# Fantom Cross Pro



## hrumpole (Jun 17, 2008)

I have read a LOT on this board about MB, and BD. I just placed the order for the above bike. I'm getting back into it now, as the only time I have to exercise with two small kids is riding to and from the office. If I'm lucky, I can get out on the weekend for a couple of hours. 

The prices on these bikes, and the component groups, are incredibly competitive. I rode the Fuji Roubaix Pro and the Fuji Cross Comp. I loved the feel of the Cross Comp from a sizing perspective. The prices on each (14 and 1200) were simply not in the same class. That said, there is an additional cost built in. First, vis a vis safety checks/looking over the bike, that's going to cost another $30. Second, purchasing pedals (not sure I need to do this, as have some old ones) is going to cost another $60 or so. Third, if I have to swap stems, etc to get the fit right, that's going to cost $$. Even with those caveats, though, there is no bike carrying Ultegra for a grand.

This is a risk of sorts, but I do my own -basic- maintenance (but feel much more confident after spending some time on the park tool web site). I ordered one today (but missed the $997 price). We will see...


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## sonex305 (Jun 17, 2007)

I have one. You won't be dissapointed at all. The Cross PRO is very well built, rides great and I don't know of any other cross bike that can compete at this price point. Enjoy.


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## hrumpole (Jun 17, 2008)

This was my thinking. With that setup (and stronger wheels), if I wanted to ride on the road (e.g., put slicker touring tires on it, or maybe even 110psi-types, I could do so. The Fuji (which had the same geometry) felt really, really comfortable, so I figured it would be good not only for the 11 or so miles per day to work, but also could be used for long bike rides. (Personal goal of century in the fall. The kids have more to say about that than my body does.). Think this is a bad choice?


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## livin4lax09 (Mar 15, 2008)

I owned a fantom cross for a couple weeks before I got a $500 deal on the fuji cross comp. It's a nice bike for its price, definitely. It had an aluminum fork though, and the carbon on the cross comp was much softer to ride.


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## rogerstg (Aug 1, 2007)

hrumpole said:


> I Third, if I have to swap stems, etc to get the fit right, that's going to cost $$.


FWIW, on my purchase BD would have swapped stems with me for free, but I elected to buy one from them at 60% off retail and have since changed back to the original stem after losing a bunch of weight and gaining flexibility.


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## hrumpole (Jun 17, 2008)

Bike came yesterday. It's basically set up (we had t-storms, so no test rides). Only a couple of issues yet to fix: (1) brake adjustment and fine-tuning; (2) rear derallier does index out to the last ring; will have to adjust tension; and (3) not yet sure about handlebar height. As far as what was promised and what was delivered, I can't really complain; the parts are exactly as advertised. To the extent that I have issues, I knew more or less what I was getting into.

That said, unless you either know about bikes or want to learn in a hurry (or even factor the cost of an initial adjustment/tune into the acquisition price), it's a lot to take in. I have yet to make up my mind on whether to take the bike down to the LBS for adjustments; I want to try to do it myself first. There's a lot more to getting the setup right than a ten-minute you-tube video lets on, but the information's definitely available on the internets.


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## hrumpole (Jun 17, 2008)

As I make my way through this, there seem to be a couple of remaining issues. RD is fixed; there's a great You tube video that explains how to deal with index shifters and the h/l limit screws. 

The front, it seems, is way out of whack and I'm not sure how to fix it. (Like I said, I know a little bit, and one of the reasons for doing this was I wanted to learn. However, FD height, spacing and angle is the kind of thing that I'd want to see done once, and the internet resources are simply not that good. Essentially, when the FD's on the big ring and the RD's on the little ring, you can hear the chain scraping against the outside strike plate; it's only smooth in the middle gears. The same is true when FD=little ring, LD=big ring. 

And I have one more really dumb question: where are the barrel adjusters on STI shifters? Since 'cross bikes run the cables differently from a normal road bike, certain things are not where the cheat sheets say they would or should be.


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## wubiker (Sep 1, 2007)

I had a similar chain rub issue on my Le champion SL. Raising the FD about 3mm did the trick. Silence is golden


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## hrumpole (Jun 17, 2008)

I broke down and took it to the LBS for a maintenance tune, which should take care of truing the wheels and getting the shifters right. I don't want the first time that I mess with a front DR to be on this bicycle; I'll try it on my older one first. Only downer is that there's a week-plus backup to get it back. I asked BD about it, but all they did was send me links to videos on biketutor.com that I'd already found.


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