There are some for sale on ebay at a very good price. Looking for a co-worker who is going to do her first tri this year and has a limited bike budget. Any comments are appreciated.
I purchased one from bikesdirect.com a few years ago. I have zero complaints about it. It was a great value. I had to swap out the saddle and pedals, but I’ve had to do that on every bike I’ve ever purchased.
I’ve built a few up for friends. You can also get them (same people) on bikesdirect.com. I have built up 2 Al bikes with Ultegra components (like the Le Champion SL) and a few of the fixies for a couple of STers. The bikes are fine, components are all what they say they are. The frames seem to be decent. I was looking at getting one of their cross bikes, and through a bit of research, it looks like it is a Fuji frame with different paint. There is a ton of info over on roadbikereview.com (in the forums), I think that motobecane even has its own sub-forum.
Notes- they are not even close to ready to ride. You either need to bring it to a shop, or if you can do it yourself, take apart what they put together and then put it together again. Also, of the 5 I have put together, I think that 9 wheels needed to be trued. But, you can get a whole bike for the price of a groupo…
I got a Nemesis used from my LBS he got on trade - someone bought it and didn’t like the geometry so I got it for crazy short money. I like it, and see no reason to upgrade until I drop 5 more sacks of potatoes from my own frame. It is basically a Fuji Aloha x.0 from a few years back, and the components are very good for the money.
I got a Le Champion SL frame for my wife a few years ago and built it up with Ultegra. It’s a nice riding bike and she likes it a lot. No longer French and not fancy, but a solid beginner to intermediate level ride.
For a woman, the top tube might be too long. We had to use adjustable stem.
I’ve had a Nemesis for about 4 years. Initially bought a too small size (sold out of the proper size, I tried to “make” the smaller frame work), when the right size became available again they were no hassle @ all, super easy to deal with (bikesdirect.com).
This bike was originally bought so I wouldn’t have too deep an investment if I didn’t stick w/the sport, then it became my experiment to find a comfortable position (still working on that…) and acquire cool parts to eventually go on a cool frame.
Man, this bike isn’t affecting any of my performance, when I do upgrade it will only be because I want something “cooler”. I’ll still keep this bike, the angles aren’t crazy so maybe I’ll make it a road or cross bike - it can’t be worth anything used and it is pretty decent bike.
dressed up with a bunch of shit that cost way more than the whole bike;
Bought a cx bike and love it
.
Thanks for costing me $400. Been thinking about an H3 up front, but now I have to do it.
“I got a Le Champion SL frame for my wife a few years ago”
Now that’s a great trade 
jaretj
.
“I got a Le Champion SL frame for my wife a few years ago”
Now that’s a great trade
jaretj
Well, I was looking for something with faster handling and a more vertically compliant ride.
I bought the Ti cyclocross bike last year and have to say that I was very impressed. I pre-ordered and saved an extra couple of bucks. They shipped on time, the bike came with pedals (105) for free and everything works great.
If you own a 5mm hex wrench and a bike pump you can be riding in about 5 min. My wheels (Ritchey PRO) were trie and suprisingly light. I had to spend a minute or two to line up the brakes but it was really no big deal.
Really great bike for the money.
Interesting, they must have changed their “prebuild” process, because when I built up a few of them I needed to:
Align brake pads
Run brake and derailleur cables
adjust derailleurs (including high/low stops)
Fix chain length
True wheels
Install canti brakes on the fixies that I built.
I also noticed that the screws that were tightened were dry, so I pulled them, lubed them and reinstalled.
I have been looking at that Ti-Cross bike, but cant pull the trigger.
I got my wife one from ebay at a $500 pricepoint and she puts a lot of miles on it. So far, no issues whatsoever. Two years old now and turned out to be a solid value.
must have. all I did was put the handlebars on, Put the wheels on, align the brake shoes (they were pretty close, but I wanted it closer), adjust the saddle height and I was off on my shakedown ride. Really could not have been easier.
I purchased the Motobecane Legacy Elite and was very impressed with the frame. It was a steel frame that was well built and never had a problem with it. I would buy another one if they still made that frame. Only problem was I bought a size too small.
Thanks for costing me $400. Been thinking about an H3 up front, but now I have to do it.
sorry (sort-of, you’ll dig the wheel) - it’s a cool wheel to get. I lucked-out on that wheelset from a buddy who went to some 808’s. Those Oval Concepts are supposed to go on my wife’s bike, but she didn’t seem too excited about them so I snagged them. I do sometimes feel like I’m driving a 1980 Chevette with a bunch of bling hanging off it - probably look that way too…
Thanks for the input. Very helpful.
We are talking different generations here, but I rode a Motobecane as my first bike. I think they made high end bikes for the time.
My dad bought it for himself 27 years ago- Motobecane TEAM CHAMPION. I rode it 3 imes, did my first duathlon. 2 weeks later, I conned my way in to the pro field at US NATIONALS in Ontario, Ca.
That particular year, it was the 4th fastest bike behind:
Souza’s Nishiki
Brick’s KLEIN
and
Greg Watson’s Sling Shot!
I am not sure if anyone remembers the SLING SHOT, but I wanted one badly! It had thew very most aero down tube of all time, a cable!
Motobecane rules! Tell your friend I had good luck as a beginer!
PT
that was most likely a different Motobecane…
" In the late 70’s Motobecane produced a frame called the Champion team out of 753 tubing. These were quite gorgeous and very rare. "