Thanase

Hello,

So I am looking into buying a new bike, and have narrowed down my options to 2.
I am deciding on which is the better buy (both bikes are the same price):

The Motobecane 29er x4
Save up to 60% off new 29er Mountain Bikes - MTB - Motobecane Fantom 29 X4 with Custom Colored Wheels + Hydraulic disc brakes

or the Trek Marlin 5
Marlin 5 | Trek Bikes

Of course Trek is the name brand of the two, but I've heard from different sources that Motobecane bikes are usually better equipped for bikes of similar price points.
If anybody has knowledge on this and would like to share their opinions, it would be greatly appreciated.

Retro Grouch 

Same dealer or different dealers? My general philosophy is to shop for a bike shop first. Once you determine which shop you want to buy from, pick a brand and type that you like at a price point you are comfortable with and you'll never go wrong.

If both are available at the same dealer, ride them one right after the other. If one calls your name - that's it. If you're still undecided, pick the one with the color you like best.

You can worry endlessly over every single component but the truth is, at a price point, you aren't likely to feel much difference when you ride. The component manufacturers like Shimano produce so many different levels of components that the actual performance difference between adjacent groups is all but indistinguishable.

rekmeyata

first off I wouldn't buy a sub $1,000 mtb with a suspension fork because the manufactures slap on a cheap fork that will be nothing but a headache for you, then because the cheap suspension fork cost more than a rigid fork they then put cheaper quality components and or frame to meet the cost points they're trying to reach.

I suggest you find a mtb with a rigid fork, you'll get a better bike with less headaches. Besides if you don't ever plan of riding severe technical single track races there is no real need for a suspension bike, and if you do plan on doing such things then you need to plan on spending around the $4500 mark to obtain a bike that will withstand the punishment. I use to ride trails in the mountains of Southern California, and all I used was a rigid MTB and I was fine, of course I wasn't racing either.

rekmeyata

Read this too: https://blog.jensonusa.com/5-reasons...-a-rigid-bike/

Maelochs

Sadly, I have to agree with the above posters: cheap suspension forks are good in the showroom only.

One on the trail, they are overweight and fragile and underperform. The cheapest decent suspension forks you could buy from manufacturers are probably $400 or so, so any bike not costing twice that .... you are losing something very important somewhere, and it is almost certainly the fork.

My first MTB had a cheap fork ... and the first thing I did after a few rides was blow by bank account on a real fork ... a Huge difference. it actually complied with the territory--it didn't bounce me off on small bumps and bottom out on big hits, it actually stuck tot eh ground and absorbed some of the shock---and was tiff enough that I could corner reliably, and light enough that I could pedal up hills.

If you plan to ride real MTB trails regularly, do yourself a favor and spend minimum $1000 if you are buying a new hardtail MTB. Also, go over to the MTB forum and ask about budget shocks... not Cheap shocks, but the cheapest models of each manufacturers' lines which actually work.

Then, if you want to buy a cheap MTB with a cheap shock, shop all the close-out and returned merchandise pages of all the major bike parts websites until you see your deal on an upgrade. The difference in performance will shock (!) and astonish you. (By the way, the Motobecane comes with a Suntour? I hear they have a very worthwhile upgrade program.)

I'd say if $500 is your max budget and waiting a few months to buy a better bike is out of the question, but a rigid MTB. You will be slower, but you will be forced to develop actual riding skills.

If you are dead set on buying a bargain-basement MTB, then just know what you are getting.

From https://forums.mtbr.com/shocks-suspen...s-640272.html:
“I've heard that Suntour's forks are better than RST's forks, which is nice. But think of it as more of a placeholder. Sooner or later, you'll break it or it'll freeze, and then you can replace it with either a rigid or a "real" fork.”

And:

“My '05 Fuji came with a higher-end Suntour and it was no good from the start--no rebound dampening, no adjustments except for air pressure. When you weight 230, like me, plush isn't an option. If you are looking to upgrade, save your dough for something better. You will get what you pay for.”


And this : Suntour SF12-XCM-V3-MLO, W/Lockout, 100mm fork's "WARNING" !!! - BDCyclists QA

“I'm an UPLand leader-500 user... its fork is a "Suntour SF12-XCM-V3-MLO, W/Lockout, 100mm" today when cleaning my bike I saw a yellow sticker on it... it says--
“WARNING Use Only For *LEISURE CROSS COUNTRY “Do Not Use For *Freeride / Downhill *Dirt Jumper or Any Hard Riding (Emphasis added) Improper use of this fork can result in fork failure and personal injury! “

And then there is this glowing review:

Suntour XCT 29 Review (2013)

“No matter how thin, if there is a borderline that separates decent suspension forks from useless ones, then Suntour’s XCT embodies it.

“As for the actual performance, we could just say it’s at the bare minimum, welcomed if your budget’s tight, but useless if you desire performance. The coil proves to be pretty hard, and suited more to heavyweights, with no trace of consideration to things like smoothness or sensitivity on small bumps. Neither is the travel linear, after the first 50mm the dampening becoming brutal, which may serve as a guarantee that you’ll avoid bottom-outs, but this is a system meant to kick in in the final 15mm of the travel. Strange noises also come out of this 29er version when you pull the handlebar upwards, and stiffness doesn’t even belong in the same sentence with the XCT.

“This title had to go to a certain component, and we reckon that the Suntour XCT is this year’s lousiest suspension fork we tested. (Emphasis added) From the 100mm of travel, you can practically use 80, that is if you weigh over 90 kilograms. And other than being better than a rigid fork, its performances are at an universal low.”

Stuff like that really gets you excited to buy one ... No?

eric1514

I think the Trek is a better buy insofar as you can actually ride it and the dealer will perform a couple of maintenance adjustments for you as part of the purchase. The Motobecane will need to be assembled by you, if you have the tools and know how, or you will have to pay someone else to do it. You need to add that to the price.


Jeez, the OP hasn't said what his intentions are and someone is already suggesting he spent $4500. To the OP: If you are just riding trails and MUPs, the components are fine.

rekmeyata

I disagree that you will be slower on a rigid mtb UNLESS you do nothing but single track riding or freeride or downhill, in fact if most of your riding is going to be on road, hard or soft pack dirt, and gravel, or XC you'll be faster on a rigid bike.

Canker

sub $1k mtn bikes with a rigid fork aren't common unless they are also single speeds.

yadder

Equipment on the Motobecane is better. And frame black matt look cool

rekmeyata

And that is indeed a problem but they're are a few.

Cannondale Bad Boy 4 can be found at Cannondale dedicated bike stores but I would wait till end of the season closeout sale. Then there's this 29er: Save up to 60% off new Road Bikes - Gravity Liberty 2 | Save up to 60% off new road bikes And this hybrid: https://www.rei.com/product/892501/c...obcaAhF38P8HAQ Then there's this Diamondback that you should be able to find at Dicks Sporting Store, or at the very least they can order it, plus they have a slew of others you can see at the bottom: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...7E5OLQ67NVPFZA

I think the best bet in this situation is to find a hybrid, it has the same style of handlebars as a MTB, it has almost the same size tires.

GeneO 

not. Bikesdirect's quality is not great and maintaining a flat finish on a bike is a major pain. For quality, sure they will slap on some of last years higher end drivetrain components to make it look gfood, but frame, stems, seatpost, etc. are subpar.

Maelochs

yes there is a lot of bias against BikesDirect.

Those who have actually done business with the company can tell you that the frame is about the same as the trek's from a year or two before, and some of the components are indeed better. Some are indeed not.

BikesDirect does not make bikes, they buy frames from reliable manufacturers and buy the parts from reliable suppliers (Shimano, Sram, FSA ... ) same as every other company.

people who say otherwise probably just don't like the website or the concept of direct-marketing. The bikes are fine, just a season or two behind the latest (which sell for a third to a half again as much.)

If you think the matte finish frame looks cool, it does---to you, and after all it is you who matters in this equation. as far as how easy it is to maintain ... first off it's a mountain bike ... it is going to get beat. Second ... who cares? How easy is any bike's finish to maintain? How many people actually do more "maintenance" on the finish than washing the bike?

In any case, i still recommend against both bikes for the reasons stated above. I also know that when I went searching for an MTB I looked at BD and a number of other sources, read a Lot of reviews, and made my choice carefully and slowly. I did not base my decision on how well the finish might or might not last.

If you know enough about bikes to buy used, I strongly suggest scanning Craigslist for older rigid MTBs. If you really, really love riding tough trails, you will eventually save enough for a bike which won't let you down, and your skills will be considerable as well.

Phil_gretz

Find a Manitou Tower Pro on eBay and replace the Motobecane's fork with it. Then sell the OEM fork to make up some of the difference. That's what I'd do...

rekmeyata

With Bikes Direct the quality of the bike increases as the price goes up, when you reach their upper end models in either CF or TI they can't be beat for quality or price. Their TI bikes have been raved about for years and are made by ORA, the most highly recognized TI builder in Asia (based in Taiwan); while their TI bikes are not the lightest ti frames on the market they do have a good solid reputation for holding up; and someone here was racing in cross races on a TI cross bike and loved the bike, I have a friend who has owned his TI road bike for 5 or 6 years and loves it too and so did I whenever I've ridden it which has been several times. Even their top of the line CF Motobecane and Fuji models have been raved about. I know you can't come close to the same components and frame quality at an LBS for less than twice the price! And the reviews for Bikes Direct have been 4.4 stars out of 5 which isn't all that bad.

But once you get down below $600 you could probably find the same sort of deal at a bike shop.

jefnvk

This is generally true, as is the fact that it will come disassembled, and you will have to put it together yourself. Not difficult, but daunting for some, so if you fall in that category budget another $60-100 for a local shop to put it together for you.

VegasTriker

Your Motobecane is made by Kinesis Industries in either Taiwan or China. They make bikes under many different brand names. From Wikipedia:
"Diamondback Bicycles, Felt Bicycles, GT Bicycles, Schwinn, Jamis, K2, Raleigh, Trek, Kross and Kona — as well as the brands marketed by the U.S. company Bikesdirect.com: Motobecane USA, Dawes USA, Cycles Mercier, Windsor America"

The Motobecane has a lot of company with brand names you will recognize but it is an entry level bike with low-end components. Too bad they joined the parade to add the crappy suspension fork. I owned a Motobecane Le Champion road bike made when the company was still based in France. Beautiful bike and it lasted me for decades. That's back when the name meant something.

Rollfast

Working. Broken might look good but it's useless.