty sure I did on the 29er. I do love the flick ability of my 26 and the ability to wheelie over things. Felt much more sure when jumping on the 26 especially in rock gardens. I can't seem to land right when jumping the 29er. The front end is so dang heavy. But I still love it. I can see taking much longer rides on the 29er way more than the 26. May just have to keep both. We'll see :) My biggest complaint now is not getting the step up bike in that awesome green!
Bicycle wheel Tire Bicycle tire Bicycle frame Wheel

My heckler
Tire Bicycle tire Wheel Bicycle wheel Bicycle frame
 
#13 · (Edited)
Couple notes on the bike. Rear shock doesnt seem to good for my weight.Sold it and have a fox float on the way. $20 difference!These rear shifters are horrible. Hard,loud shifts. Especially down. Sram slx 4shifter with 8 speed rd-x4 sram derailer.Whats the easiest fix? Ive heard that zee shifters are great bang for buck. Will they work with this derailleur? Or a deore?May replace the derailleur eventuality but not now. I only see 10sp zee shifters. Thanks
 
#15 ·
New shifters and derailleur would be nice, but for something worth while, it's an entire drive train swap. About $200-250 for a cost conscious Sram 10 speed GX setup.

Imo, good setup will make a cheap x4 drivetrain work great. Check cable ends that they are seated well and no rubbing. Check cable to make sure the cable moves easily in the housing. Make sure the b- screw is adjusted properly, and cable tension screws are set for your shifting preference. With effort, x4 can work just as well as x7. Just weighs more and will wear out quicker (3 years instead of 5 years heavy, and I mean heavy, use)
 
#16 · (Edited)
Update: I went on a pretty epic 8mile ride and a couple other small ones. I upgraded the rear shock to a older fox float ctd I got on ebay for like $40! Works awesome and really changed the bike. The front fork has to go. Fine on the short rides that aren't too rocky but the 8mile ride had a lot of rock and it beat me up. Got a new fork on order from ebay too. A maintou marvel comp. Pretty excited. The drivetrain has actually been ok. I think I'm done upgrading for a while :). Now I just need to wait until winter and strip that boring black paint and clear coat the stainless or do a translucent color.
Heckler was sold:(. Can't justify 2 bikes right now.
 
#17 ·
Feeling pretty good about this one. Sold old bike and for $400 more i built this beast up. Now with manitou marvel comp fork, fox float ctd rear, ks dropper post and new bars on the way! I have $1150 into it.Probably better than most $1150 bikes i could buy off the shelf.


Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top