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mattm59

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awww, Brians just saying that

'cuz he saw the way I crashed my Dawes into that sapling :flame:...well he would have seen it if he had a rear view mirror :idea:

From what I understand, BD is making all the frames on their site, they bought the Motobecane name. I read they're actually making some of the specialized frames as well. I used to weld, managed a weld shop. Using automation, as long as current and feed is steady, the weld is sweet. Definitely automatics from this place. Sad the USA has handbuilt frames while China has the automation. Quite different from a few decades back.
 
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MR. evil

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'cuz he saw the way I crashed my Dawes into that sapling :flame:...well he would have seen it if he had a rear view mirror :idea:

From what I understand, BD is making all the frames on their site, they bought the Motobecane name. I read they're actually making some of the specialized frames as well. I used to weld, managed a weld shop. Using automation, as long as current and feed is steady, the weld is sweet. Definitely automatics from this place. Sad the USA has handbuilt frames while China has the automation. Quite different from a few decades back.

There is a chance that Spesh and BD frames are made in the same factory as there are pretty much 4 factories in Tawain that make 99.9% of the bike frames for all the major players. But BD does not make there own frames let alone frames for Spesh. And lots of the Taiwan made frames are hand welded.
 

bvibert

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'cuz he saw the way I crashed my Dawes into that sapling :flame:...well he would have seen it if he had a rear view mirror :idea:

Not knocking the Dawes at all, yours seems to be holding up just fine.

Actually, looking at it more I may have to change my mind.

The forks are the same, so main differences are the drivetrain and the brakes. The motobecane might come with BB5 brakes, but could also come with Tektro, where the dawes definitely comes with a Tektro brake. If I were building a bike with mechanical discs I'd definitely go with Avid BB7 brakes. BB5's have a good rep, and if a bike came with them I'd probably keep them. The fact that you could get either or on the moto makes the brakes a non-issue in my book (I didn't realize this at first). Worst case, if you don't like whichever brakes you end up with you can spend a little more than $100 to upgrade to the best mechanical brakes on the market, the BB7s

That leaves the drivetrain. The dawes comes with an 8 speed drivetrain, SLX RD and Alivio shifters. The moto comes with a 9 speed, XT RD and Deore shifters. You'll never miss not having that extra cog in the back, though the moto has a 11-32 cassette vs the dawes 11-30. You might wish you had the 32 for climbing hills, one very small advantage to the moto. The bigger difference is the shifters. Some people scoff at anything below Deore (Alvio is one step down), but I've had 8 speed Alivio shifters before and they worked just fine. Deore may be a bit nicer, but you probably won't notice big differences until you get even pricier. Another slight advantage to the moto. The XT RD on the moto may be a bit smoother, but there's nothing wrong with the SLX on the dawes at all.

So, the moto has some advantages in the drivetrain, but I don't know that it's enough to warrant the extra ~$130.
 

mattm59

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knew you weren't knocking it, Brian, just jokin'

:roll:

FWIW. I'm real happy with the shifting on my Dawes. Switched to Deore on my Trek, and it's not as good.
One of the reasons I want to go FS eventually is due to the fact I have to stand going up hills over roots and rocks and stuff, while the FS guy I'm following seems to be able to sit. I rarely use the 30 tooth cog, because when trying to transfer my balance, I'll either wheelie or lose traction, so I'm better off in second gear trying to torque my way up a bit more. Cloudy was laughing one day as I was shooting roostertails of dirt at him while attaining and sliding over the rock and roots we were hitting. I bought a suspension seat post and tried it out a bit yesterday; hopefully it'll put off that need for FS 'til my kids out of school, a new trucks in the driveway, and a new roof is on the house. Priorities, funny how they change when you get old..er. Had an $1800 road bike back when I made $2.11 an hour....and used newspapers for a pillow:dontknow:
 

Sugart

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Pulled the trigger yesterday and ordered the 1500 haymaker in orange, 21 inch frame. Should be here thursday, which is great because its supposed to be high 60s and sunny thursday and friday here. Already planning to go out with my brother in law on Friday afternoon as long as he can steal a bike from the police station. Hopefully it stays nice out since Im out of work the next 6 weeks for family bonding.
 

mattm59

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How'd it go?

hope you had fun. I got out with an old ww paddling bud who just bought a new Specialized Carve 29'er. His second day out was last Sunday. We went 4.5 hours which is way longer than I usually do, but took more breaks than usual. Had a blast. I've tapered way off on my whitewater in favor of MTB. Keep thinking of things to upgrade, get foaming about forks for my Haymaker, but then remember I seem to have had a ball with what I got :idea:
 

Sugart

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Bike came today, took about 30 minutes to put together and another 30 to adjust some things, but I was taking my time. Overall I am pleased so far, hopefully I can get out and ride soon. Shot a quick pic with my iphone.

MTB.jpg
 

o3jeff

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Bike came today, took about 30 minutes to put together and another 30 to adjust some things, but I was taking my time. Overall I am pleased so far, hopefully I can get out and ride soon. Shot a quick pic with my iphone.

MTB.jpg

Nice color. Those canadian leafs next to the name, is it actually made in Canada?
 

HD333

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Pulled the trigger yesterday and ordered the 1500 haymaker in orange, 21 inch frame. Should be here thursday, which is great because its supposed to be high 60s and sunny thursday and friday here. Already planning to go out with my brother in law on Friday afternoon as long as he can steal a bike from the police station. Hopefully it stays nice out since Im out of work the next 6 weeks for family bonding.
Is the police station the best place to steal a bike? :)
Congrats on the rig ride it with pride.
 

Sugart

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I was waiting for someone to catch that. He is a police officer, and actually is the departments bike instructor.
 

bvibert

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So, how's the new bike been working out for you? Have you been able to get some miles on it?
 

Sugart

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Ive been out a few times by myself, but to be honest not as much as Id like. Work and 3 kids will do that.
 
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