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OPINION:Motobecane Super Mirage and Mirage Sport Road bikes

82K views 50 replies 20 participants last post by  ctguy1955 
#1 ·
Hi everyone!

I am just getting into cycling and looking for a decent road bike to get started with. As a student I have a very low budget, I will be using the bike to travel to and from campus (20km daily).


I have also been looking at some new starter Motobecane road bikes both have Shimano Sora components. I have attached the following links to the specs on these two respective bikes. Any information anyone has on these bikes would be greatly appreciated.


http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/super.html

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/miragesport.htm
 
#28 ·
Dave Hickey said:
People can't seperate their dislike of Moto's and bikesdirect. BD and it's retail arm CycleSpectrum have exclusive use the brand. I'm not a fan of the BD tactics or marketing but I have nothing against the bikes....

Treks, Scotts and Felts can be bought at a variety of outlets...

This whole Bikesdirect love/hate is not exclusive to RBR. Most of the other cycling forums have similar threads. The schills/non shcills comment pop up all over
Dave - I think you've partially hit the nail on the head. You make a very good point about BD and Cyclespectrum being the exclusive sellers of Motobecane (well, except for Discovery Cycles here in Austin. Thats an exception I think). A lot of the distaste comes from the business practices of BD.

However, a lot of folks seem ticked about the prices also. Not sure why - if its driven by competitors or something. But a lot of people argue there are problems/defects with the bikes because they're a. cheap(in price), or b. mail order. Alanbikehouston comes to mind here. A lot of people seem to scoff at the bikes because of their low price. Its almost kind of ...... snobby.

Alienator - I was actually run off from another forum because I was accused of being a BD shill. I THINK it was cycling.com. Followed a link over there when all the stuff went down with Sydney. One of the first threads I came across was a BD thread - oh boy I caught some heat. I even posted pics of my bike and links back here to some of my threads I was involved in, but some people didn't buy it. I didn't care for the forum much anyway after reading a few threads and just haven't been back. The only bike forums I use now are this one and bikeforums.net. I have to admit they get a lot of shill accusations over there too. Although to be honest, I have seen a post here and there that really was pretty dubious.

Covenant - yeah - that Immortal Force is sweet. Not sure if I can swing the $1800. I'm looking at another Le Champ though for racing this spring/summer.
 
#29 ·
I have to add, when talking about the "business practices of BD", however, that they've always been on the up and up with me. They've answered every email and phone call pretty darn quick. I got my bikes as advertised, usually within 2 DAYS without paying for shipping. They were proactive in notifying me about a parts recall. From what I've seen, except for the shilling accusations, their business practices have been pretty good. Thats just what I've personally experienced in my transactions with them. Can't speak for anyone else.

I pointed someone at BD to a thread here once, and the BD rep sounded angry that it was implied they weren't serving their customers well. The let me know exactly what they had done in the situation. It communicated to me that person, at least, took a little pride in what they were doing and the company they worked for.

*whew* I think my next bike's gonna be a Giant so I can take a breather from all this..... ;)
 
#30 ·
I'm not slating Motobecane Bikes

But what I find irritating about the two bikes the OP asked about, was that one in particular was being touted as an absolute bargain. Bikes Direct claim that the bike retails for $900 when it plainly doesn't. It's built from No-Name Cromoly tubing, which I presume, due to the lack of any mention of butting is plain gauge. The Trek 1200 at $910 is butted alloy with a carbon fork and Tiagra 9.
If I was a newcomer to the sport, with no experience of cycling, I'd be keen to save a packet and snag myself a better bike than I expected. Trouble is that it's highly unlikely that it would ride as well as the equivalent Trek, Specialized or Giant.
The more expensive Motobecanes seem to be a different proposition, I would be very tempted as you could use it to get a group at a better price and upgrade to a better frame later. But the way that the entry level bike is presented is not fair in my eyes.
In the UK, if you present a product with an inflated original price, Trading Standards (Local Gov. Consumer Protection) would take a dim view, possibly forcing you to amend the price to a more realistic level.
I have no problem with someone getting the best deal they can, but I wonder how many people try this beautiful sport out and are put off by sub standard kit that they have been led to believe is better than it is.
The OP wasn't asking about the "Fuji" Motobecanes at $1000+, he was enquiring about the sub-$400 bikes!
 
#32 ·
golzy said:
I think the comedy in this whole thing is that prior to this thread I had never been to the BD website... but I'm intrigued by all of this shill talk and couldn't resist! Their "shady" marketing tactics sure got to take a look...
Exactly...Taken from the Hollywood handbook. Even bad news gets the name out in front of the public...
 
#33 · (Edited)
ultimobici said:
But what I find irritating about the two bikes the OP asked about, was that one in particular was being touted as an absolute bargain. Bikes Direct claim that the bike retails for $900 when it plainly doesn't. It's built from No-Name Cromoly tubing, which I presume, due to the lack of any mention of butting is plain gauge. The Trek 1200 at $910 is butted alloy with a carbon fork and Tiagra 9.
If I was a newcomer to the sport, with no experience of cycling, I'd be keen to save a packet and snag myself a better bike than I expected. Trouble is that it's highly unlikely that it would ride as well as the equivalent Trek, Specialized or Giant.
The more expensive Motobecanes seem to be a different proposition, I would be very tempted as you could use it to get a group at a better price and upgrade to a better frame later. But the way that the entry level bike is presented is not fair in my eyes.
In the UK, if you present a product with an inflated original price, Trading Standards (Local Gov. Consumer Protection) would take a dim view, possibly forcing you to amend the price to a more realistic level.
I have no problem with someone getting the best deal they can, but I wonder how many people try this beautiful sport out and are put off by sub standard kit that they have been led to believe is better than it is.
The OP wasn't asking about the "Fuji" Motobecanes at $1000+, he was enquiring about the sub-$400 bikes!
Yeah, welcome to the wonderfull world of MSRP. There's a lot of leeway about what they can say msrp is. I haven't spent a lot of time looking at Sora bikes, so to be honest I don't know what they should go for. Bikesdirect usually takes other peoples frames and re-badges them though, so there is a good chance these are name brand frames and may be pretty good. Again, I haven't seen them so I don't know for sure, but I know that's how they operate on several other models. They may be modeling the MSRP after what someone else charges for a similarly spec'd bike.

Some people also prefer a steel fork, believe it or not, to a carbon one. That's just one example of the component list being open to interpretation. Also, in my experience, the 'no-name' parts on their products may not be much to look at, but they tend to be pretty functional. Tektro brakes, for example. Not pretty but work well and are resonably light.

BTW, I own one of their sub $400 steel bikes. I've upgraded it - mainly to suit my own taste not because of any glaring deficiency:

 
#36 ·
FMW - any luck with the auction on it?

Alienator - Thanks, they're Velocity Deep V's with IRO hubs and straight gauge wheelsmith spokes. Not the lightest thing in the world but very strong. I recently found out the build wasn't so hot(I think they were machine built - spoke tension was very low and uneven) so I need to completely de-tension the wheels and then bring 'em back up. I just haven't found the time to do it. I really enjoy riding this cheap Moto and have taken it on some flat club rides. The funny thing is that single speeds are so much more efficient that its easy to push the pace up to about 30 mph - at which point the high cadence becomes the issue. Sure as heck helps you work on your spin though! :)
 
#37 ·
can we make a forum pact? suspected shill threads go completely unanswered? that'd be sweet. these things are getting old, and accomplishing only what BD wants it to, publicity. it's just as sir hickey noted, there's no such thing as bad publicity. no comments, and this thread would already be buried on another page by now.

the_dude
 
#39 ·
the_dude said:
can we make a forum pact? suspected shill threads go completely unanswered? that'd be sweet. these things are getting old, and accomplishing only what BD wants it to, publicity. it's just as sir hickey noted, there's no such thing as bad publicity. no comments, and this thread would already be buried on another page by now.

the_dude
And by what criteria and by whom will the decision be made that someone is not a newbie with a valid question but is instead one of these nefarious shills that no one can seem to pin down?

Maybe we can use that water test that they used for witches in Salem. That seemed to work out well.
 
#42 ·
bwana said:
Maybe if their first (or nth) post isn't about BD
that's probably fool-proof.

alienator - what criteria is being used to judge possible shills now? none. any and all posts regarding BD turn at once into poo-slinging fests. enough. how is this any better than ignoring all BD threads? if the OP doesn't get a response, he/she will do what e-consumers do millions of times each day, and decide on their own whether they want to buy the product sight unseen. simple, no?

if all else fails, the water test sounds like a great idea.

the_dude
 
#43 ·
bwana said:
Maybe if their first (or nth) post isn't about BD
What if their first post is about Schwinn, Trek, Parlee, Crumpton, Moots, Spin, Time, Look, Scott, Bianchi, Colnago, Merckx.....

Oh, wait: I get it.....maybe roadies are snotty turds. Clearly the way the decision is to be made here is with the ol' holier than thou tool, by the holier than thou tools that prejudge everyone's post.

Good, then. What a fun, open minded bun.....no, wait check that.
 
#44 ·
the_dude said:
that's probably fool-proof.

alienator - what criteria is being used to judge possible shills now? none. any and all posts regarding BD turn at once into poo-slinging fests. enough. how is this any better than ignoring all BD threads? if the OP doesn't get a response, he/she will do what e-consumers do millions of times each day, and decide on their own whether they want to buy the product sight unseen. simple, no?

if all else fails, the water test sounds like a great idea.

the_dude
Wow. What powers of insight you must have to be able to peer into your CRT and know what is in the mind of a given poster. You're not Kreskin are you?

Or do you actually use a thought process? If you did, you'd realize how stupid your idea is and how snotty and uptight it makes cyclists look.
 
#47 ·
geraldatwork said:
I got this bike from bikesdirect and other than needing to replace the wheels, as you can see, I am very happy with it. I'm also very happy with my main bike a Windsor Kennet I also got from them.
Nice cross bike. Works on the road and off, as well as for cross dressers, what with the convenient top tube geometry.
 
#48 ·
ravenmore said:
maybe another way to approach it is to not get too bent out of shape about it - be it shills or not. If you don't want to be a part of it, don't look at the thread..... Life's too short to get ticked off at the little things.....
This is the correct answer and has been all along. Things just go all pear shaped when people who think they know things that they really don't start chimin' in.
 
#49 ·
alienator said:
Wow. What powers of insight you must have to be able to peer into your CRT and know what is in the mind of a given poster. You're not Kreskin are you?

Or do you actually use a thought process? If you did, you'd realize how stupid your idea is and how snotty and uptight it makes cyclists look.

i'm not sure what thought process you're using either. my post was aimed at those who jump down these guys' throats. it's annoying. if they think the OP a shill, let it be. it will be gone more quickly that way. you attacking me isn't helping anything. i'm not sure how you got this impression that i was being an elitist snob, but the contrary is true. i believe once in a while the anti-shill folks either a) scare a legitimate poster away by falsely labeling him/her a shill. or b) scare potential members away by coming off as elitist pr!cks.

short version of above rambling: we're on the same side. lighten up.

the_dude
 
#50 ·
the_dude said:
i'm not sure what thought process you're using either. my post was aimed at those who jump down these guys' throats. it's annoying. if they think the OP a shill, let it be. it will be gone more quickly that way. you attacking me isn't helping anything. i'm not sure how you got this impression that i was being an elitist snob, but the contrary is true. i believe once in a while the anti-shill folks either a) scare a legitimate poster away by falsely labeling him/her a shill. or b) scare potential members away by coming off as elitist pr!cks.

short version of above rambling: we're on the same side. lighten up.

the_dude
Message received. Sorry for the bungled reception. And you're right.
 
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