After riding my Titus Racer-X over the past year, I started longing for a hardtail.  Not that I didn’t enjoy the Titus, I just started longing for a hardtail ride again. I was toying with either getting a used alumnium frame or springing for a carbon frame. My positive experiences with the Pedal Force QS3 had me leaning towards getting an inexpensive OEM carbon frame. I found that Price Point had a good deal with their house brand Sette Phantom at $599.  Not bad, since most brand name carbon frames go for about $1,500. The Phantom frame was getting good reviews, so I pulled the trigger.  I would be able to transfer most of the parts from my Titus, so this “upgrade” didn’t have the financial hit of buying a new bike.  Plus, I could swap stuff back if I had a MTB trip where I wanted a full suspension rig.

Here are the specs and some photos of my Sette Phantom. It’s a lot of fun to ride.  Much lighter and nimble than a full suspension, and I notice that the carbon absorbs trail vibrations more than my old aluminum hardtails.  The bike comes in about 21-22 lbs depending on how much dirt is on it.  I could probably build it under 20 lbs, but I love the specs on this bike.  I’ll post a more long-term review later. My timing to build this was ideal with the end of the road season and my scraping my CX campaign. I’ve had more chances to ride this at Palos and Kettle, and have thoroughly enjoyed the bike, especially the SRAM components and 2×9 gearing.  I just wish the weather would cooperate more for year round trail riding!

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