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Gravity Bullseye Monster

511K views 3K replies 263 participants last post by  iliketexmex 
#1 ·
Finally got my bullseye monster, and I wanted to post my thoughts about it, but there dont seem to be any threads about the specific models that bikes direct offers.



The bike went together pretty smoothly and was lighter than I expected it to be. I will publish the weight when I get around to putting it on a scale, but it was abouth the same weight as (maybe even a little less than) last year's pug. I will ballpark it around 35lbs.



The stem and possibly the handle bars will be replaced soon. Its way too long right now and wider bars are always a plus.


The bike had a minor scratch on the down tube from where the front rim was attached for shipping. It doesn't really bother me, but I thought it was worth mentioning.



Here's the bike next to last year's pug (14" frame). The head angle looks much steeper on the Gravity. Not sure what the actual number is for the Bullseye, but for reference I know the pug is a 70.0 degree HTA.



The mission on a 50mm rim next to a nate on a 65mm Marge lite. Both supposedly 4.0, although the nate seems significantly wider in addition to being much more aggressive.

First impression is that its a good start. It doesn't ride nearly as well as the pug does, but in addition to costing less than a third what the pug did, I haven't spent much time dialing it in yet. There are a lot of things im going to do to it, first I need to cut the seat post down, because even inserted as far as it will go, its still at least a full inch higher than I want it. Next will be trying to get some power out of the brakes. Even after bedding them in, they are unbearably weak. I have ridden other bikes with the novelas and know that they can be much more powerful. When set up correctly they can feel as good as a bb7. I will try hitting the rotors with brake cleaner, if that doesn't work I will sand the pads down a bit. Also the rear rim is out of true and the front one has a pretty noticeable hop. it's nothing i cant fix but kinda annoying that i have to work on the wheels of a brand new bike.
I was torn between this and the Boris x9, but didn't have the means to get the more expensive bike. I will report back after putting some more miles on the bike, but so far I am a little underwhelmed. I just remind myself that it was only $500 and remember that I have nothing to complain about. I think it is the best way that money could be spent, because it gets you a good, ridable platform to begin with and will allow me to upgrade parts as I need to.
 
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#166 ·
Woodnmusic: I own a Gravity Bullseye Monster. I tip the scales at the Doctors office at 269lbss. I ride my fatty over some trails locally and it has not failed me yet. There is no noticeable flex in the frame and the wheels seem pretty durable. I have almost 400 miles on mine and the tires still have the little 'spikes on the side nobs. By the way when I started cycling again in July I weighed in at 308. That's a 39 pound loss. My Doctors is happy, my Wife is happy and I am happy and getting fit.
So get your fat bike and enjoy. PEACE. Oldbear52
 
#1,349 ·
Hello All!

Hello to all, after a few weeks of research, and this awesome forum/thread, I purchased an 18" Gravity Bullseye Monster in White. I am 5'10" and the 18" frame fits me perfectly. The first thing I want to say is how great of a deal this bike really is for being only $500. Since buying the bike I have added a few aftermarket parts to fit my needs.
1. Answer DJ Rove Stem, 50mm, red
2. Answer ProTaper AM 720mm Riser bar, white
3. RaceFace lightweight chain bash, red
4. Ergon GS-1 locking mtb grips
5. Kustomcaps Sugarskull stem cap, black with red bolt
6. Carbon Fiber stem spacers
7. Wellgo B087 Platform Pedals
8. Lizardskin carbon chainstay protector
9. Ibera Alloy Water Bottle Cage, white

As many others have stated on this thread, wider handlebars and a shorter stem are a must on this bike. I have only ridden it twice since the mods but it already feels way better. I would highly recommend this fat bike to anyone considering it, you cant beat the value you get for the money. Here are a few pics of the last ride and some of the add-ons. Thanks to everyone for the advice thus far. -Bill












 
#1,815 ·
Mine was delivered this am. In short if you're on the fence, go ahead and pull the triger (supplies could be getting low as they didn't have my size in white or gloss black). Its a lot of bike for $499 and way exceeded my expectations!

Looking for a (cheap) back up bike I'm suprised to say, I can see how with the right tweaks (suspension, better tires, a few component upgrades etc) this could turn into my 'go to rig'.
Took more time to unpack than to assemble. No issues at all. Frame arrived perfect. Wheels true and shifting is super smooth (actually very impressed with how this bike shifts (the 11-34 Shimano HG cassette may be a factory upgrade?) Used alcohol to clean the rotors. Front rotor arrived clean, while the back had a good bit of oil residue. Hard to tell it had oil until I hit it with the alcohol.
Current upgrades are/will be typical new (wider) bars, (shorter) stem and seat post, all yet to arrive. Added egg beater pedals and a temporary saddle until my new one arrives. Eventually I plan to make some brackets for an old Cannondale lefty fork I have stashed away, and lace a rim to a cdale hub. The hold up on the brackets are the measurements. Once I have those I'll be fabing the brackets and mounting the fork.
This being my first fat bike I may not be the best person to review, but maybe someone will find my jabbering helpful.
Shake down tonight on some single track with varying conditions from wet thin snow, wet rocks, super slimy mud to semi hard pack. Snow could be better, wet rocks I thought it was great!, super slick mud not so great(tread loaded easily and didnt want to clean at slow speeds although at faster speeds they seem to clean fine), semi hard pack I thought fantastic. So I give the tires a pass and will do for me until I wear them out and will be upgraded at that time. As I stated earlier Shifting was surprisingly smooth and snappy. I didn't think I'd like the shifters (felt like cheap plastic and figured they'd get changed), but was surprised they felt fine on the trail.
Braking is what I expected from mechanical disc. Not horrible infact probably decent and did improve the longer I rode. I probably won't upgrade to hydraulic until these wear out or something brakes. In the right conditions(even wet rocks) the bike climbed extremely well. I can see where these tires struggle in deeper snow.
Descending, the steep head tube angle shows up. I hope the shorter stem will help (also plan to play with the rake with the lefty fork) also hoping the wider bars help with the self steer I was getting. Although I was running the tires with pretty low pressure so not surprised by self steer. One last thing I should mention is the frame seems to run small or maybe its me lol. Im 5'9 and went with a 16" and it seems tiny. The seat post is at its maximum and maybe beyond. Kinda wish id gone with the next size up. I like running a short stem, wide bars combo but with this top tube being so short the factor 60mm stem is probably plenty short. I do plan to go shorter basically because I dont like my hands out over the axle. Hopefully the new shorter stem will work out. We'll see. figured I should mention this because after reading this entire thread (the reason I went with the GBM) I don't recall anyone else mentioning their frame not aligning with the sizing chart.

So major shout out to the OP and everyone else who contributed to this thread. Much appreciated. Its been extremely helpfull!!!
Happy trails
 
#1,938 · (Edited)
I'm still thoroughly enjoying my 2015 GBEM.
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Ditto! My 2015 GBM is running strong and used daily...:thumbsup:

BTW- We were blessed with 3-5 inches of Spring Snow this AM !!! And here I thought we were done for the season??:confused:

Bicycle tire Bicycle frame Winter Bicycle wheel Bicycle wheel rim


Update- Just took my new friend 'BUD' I met on eBay on a ride this am and he ROLLED !!! He was looking for his brother 'LOU' in the back, but his little cousin "NATE" already took the spot...lol:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Upgraded to SRAM 1x 30T NW along the way...it helped the GBM slim down to 34 lbs...:) ...that and a few other choice components. Not too many of the original parts left at this point...

Bicycle tire Bicycle frame Bicycle wheel Tire Bicycle fork
 
#331 ·
Well my Gravity Monster arrived this afternoon.



I opened the box and carefully scrutinized the forks and deralleur.....no damage. WooHoo!



Everything appeared to be carefully packaged and wrapped with copious amounts of foam sheeting. After emptying the box I did find a few "crumbs" in the bottom of the box. I have no idea where they belong so it's no biggie.



There was a scratched area on one of the tubes but I'm willing to accept that.



I had it assembled in about 45 minutes. Brakes are adjusted and stop the bike well. I'm still playing with handlebar and seat height.


This bike will be used primarily to facilitate my photography hobby as well as getting me to some isolated trout streams.

Lastly.....I put it on the scale....36 lbs. (20-inch frame). I am a 33-inch inseam and have about an inch 'nad clearance. :)
 
#379 ·
Dirtdawg... I've been wanting to get a fat bike for awhile. Long winters in Central Canada get pretty boring. After researching and checking the LBS the gravity bullseye ranks on par as a build with the Norco 6. 3 which costs almost $1200 Cdn.
So after reading your posts I decided to order the monster. Have to drive to ND to pick it up but its still saving me $500. Doing the basic upgrades, wide bars short stem and better pedals.
Thanks for the detailed build and test post. Always helps me make a decision when I hear a real riders opinion.
 
#568 ·
Oh definitely not. rear clearance is at its max. The front has room but those 100 mm hub are limited. One of the reasons I went dem over bem was just to keep the cost down. Right now I've upgraded to floaters and lite tubes and put on some bars, stems, and speed dial levers I had laying around and the bike is a blast. There is plenty of float on the 50mm rims with the floaters. If I really start riding it Alot I could see deore hydros going on. The only other upgrade would be getting a lighter fork and front wheel so it would be fatter lighter front. I don't see that happening or at least not in the near future as I'm happy with it and not looking to put money into it. I like popping into this thread though and checking out the bullseye escapades
 
#714 ·
I went out and did some local riding this morning, connecting up a few singletrack trails in the parks with some paved multi use paths in between:



This is my first extended experience on a fatbike, and I gotta say, this thing is slow. Especially on the lightly snow covered paved trails, it was just a painful grind to get from point A to point B. Once in the woods, it was OK, but I'm still working to make it more fun... mostly by something like this:



After I slogged my way home, I swapped out the fat wheels for some 29 Plus tires mounted on my new Fattie Slims wheels. I turned around and re-rode some of what I just did. What a transformation! It felt like riding a normal bike, not something pulling a sledge. I need to try the fat wheels in some deeper snow, but in the 1~4" of snow I rode today, the 29er was better just about everywhere.
 
#720 ·
Well I hated these mission tires so I drilled holes in them and put some stove bolts thru the back side and nutted them on the front side. May have added a bunch of weight but I don't slip or spin anymore:) I can come to a dead stop on icy concrete too.





Those studs look look pretty cool. What did you do on the inside to protect the tube? Duct tape? Would be interesting to try but I want to be able to ride on dey stuff too
 
#1,122 ·
Big ride today. Went up to North Conway and road for 8 hours.
3560 feet of climbing over 30 miles, the bike preformed well. I installed my bitex hub yesterday and now have 50 hard miles on it, so far so good. It's a huge improvement.









My friends all ride carbon wonderbikes, but I still stayed in the front of the group and cleared a lot of steep loose stuff that they couldn't.
 
#1,194 ·
I think I saw a 23" once on one of the 29.4's, but none of the others. I'm pretty sure the 21" is normally the biggest size they have for these. For reference, I have one and I'm 6'5" with a 34" pant inseam, and it fits me fine. I think the geometry is supposed to be very similar to the gary fisher 29er bikes.
 
#1,195 ·
Thanks watts.

I looked at a few of the Gravity 29ers and they all list 4 sizes on the main page and in the dropdown with 21" being the biggest, and all have the same geo chart with 23" being the biggest. I think 21" is the biggest they sell but I emailed BD just in case.

So do you like your gravity 29er geo? I wish the 2015 had a tapered head tube, then the Reba would be future proof and I could always replace the frame if I had to.

I got my GBEM all boxed up and ready to ship back tomorrow. All in all it has been a good experience meeting and chatting with you guys about it and I learned a hell of a lot about bikes. I think on my next bike I will be much more confident in working on it myself.
 
#1,264 · (Edited)
First Impressions

My new Gravity Bullseye Monster arrived a few days ago. I ordered a 20" Monster in the Pearl White color. I originally wanted flat black or silver, but both were out of stock.

The box had one corner that showed a little damage, but I wasn't able to find anything damaged inside. I wasn't able to find any issues with the paint or the derailleur hanger as others have observed. It did come with an extra derailleur hanger, which is nice touch.

I set to work unpacking everything and installing the upgrades that I had purchased. After reading this thread in it's entirety, I had also ordered just about every upgrade that was mentioned short of a new fork.

The pearl white color looks much better in person than it does in pictures, especially the pictures on the BD website. Seems a camera has a difficult time picking up on the pearl aspect of the color. I'm very happy with the color.

Upgrades:

Raceface Atlas 785mm bars / 30mm rise
Truvativ 40mm downhill stem
Shimano Saints Pedals
Control Tech Seat Post
Raceface Grips
Raceface 36T Bash Guard (bling!)
Seat off my old Gary Fisher Hardtail (not sure of brand but not original - most comfortable seat I've ever had on a bike)

The bike came with the 80mm rims (vs the original 50mm) and the Vee Mission Command Tires. It also came with a Shimano rear cassette with a 34T granny, hopefully addressing the issues others have had in this thread with rear cassette wear / failure.

Some notes on the assembly:

- The front brake caliper was loose. It just took a few turns on the mounting screws and it was tight. The rear was fine.

- I pulled the front hub apart to check the grease. It was barely adequate. I added a bit more and reassembled the hub and set the preload a bit on the loose side. The hub does not roll very freely no matter how I set it. It probably will need an upgrade at some point, but I'll see how it wears in. I didn't take apart the rear yet, but I may after my experience with the front.

- Getting the grips off the old bars to remove the shifter / brake assemblies was a bear without cutting them off. I was eventually successful.

- The stock bar is way narrow. I'm thankful for the advice on this thread to order wider bars.

- The brakes required significant adjustment to get them anywhere close to working correctly.

- The levers on the SRAM shifters to shift to the lower tooth count rings seem to be a bit challenging to get to. I wonder how hard they will be to reach with gloves in the winter...

- Final assembled weight with upgrades was 37.6 lbs per my bathroom scale.

After a few hours I had the bike together with all the upgrades. I pumped up the tires to 10 psi front / 12 psi rear and set out for an initial shakedown ride around my local neighborhood.

A caveat on my shakedown ride - I've been riding a road bike almost exclusively this year, so riding a fat bike is a very different experience than what I am used to right now.

The 20" frame size is a good fit for me (6'2", 33" inseam), albeit a tad small. I probably could have gone with the 22" and been OK. I have plenty of standover with the 20". The cockpit is a bit small, but this is probably due more to the short Truvativ 40mm stem upgrade. I set the seat all the way back on the rails and it seemed to help. I measured the distance from the bars to the seat post and compared it to my Fisher hard tail, which fits me just about perfectly, and the Fisher measured 730mm, while the Monster measured 670mm, so some 2 1/2" shorter. I do feel more upright on the Monster. With the stock 100mm stem, the distance from the seat post to the bars would have been nearly identical to my Fisher. I may experiment with a slightly longer stem if the short stem bothers me because of the associated cockpit geometry. I have a road 90mm stem laying around that I could try. I also may experiment with flipping the spacers on the stem. I left the bars at the top of the spacers for the initial setup, but I think lowering the bars may also help with the upright cockpit.

I left the Raceface bars at their full 785mm width. They are WIDE, and definitely took some accommodation on my part. I was originally riding with my hands as far inboard as I could get them on the grips, such that my thumbs were rubbing on the shifters. Eventually I adjusted, just very different from my recent experience with my 42cm road bar. I stopped several times on my shakedown ride and played with the bar adjustment, eventually settling with them tipped slightly forward to give me a bit longer reach.

The brakes initially don't work very well at all, and I couldn't get them to lock no matter how hard I yanked on them. Hopefully they will break in and work better. I did several bedding runs and it did seem to help a bit.

The new center pattern on the Vee Missison Command tires seems to have mitigated the self steer issues. The center of the Command tires has a V shaped pattern that permits the center blocks to overlap each other sightly when rolling, which I think helps the self steer issue.

The shifting seems a bit clumsy, albeit serviceable. I may not have the derailleurs dialed in yet, but I'll wait a bit for the cables to stretch and then dial them in. It particularly seems clumsy when going to the larger back rings, often pausing and then finally engaging with a clunk.

The bike was a lot of fun to ride! It seems like I'm pulling a tractor after all my recent time on my road bike :). There aren't many MTB type features around my house, but I did manage to find a 15 ft or so high mound behind the Buffalo Wild Wings that I rode up and down several times. One advantage of the shortish cockpit is that it's much easier to drop off the back of the seat for a downhill!

So far so good.

The next day I took it out for its first maiden voyage. I went to the John Muir trails in La Grange, Wisconsin. These are known to be some of the best MTB trails in the area, and many people drive up from Chicago to ride them. I rode the 12 mile blue loop, which is the most challenging of the several loops they have, albeit not terribly technical.

Some things to note on my maiden voyage:

- I haven't been on these trails during this riding season, since I have been primarily road biking, so first time on a new trail (they redo them slightly every year) with a new bike is bound to create some issues.

- I rode a 35 mile road bike group ride on my Orbea in the morning before heading to the trails around noon, so I was already a bit spent from my morning ride.

The first thing I noticed is the "Monster Truck" aspect of the Fat Bike. Rock gardens? Just ride over them, no need to pick a line unless it's to avoid the 2ft boulder. Sand? Welcome to the world of float! It doesn't seem like sand slows it down at all, unlike a 2" tired mountain bike. Climbing? Piece of cake, as long as you can keep planted on the seat and spin like a madman. I definitely think riding the Monster will help me with my spinning for the road bike, because it's by far the best way to get the heavy Monster up a hill, Trying to stand and mash just results in spin outs because of the float of the rear tires. Weight on the rear wheel is much more important to fat bike climbing than it is on a regular MTB, such is my experience.

The wide bars / short stem came into their own on the trail. This combination definitely helps with steering the heavy front end of the Monster through tight corners and to make quick adjustments while riding in obstacles. There were a few places on the trail were I wasn't sure if the wide bars were going to fit between the trees, but I never caught a bar once. Again, I found the shorter cockpit useful for dropping off the back of the seat during downhills.

It's a full rigid. This part became very evident during my ride. The Muir trails are best ridden on a FS bike because of the many many rocks and roots. After an hour of being pounded by the rocks and roots, I was definitely considering if I should have held out for a fat bike with a front suspension fork or full suspension. The big tires help, but they are not a replacement for real suspension. Next time I try this trail, I plan to lower the tire pressures further from the 10/12 of my initial setup, which will hopefully help more with the ride. The lack of suspension became most evident on a few downhills that were very rocky and often had stair steps. The heavy bike was moving / bouncing so much that it became hard to control, and I often had to brake significantly - which did have the added benefit of helping to bed the rotors - the brakes were working much better by the end of the ride.

The Shimano Saints pedals work very well, and I felt very glued to the pedals in my Chuck Taylors, so much so that I sometimes felt as though I was clipped in and unconsciously pulled up on the pedals to climb hills, only to have my feet come off :)

Some issues I had during the maiden voyage:

About mile 2 I noticed rattling coming from the front wheel. It seems that I had left the front hub bearing a bit too loose, and as the bearings seated they hub loosened and began to rattle. I pulled the front wheel and tightened the bearings a bit and they seemed good for the remainder of the ride.

About mile 4 the bike developed a fairly substantial creak. I had a hard time telling initially if it was the seat post or the bottom bracket, but eventually determined it to be the bottom bracket. Towards the end of the ride, the creak became better, but was still there, especially when climbing. I plan to let it settle and see if it goes away. If not, I'll pull the bottom bracket and re-grease it.

The issue with the rear derailleur engagement became quite annoying. It seemed to take forever to shift when climbing a hill, and often I'd lose all momentum waiting for it to shift and would have to stop. I learned to get into the lowest gear I thought I would need before climbing a hill or I'd have little chance of making it up. If I guessed wrong before the hill, I almost always ended up stopping.

The number of poe on the rear free hub must be about 4. It seems to spin forever before it engages, again making for issues when climbing hills and maintaining momentum with the heavy bike. As above, another reason to find the best gear to climb a hill before attempting it, because trying to shift while climbing almost always results in losing all momentum. New front and rear hubs may definitely be in order if I decide to stay with the Monster long term.

As a note, the bike snobbery with mountain bikers seems to be just as bad as the roadies. The parking lot at the trail was full of people on $$$ FS 29ers that all seemed to sneer at me on my rigid Chinese Fattie. During one long downhill, someone came up behind me on a FS 29er, and I didn't have a good place to get out of the way while doing 20mph on a downhill through some fairly tight singletrack, so I planned to get out of the way at the bottom of the hill. The person started getting angry with me (?!) and yelling at me to move over. Ugh. Sorry for delaying you for 20 seconds, buddy :skep:

I'm overall very happy with the bike! For $500 shipped to your door, it's an amazing deal, and a heck of a lot of bike. My upgrades were about another $250, but it's all stuff to make the bike more useable and I can always take them to a new bike or sell them if / when I decide to upgrade. The Monster definitely has it's shortcomings, but for the price it's a heck of a deal!

Many thanks to dirtdawg and all who have contributed to this thread with all their great suggestions!

I definitely plan to enjoy my Monster! :cool:
 

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#1,265 ·
The issue with the rear derailleur engagement became quite annoying. It seemed to take forever to shift when climbing a hill, and often I'd lose all momentum waiting for it to shift and would have to stop. I learned to get into the lowest gear I thought I would need before climbing a hill or I'd have little chance of making it up. If I guessed wrong before the hill, I almost always ended up stopping.
Nice run-down, Pushrod. I hated my rear derailleur at first, but it broke in and/or I got the adjustments nailed after a while.

My brakes, on the other hand, never got as strong as I wanted. Changing to hydraulics, even with the stock discs, changed that. That was a good thing today when my buddy low-sided right in front of me on a turn at the bottom of a downhill. The front brake tossed me right over him, Superman-style, but our bikes never touched, nor did he end up with knobby rash. I got a slightly bruised shoulder, but also a story we'll laugh about for years.

My wife has ridden her new Monster a few times and it is already making her more confident on a bike. She hit some moguls and a log pile today, as well as her nemesis: sandy patches on the trail.

Screw the snobs. A good bike is a good bike.
 
#1,330 ·
Just Got My GBEM!

Hello! This is my first post, but after reading this entire thread, I ordered myself a Burnt Orange Gravity Bullseye Monster. Then, after a really long week of anticipation, it arrived in the mail just in time for the weekend!

I am 6'0" with a 32-34" inseam (not exactly sure which). I went with the 18" frame, and I am glad I did not go with the 20"; the 18" is about perfect for standover height. I am totally new to fat bikes and generally inexperienced at mountain/off-road biking. The opinions of people on this thread were instrumental in helping me to make my choice to purchase this bike, so I will try to pay it forward to anyone who may value my perspective with a few of my first thoughts:

1. The bike's appearance is surprising. If you have no experience with fat bikes (like me), nothing can really prepare you for what 4" tires on 80mm rims looks like. When first open the box, my first thought was, "Umm...these tires are ridiculous." If you are used to narrow road tires, these tires look like the clown shoes equivalent of bike tires. You get used to it, but others (presumably also not familiar with fat bikes) will react the same way the first time they see it. The appearance of the rest of the bike is quite attractive; I haven't seen many people posting with the Burnt Orange bike, but I think it looks really nice.

2. The bike performs well. The first time I took the bike for a ride, I was not expecting to be speeding around. On the road, with the tires inflated to 13 psi in the back and 10 psi up front, the thing was really quite speedy. Once off-road, geared down a bit, it still sped along the grass and dirt fairly well (the tires were a bit bouncy at this pressure, so I backed them off about 4 psi each). Riding the trails was a blast on this thing; I think I was smiling the whole time (keep in mind, I am mostly a road cyclist, so this bike very suddenly opened up a whole new world of off-road adrenaline for me). I can't wait to go back out!

3. You may want to make SOME modifications. Despite being very rideable and fun right out of the box (it was not difficult to put together if you have some minimal bike tinkering experience and the right wrenches on hand), there are some things you may want to do with the bike soon after getting it:
  • There is definitely some chain-slap against the chainstay when off-roading. Protect your chainstay with some tape or an old innertube. The paint on mine is already chipped from the first ride.
  • The shifters and disc brakes will probably need some immediate tweaking after your shakedown cruise. Mine did. Also, double-check that you have really tighten all the bolts during assembly; mine came loose a couple of times during the first ride, causing the handlebars to turn sideways or the seat to suddenly "adjust."
  • I totally understand why people quickly upgrade to longer handlebars. The set that the bike comes with are good enough, but short enough to make steering somewhat finnicky at low speeds. I can see where more control would be desired at higher performance levels and trail difficulty.

I want to make sure that it is clear that I am happy with my purchase of this bike. I think it handles well, and I have already had several fun and thrilling rides with the bike. People stare when you ride it past them, but that's part of the fun (the very shy/sensitive should probably steer clear of fat bikes or any unusual modes of transportation). I am looking forward to many more rides on my Gravity Bullseye Monster, as-is out of the box. For $500 and free shipping to your door, this bike gets you on the road (or, as it were, OFF the road) quickly and cheaply. Those who are spoiled by the quality of a fat bike at a much higher pricepoint may not be impressed, but I am perfectly happy with the quality of this bike, if only because I may not know what I am missing. I would recommend this bike to anyone looking to get into fat bikes.

Bicycle tire Tire Bicycle wheel Bicycle frame Wheel
 
#1,393 ·
Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread. I just pulled the trigger on a GBM LTD largely thanks to this thread. I had it narrowed down to the X9, the GBM LTD or the Framed 2.0 but given what I've read here I think the GBM is gonna be the best value of the three for me. NOw the hard part is just waiting for it to get here sometime in October. Thanks again y'all.
 
#1,397 ·
New to the forum and after reading this thread I decided to take the plunge and got a Gravity Bullseye Monster "16. I am 5'10 350 lbs so I hope I made the right choice being new to trails and fat bikes. Trying to get back in shape, this seems to be the best route.

Anyway, thanks for all of the good information.
 
#1,399 ·
New to the forum and after reading this thread I decided to take the plunge and got a Gravity Bullseye Monster "16. I am 5'10 350 lbs so I hope I made the right choice being new to trails and fat bikes. Trying to get back in shape, this seems to be the best route.

Anyway, thanks for all of the good information.
Welcome to the forum, and good decision to ride a bike. It's much better than sitting on a couch.

Because of your starting weight, I'd set the tire pressure closer to 15 in front and 17 psi in back until you get a better idea for pressure. Much less than that, you could pinch the tubes if you hit rocks/logs/curbs. Usually more a concern with the back tire. I've never had a flat tire up front, but when i ride rock gardens at lower pressure, my rear tubes get flats all the time.
 
#1,519 ·
It's a good bike. It's appropriately priced for what you get. It's built like a tank and parts are heavy. If you wanted to loose weight, there are places where you can (handlebar, seatpost, tubes, fork), but it costs money. Balancing act between price and weight. However, it's not ungodly wally world POS bike heavy. Most of the parts are comparable to any other $500 LBS bike, just without the fancy powder coat

Assembly can be hit or miss. Usually it's good, but in the rare instance where the bike was assembled at 11:30 at night by a tired man in china, something could be missed. I've received brand new bikes from bikesdirect where everything was dialed in perfect except for the rear derailures high limit screw. I've received bikes where there were a couple minor alignment issues with the brakes and derailures. Every bike is different, and bikedirects customer service has always worked out OK for me in the past. If you expect perfect setup (in theory), buy from a local bike shop. If you want to be hands on and wrench on the bike yourself, buy from online.
 
#1,522 ·
I'm closing in on 200 miles on my Bem. You're going to like it for questionable riding conditions. I've done a bit of trail riding with it lately, and it's really confidence inspiring. I'm an ok mountian biker, Not amazing, but better than some people. I suspect that it's more work than my mountian bike, but honestly, I'm not really noticing it being slower overall. I rode it one lap in the hill of truth race last weekend and my lap time was about the same.

All that being said, buy a short stem and wider bars now, you'll want them once you get it. Oh, and it's not a miracle bike, so be careful on wet leaves.
 
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