New bike: 2010 Motobecane Le Champ Titanium

By jason, October 24, 2009 on 9:29 am | In biking | 11 Comments

The Lemond Zurich I’ve been riding for the last couple years was great. Never needed adjustment, handled well, and was pretty comfy. But on longer rides, it became apparent that the frame was just a bit too big for me. Even with using a shorter stem and adjusting the saddle, I still couldn’t help but feel a bit too stretched out. So I decided to sell it on craigslist (sold it for the same amount I bought it for!) and get a new bike that fit me better.

I ended up going back to bikesdirect.com and ended up with the Motobecane Le Champ Titanium.

IMG_6768

It came via UPS today and so far so good! I probably still have some minor adjustments to make, but this frame definitely fits me better and of course, there are the other benefits of being Titanium (lighter) with new components (Shimano Ultegra 6700).

I still have to put any significant saddle time in so I’ll update this review after getting to know the bike a bit better.

More pics here.

11 Comments »

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

  1. Wowza. I always wondered about bikes from bikesdirect… and you just proved that they are actually pretty good. I looked at a Motobecane, but ended up buying a Felt in August.

    :)

    http://www.feltbicycles.com/USA/2010-Product-Catalog/Fit-Woman/ZW-Series/ZW100.aspx

    Comment by Lynda — November 2, 2009 #

  2. What size frame is this?

    Comment by Chris — May 30, 2010 #

  3. It’s a 54cm.

    Comment by jason — May 30, 2010 #

  4. It doesn’t come in a 54cm so I’m guessing you mean 53cm. How has it been so far? I’m thinking about ordering the same bike.

    Comment by Chris — June 25, 2010 #

  5. So far so good!

    Comment by jason — June 25, 2010 #

  6. I love the look thinking about getting a 2011 le champion with Dura Ace. My concern is about rigidity. Is there any flex to this frame on sprinting, standing on pedals etc. The welds look good. it’s got a classic look to it

    thanks

    Carlos

    Comment by carlos — August 4, 2011 #

  7. I’m no expert, but it’s plenty stiff enough for me. I’ve been happy with it so far. Even took a header into a ditch a few weeks ago and no ill effects. Still have total confidence in the frame. Hope that helps.

    Comment by jason — August 4, 2011 #

  8. Hi, beautiful bike. I’m just wondering what your height and inseam measurements since I think I’m in between a 54 and 51 le champ ti. Any info would be great, thanks!

    Comment by russell — January 13, 2012 #

  9. I’m 5’8″ and wear 30″ jeans. Not super flexible so I might have been ok on the 51 as well.

    Comment by jason — January 14, 2012 #

  10. thanks for the response. I’ve been looking long and hard at the le champ and it looks like your frame is a 51cm that has a 54cm top tube. I hate to throw doubt in your answer, but if you have the next size up your bike would be a 53cm frame? the le champ comes in a 51 and 53cm… thanks for any clarification here. Btw, i’m 5.95 and 32 inseam and I’m just looking to get the right size. Thanks!

    Comment by russell — January 15, 2012 #

  11. You’re right… my mistake. It is the 51!

    Comment by jason — January 16, 2012 #

Leave a comment

XHTML: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Powered by WordPress with Pool theme design by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds. Valid XHTML and CSS. ^Top^