Motobecane Fly Pro Preview

Last Saturday we had Nick “Nasty” Null, (he says that was his stage name at Chip N’ Dales) test ride the Motobecane Fly Pro.

Here’s what he thought. Oh keep in mind, Nick is super smart and likes to use big words like “svelte” and “trepidations.” Yeah he’s smart alright. So smart that the fella is going to China to teach kids how to speak and read Engrish, oops my bad, I meant English! Yeah he also mentioned something about getting his Masters in some sort of important course of study…

Anyhow, he’s back with vengeance! Read how he tamed the Monster!

Taming the Monster Moto…

By Nick “Nasty�? Null

Svelte is an adjective rarely used in conversation to describe anything. So it sits, this word, in a dusty dictionary waiting to be moved to the dead word list. Until, along came Motobecane with the Fly Pro. Initially I was not impressed with appearance of the bike. Don’t get me wrong, its nice looking without being flashy, but it’s a hard tail, and I haven’t ridden a hard tail in 3 years.

Those original unimpressed thoughts were shoved aside when I picked it up and almost threw it. We’ve all done this with an empty ice chest, so don’t think my actions strange please. This bike is amazingly light, and even with the warning sales pitch that it is light, I was still surprised. The stock parts are obviously selected specifically to the design and purpose. It was the first time I had used Kenda tires on a bike, and they worked their magic in the slick dew soaked trail. The Avid SD5 brakes are rim brakes which are rightly coming back into popularity. Don’t worry I’m getting to svelte.

I started the Fullerton Loop trail slowly, getting warmed up and feeling that something this light is probably fragile. Those trepidations were washed away with the pure feeling of speed in every part of the trail. If there is something I’d have to pick that could be a fault of the bike, it would be the stubby handlebars. Yet, here I would be amiss again. While I like long bars because I like the grip for climbing, the Motobecane with the hard tail and light weight make it a killer climber. Then, we have the single track.

I love single track, especially through treacherous trees with unknown drops and dips. This bike, this butterfly like, svelte machine blows through single tracks like an arrow. The high bottom bracket clearance gives it great stump jumping ability while the RockShox Pilot SL forks soak up the roots. Here is where the stubby handlebars were made apparent in design. Being able to move lithely through trees was an absolute kick, and as a reader could tell, I gave up on the fragile assumption and pushed it hard with excellent response. I don’t know if I tamed the monster but it sure made me look good.