# Motobecane Mirage SL. First bike opinions.



## bunnerrabbit (Sep 27, 2014)

After visiting my two local shops there is no way I can afford $800+ for there lowest line bike. I am considering the Motobecane Mirage SL at the moment and think it is a good values. Do the Claris shifters function the same as higher level shifters? I live in a pretty flat area with minimal hills. Will the 16 speeds be plenty? Opinion on color? I think there both on the ugly side. I would love to wait till I could afford the 105 equiped Vent Noir for $800 but I think the $450 Mirage will function just the same for me. Opinions/thoughts welcome. I am 38 and somewhat overweight. Need to start taking better care of myself. Not recently but I used to ride Mt bikes quite often and not concerned about assembly or regular maintenance but this will be my first road bike. 

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## wim (Feb 28, 2005)

The Claris shifters are very good shifters and function just like higher and highest level shifters. No thumb button on Claris like there is on lower-level shifters.

16 speeds are plenty. More speeds doesn't really mean "much lower and much higher gears," but offer more gears in between the highest and the lowest gear. This allows an experienced rider to fine-tune his gearing a little better to suit the conditions. Icing on the cake, so to speak.

If you're not concerned about assembly, I don't see a problem with the Motobecane. Make sure it's a reasonably good fit and don't buy "upgrades" for it other than perhaps a more comfortable saddle and fancier pedals.


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## iamnowcool (Sep 25, 2014)

Buy according to the 4 famous Fs: Fit, Feel, Finish, 'Fordability,


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

bunnerrabbit, get your new bike and have fun.

I can be a ninja editor, too, iamnowcool ;-)


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## mpre53 (Oct 25, 2011)

The only down side to 8 speeds is that you probably have a couple of bigger jumps between cogs than you would on 10 speeds. 12-25 is a pretty common 8 speed cassette.

IIRC it goes 12-13-15-17-19-21-23-25. On a 12-25 ten speed you'd also have a 14 and 16t cog. It's still perfectly fine for a first bike. 

It used to be the case with the older Shimano 8 speed group (2300) that you couldn't run a cassette with a bigger last cog than a 26t. Claris may have ended that limitation. But in any event, in the flatlands, your 25 cog on our smaller ring should be more than enough to get you up whatever hills you have.


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## tlg (May 11, 2011)

bunnerrabbit said:


> Will the 16 speeds be plenty?


They use to race the Tour de France on single speeds. 1 speed was enough.
They use to race the Tour de France on 5 speeds. 5 speeds was enough.
They use to race the Tour de France on 8 speeds. 8 speeds was enough.


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

> I live in a pretty flat area with minimal hills. Will the 16 speeds be plenty?


The gears will be plenty. No worries at all. If I lived there, I'd probably ride fixed-gear all the time.


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## bunnerrabbit (Sep 27, 2014)

Haven't bought one yet little hold on $ but will in a week or so. Debating on what color to pick because I think there both sorta ugly. Also just been riding 7 miles at 14mph thats slower than I expected but not sure what to expect starting on a 28 lb mountain bike.


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