rkg64

My wife and I are enjoying our 2 Trek FX bikes a lot. We wish we had bought them years ago. Also we had a surprise 5 year old come along so that put it out of our mind but she is now in kindergarten.

So at this point we would really like to get into road biking. We have lots of nice roads around here just for that and lot's of cyclists employ them and the traffic is fairly minimal being that they are paved country roads.

After looking around and getting ideas she and I thought if we're going to spend the money get a nice bike that would satisfy us for years and one that we wouldn't really have to upgrade. We then agreed on either getting the Shimano 105 or Ultegra group set and that the rest of the bike would be pretty much up to par plus or minus a couple things perhaps (saddle/wheels/pedals &c).

So we've taken a look at the Motobecane Immortal Ice and it comes with a nice set of components for the money ($1500.00). I spoke with the LBS where we bought the FX's and our salesman agreed for the money you get a lot of components. His concerns were assembly (no problem for me as I've already learned how to adjust, tune, true our current rides). His second concern was dated geometry but said they use some of treks technology. Looking at a bike there with similar equipment would be over double the money. I'm sure the brand name costs some of that, or a lot of that but I could be wrong.

Anyhow I wondered if anyone has a bike from them here that is similar and whatever else can be said about this. I also wondered what you all would have to say about the wheels that come on this particular bike. Thanks for all input.

Phil_gretz

Well. To begin with, if you and your wife are certain of your size(s), and you can make adjustments to swap out stems and such, you will have no problems with the Motobecanes. As long as you want to be responsible for fitting and adjusting for comfort, especially for your wife, then there are no compelling reasons to discourage you from going the Bikes Direct route.

Your bike shop person raised two objections: obsolete/older geometry and assembly/adjustment. Okay.

Did he offer what he would recommend for you instead? And at this price point? Did he offer to have you test ride his competitive offer?

I ask because you and she might benefit from slowing down a bit and trying out some different bikes with alternative geometries: endurance versus race, which generally affects how high the handlebars are placed and somewhat the riding characteristics of the frame. Anyway, my recommendation would be to not rush into buying a Bikes Direct bike until you are convinced that the resulting ride will be what you really want/need.

That's a heck of a lot of bike for your first true road bike, by the way. You should go with a lesser group and both be quite satisfied for years. Just saying...

TenSpeedV2

That is a lot of bike for the money and it will be almost impossible to price match that based simply on the components. I paid a little less than that for my full carbon Felt Z5, however, it came with 105 and Felt brand wheels along with brakes and stem. To get Ultegra 6800 and the Mavic wheels along with the rest of the stuff at that price....that is a hell of a deal.

Dang

I got a Dawes from BD about a year ago. I really like it. Straight out of the box I had to true the wheels and do some minor shifting adjustment. Also I had to lube the wheels. They were pretty dry.

rkg64

Good advice and thanks. As for sizing we are certain about that for each of us so that isn't a problem. We've also looked at all the TREK road bikes and have compared size, fit, feel. We have also considered the Super Strada as well. As for the upgrade to all ultegra though, compared to what we've seen the Ice is a great deal.

rkg64

We were thinking the same thing as far as component level. We can get a Trek with lesser components (not they they're bad, they're 105's) at about the same price and lesser wheels. I guess you're paying a lot for their name and I couldn't care less what the bike says on it as long as it is a good bike.

...also we really weren't wanting carbon fiber...but for that price and those components?

bikemig 

As long as you know the size and you are comfortable doing your own work, bike direct is a good choice.

I like their cross bikes as well; they are more versatile than road bikes since they can fit a larger tire. You may want to look at those as well.

rkg64

I'm glad you've had a good experience with your bike as far as liking it. I really like the fact that BD has a lifetime no fault frame replacement policy. It says Trek offers 350.00 on a broken frame (carbon fiber only I am assuming). I imagine that is true or they wouldn't document that. We are also considering the Super Strada as well which is aluminum with carbon fork. I'm certain we would be happy with either one and it is a lot of fun to ride.

rkg64

Thanks for the suggestion. We have at this time 2 Trek FX bikes that we use on trails around town, mostly paved, some gravel and some rough spots. I guess having a cross bike we could use them on these trails as well but then I am thinking we can do that with the FX but just not as fast as a road bike on the roads? You bring up and interesting thought. I'm sure you know much more about the advantages/disadvantage so any other input is appreciated!

rkg64

BTW, since the bike has 700c rims doesn't that allow for a wider tire size if we wanted to do that?

alcjphil

It isn't the rim that might prevent using wider tires, it is frame clearance. Any 700c wheel can accept a range of tire widths,the wider the rim is,the wider the tire you can install. The 29" wheels found on many mountain bikes are actually the same diameter as road bike wheels, they are 700c by another name. The problem may be that the frame of that bike will not have sufficient clearance for any tire much wider than the ones it comes with. This is one of the flaws with online buying, you cannot examine the bike ahead of time. At a guess,looking at the pictures of that bike, it has tight frame clearance and you probably can't install tires any wider than 700 x 25, only 2 mm wider than the ones it comes with

rkg64

Thanks for the response, much appreciated. Do you see that as a disadvantage, as in is there a reason that a wider tire would be needed application wise and what limitations this could cause?

alcjphil

The "latest" trend in road bikes is towards wider tires. There is actually nothing new about this. My 1973 Raleigh Professional had room for much wider tires than almost any current road bike. It seems that bike manufacturers are getting back to the very practical ability of their bikes to run wider tires. A wider tire feels much more surefooted on bad pavement, they can be run at lower tire pressure allowing the tire to absorb irregularities that will actually slow you down when your tires are pumped to their maximum pressure. Over the last few years,even top professional riders have switched to wider tires than they were using a few years ago. This may be one of the things the Trek salesperson was referring to when talking about current frame geometry. The latest Trek road model ,the Emmonda has much better tire clearance than previous road models allowing the use of wider tires, unofficially up to 700 x 30

ShortLegCyclist

Wider tires can handle more riding surfaces... with 25's you are not going to want to take those bikes on gravel, but if you could mount 28's or better 32's or 35's you could.

There was a widespread belief than thinner tires roll faster but it turns out that is probably not the case, going to 28's loses little to no speed and gains a lot in ride quality, depending on the tire used (the more puncture resistant, the less comfortable and fast the tire will be in general).

If you ever want to ride these in the wet, the ability to mount wider tires also directly translates into the ability to mount fenders. If you have no clearance with 25's mounted, you will not be able to mount full fenders, let alone wider tires.

rkg64

Thanks for the info on that and it is a huge consideration. I contacted BD to find what max width tires it can accept. What is fork offset btw? It says it is 45mm on this particular bike.

rkg64

I understand and thanks. BTW we are considering a cyclocross as well.

bikemig 

@alcjphil is spot on as to the advantages of a little wider tire so I don't need to add much to this. You can always run skinny tires on a cross bike if that is your preference but you will be severely limited in running fatter tires on the immortal ice bike.

If you're not racing, in my mind, that's a negative. The cross bikes are pretty darn light and many have rear rack braze ons which are very useful if you do a multi day trip and want to use a rear bag of some sort.

Frankly for doing long distance rides there is a lot to be said for a little fatter tire run at a little lower pressure. The bike you are looking at is very limited in this regard.

rkg64

Gotcha. What is the advantage between a Trek FX hybrid and a Crossrip? Is part of it a more aggressive geometry which would be better for road cycling?

bikemig 

I don't know offhand the geometry of the 2 bikes but as a general rule, road bikes (and that includes cross bikes) tend to be a bit more aggressive. Also the geometry is designed around using drop not flat bars.

Tundra_Man 

I've never understood the "dated geometry" concern. Pretty sure geometry hasn't changed much since Euclid.

I've bought two bikes from BD. Had a good experience both times. If you're comfortable sizing yourself and doing your own wrenching then you can get a good deal through them.

Another bike you may want to consider for the same price is the Kestrel Evoke 2.0. I bought the 105 equipped version of this bike and couldn't be happier with it.

Stucky

I had one of BD's cheapest bikes as my first road bike, and was thoroughly impressed with it. Wheels were true out-of-the-box; all it needed was front derailer adjustment and some brake tweaking- Put 3000 miles on it the first year- trouble-free.

And that was one of their cheapest bikes; I could just imagine the Immortal Ice.....that looks like an AWESOME bike!

max5480

nobody likes motobecane. everyone knows it's the bikesdirect brand
you will be shunned by all other cyclists and bike shops won't help you out.

rkg64

Here is what I found out concerning the Motobecane. It will take up to a 28c so that is good for me to know. Concerning the more aggressive position of the rider the LBS told me just to change the stem and showed me two bikes to compare that to.

rkg64

Good, and a cool signature too..

rkg64

lol...I'm used to being shunned being a RAIDERS fan living in KC Chiefs territory, that, and I'm not concerned with what others think, so they can all shun away.