Does anyone own one and have good or bad experiences? Anyone know who actually makes their carbon frames? I have seen some good deals on them but concerned about frame quality.
Thanks for any info and comments
I would be concerned about the frame quality of all Motobecane bikes that were not hand made in France back in the day. Seriously. Someone just licensed the name for the North American market and has all these bikes made for them in Taiwan. Who knows if they know jack shit about actual bike design and what it takes to build a decent bike? I seriously doubt they do. You are much better off finding a company that is actually dedicated to making decent bikes, rather than one that’s dedicated to making a quick buck of an old brand.
Their Immortal Carbon frameset is made in Taiwan as many other carbon framsets by more well known brands are. If you search bikeforum (or google it for that matter) you will find lots of good reviews on their products.
I just received my Immortal Pro on monday. I’ll post some pics and thoughts when I finish getting it together and go for a ride.
I wouldn’t be one bit concerened at all. For one thing they come with a warranty.
What a lot of people seem not to realize is that many of the high end brands are also farming their frames out to Taiwan companies. Often these companies are selling the same frames to different manufacturers who rebadge them with their company logo. It might or might not even be the case with this particular frame.
Motobecane is offering a lot of value for the money. In fact they are probably priced where most carbon bikes should be priced.
It sounds like a screaming deal for $1300 (bikesdirect price…) There have been several threads in the past about that website with good reviews. People crap a lot on Bicycling mag here, for what that’s worth… But that frame with ultegra 10 and pretty nice ritchey wheels, for $1300? How can you go wrong?
The guy in the picture looks excited to be riding it. That should be enough to convince you!
"I wouldn’t be one bit concerened at all. For one thing they come with a warranty. "
Just because they cover something if it breaks does not mean that the product is high quality, it just means that it won’t break, and if it does, the margins were high enough that they can replace it on the cheap. But we all know that there is more to building a good bike than simply durability, I hope…
I see your point about high quality bike companies farming frames to Taiwan, but it’s one thing to hire a company to manufacture a quality bike design. It’s something else when you really could care less about the design, and just want to offer something - anything - made of carbon, loaded with shiny bits, that you can sell at a low price with high margins. How much R&D do you think went in to this specific frame? As much as Trek puts in to their bikes? As much as Specialized puts in to theirs? Or is that irrelevant?
I wouldn’t imply that Trek, bikes don’t break as well.
Some have said that the Immortal Carbon frame is identical (or at least in looks and geometry) to an old LG carbon frame that sold for $3k.
Not much to worry about in design/R&D if you copy or rebrand something that worked.
http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?p=315306#poststop
Sorry, did you really just say that because the Motobecane is a knock off of a bike made by a clothing designer that there is no need to worry about R&D?? Good grief.
Have you looked at LG’s “technologies”?
How about this one - “This new technology called XST (EXTENDED SEAT TUBE) consists of an extended seat tube up to the saddle.”
Wow - groundbreaking research in this one…
No. I said ‘not much’ 
My point was that it’s probably not someone playing with taiwanese newspaper and papier-mache in their backyard. Or is it?
Anyway, I agree with a previous post, that it’s hard to lose out on most BD deals. You could take it apart, sell the parts on ebay, and make a profit on most rigs.
Also, this carbon frame (the Immortal) has been around for years, and I have yet to hear of one being defective and/or breaking. (and yes, I’ve read just about every Motobecane or Immortal thread on the internet)
I even download the internet to do it.
That was good!
“Who knows if they know jack shit about actual bike design and what it takes to build a decent bike?”
I’ve seen a number of no name Taiwan made carbon frames on ebay being sold for a psalm. The seller claimed that these were the identical frame that a well know manufacturer was using and he had bought the over supply.
Realize that a lot of people are making copies, so it really doesn’t matter what they know about bike engineering because whoever designed the original product has already done that for them. All they have to do is make a good copy. That’s why the aftermarket stuff is so much cheaper, you’re not paying for the research/testing and original design.
“Realize that a lot of people are making copies, so it really doesn’t matter what they know about bike engineering because whoever designed the original product has already done that for them.”
Really? How do you, the consumer, know that it’s a good copy? How do you know that the copy job wasn’t just limited to cosmetics, or that the copy isn’t a factory second with alignment or layup problems? The companies that are selling these are not bike companies, they’re marketing companies. They could give a crap about how a bike rides, they just want it to look good and make them $$. Of course, the same could be said for many major brands, but it doesn’t make the off-brands right as much as it makes the major brands wrong.
Making a good bike, despite what many people think, actually requires thought and expertise. Just because something is made from carbon and looks good, doesn’t mean it will ride any better than an aluminum bike that costs 1/2 of 1/5 as much. It is far easier to make an inferior bike out of carbon than it is to make one out of steel or 7000 series aluminum.
I’m bailing out of this thread, but I want to reiterate my point. There are plenty of carbon bikes on the market that are super cheap, many of them are as good as expensive ones, but that doesn’t mean they are actually good, it just means that some are overpriced. If you are serious about a good carbon frame, or any frame, really, look for a manufacturer that actually spends the time and the money on R&D. I know Trek does (even though they sell overpriced stuff at the low end). I know Specialized does (same as Trek in many ways). Motobecane? Leader? Fetish? Blue? Vellum? Scattante? Fuji? Who knows…
I’ve read excellent reviews of fetish, blue, and scattante products, and I’m pretty sure that Fuji has a long reputation of making a quality product. I don’t have a personal stake here, but what does it take to be satisfied here? Does a bike company have to either (a) sell a million bikes for a “fair” but still expensive price or (b) sell a few for thousands of dollars a piece for you to trust the thing? I wouldn’t necessarily expect a motobecane or fetish or whatever bike to ride the same as a high-end botique bike, or even necessarily be of the same quality, but that doesn’t make it a lemon.
You act like the “known” bike manuf. are freakin’ charities. They are still selling a product, and you might do well to remind yourself that NO ONE in the business spends more on marketing than Trek, Cervelo, Specialized, Cannondale, etc…
I saw a guy running the last few hundred yards of a sprint this summer. Then he yelled a few choice words at it and threw it on the ground.
i thought that all motobecanes these days were someone else’s last-year’s-bikes. (fujis maybe? or sometimes fujis? something like that.)
you could try to match the frame style to figure out what kind of bike it ‘really’ is. this is my understanding of the motobecane situation. i may be wrong.
“Motobecane? Leader? Fetish? Blue? Vellum? Scattante? Fuji? Who knows…”
For most riders’ bicycle needs, the difficult problems in carbon frame design and construction have long been solved. Producing a quality carbon frame is not that difficult (i.e. there are standard design and manufacturing principles that are used, and then cosmetic/differentiating features are added), and you’d be surprised at how may companies in Taiwan actually design the frames and then sell the branding rights to bike companies (some that you might be surprised by, too). The companies you list aren’t pushing the technology envelope, but I don’t think doing so is required to put out a quality product.