Litespeedlouie

I'm keeping the '97 LS Classic, upgraded through the years with threadless steerer, 9 speed Ultegra. It's retro, like me. Works fine, no worries about paint scratches. Yeah, it weighs a bit more than the latest carbon wonderbike. But I don't worry about asplosions! (got steel in the stable, too)

Roadies_Rok

SSRI, you're running 28mm tires on your Ultimate?? I am impressed. The Litespeed Arenberg I just bought came with 23mm tires and I want to go with 28mm but I am concerned about clearance where the chainstays meet the bottom bracket. I haven't measured it yet and I need to but by eyeballing it the clearance on the current 23mm tires looks to be approx 4mm per side. The brakes front and rear definitely have enough clearance and the fork certainly just has clearance but that chainstay/bottom bracket junction has me concerned. Any thoughts?

scuzzo

hmm. dont really know how it happened. one day it just did.. my ride buddies said i could turn it into a planter or a lamp after the crack appeared on the down tube... but i had it welded by a TI specialist welder / instructor/ dude worked on mil spec stuff... its been rolling fine... but every thing can fail... but she is a fine bike still,, just with a beauty mark now...

Litespud

the thing about 6/4 Ti is that it can’t be drawn into tubing like 3/2.5 can. They have to roll sheets and weld them into tubes - which they (LS) do very well (I have looked, but I have never found a trace of a welding seam in any of my Vortex’s tubes). But just the presence of a weld, however well-finished, leaves open to possibility of a failure or crack. Rare, but I’ve heard of it. Scars or repair marks are evidence of a bike well used 👍

SSRI

you're running 28mm tires on your Ultimate?? I am impressed. The Litespeed Arenberg I just bought came with 23mm tires and I want to go with 28mm but I am concerned about clearance where the chainstays meet the bottom bracket. I haven't measured it yet and I need to but by eyeballing it the clearance on the current 23mm tires looks to be approx 4mm per side. The brakes front and rear definitely have enough clearance and the fork certainly just has clearance but that chainstay/bottom bracket junction has me concerned. Any thoughts?[/QUOTE]

It would be safer with 25mm tires if your tolerance is too tight.

I tried mounting a rear wheel with 28mm tires on a newer LS, they do have enough clearance but depending on the frame it is a little too close for my comfort.

this is a shimano c24 wheel with a Conti 4k 28mm tire at 90 psi on my 2007 Ghisallo.
left me about 2mm on each side. The tire does not touch but in real road condition it just might with a hard bump.



Same wheel mounted on a 2006 Firenze about 3mm clearance on each side.

merlinextraligh

I put on an all carbon fork, with threadless headset. It saved about a pound, and stiffened the front end a bit compared to the quill stem setup. I was a bit concerned with a 1” CF steerer tube, but years later still no problems.

jleeg

Ok, it’s a Merlin, but wasn’t it acquired by LS and held by it for a while? Bought in ‘93 with Campy Chorus and some Record, 8 speed, replaced with Campy 12 about 5 weeks ago. Perfectly happy with it and comfortable on it.

ridethecliche

I thought about going that route with my trek and may end up doing so in end.

The innicycle headset is great in that it allows me to use current era bars without a quill adapter. I mean... it has elements of a quill stem but it feels so much more substantial.

I felt bad splitting up my frameset, but I'm hoping to get this bike under 20 lbs and I honestly think it's going to be more like 22 the way its being built up now unfortunately.

CyclingFool95 

Great thread. Here's my 1995 Litespeed Classic w/ Kestrel fork in 2015, prior to rebuilding it with 11-speed Chorus and Zondas. I built it up in late 95 with Chorus and the Syncros Ti Post and Aluminum Stem and King headset that it still uses.

MidTNBrad

Where'd you get the bar tape? I need that to match the yellow labels on my Tuscany.

CyclingFool95 

That's leftover Profile for Speed tape that I bought back in the '90s.

I've bought tape similar to this that's on my Paris. The only real difference that I see is that this stuff doesn't have the strip of adhesive down the length
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PH4LDH9..._QHp.Eb0PAZY8N

Litespud

I was just thinking that - Cinelli used to make yellow/black "blotchy" tape, which went with my Vortex's yellow theme, and which hid dirt better than plain yellow tape, but I think they stopped making it - I may have to get some of this stuff.
That really is a classic Classic - I remember that Synchros stem from when I was flipping through endless catalogs, shopping parts for my first decent build in the mid-90's. And they're Open Pro CD rims?

merlinextraligh

that seems quite heavy. With Dura Ace 7800, threadless fork, and what was at the time a nice set of dura ace wheels, my bike came in at 16 pounds and change.

CyclingFool95 

Open SUP CD. I have two pairs built in 93 and 94 by Colorado cyclist. Chorus hubs and DT 14/15 spokes

ridethecliche

Jeez thats nice. I am curious what the trek will end up at. The frameset with headset was like 6.6 lbs though using the ever so accurate bathroom scale method. Was done multiple times with the same result in the end.

My current 'nice' bike is like 18.5 lbs without any weenie parts on it. These bikes are 105 11 speed though, so nothing fancy. My caad9 back in the day was probably 17ish lbs with DA7800 and the SRM.

HighAltitude

Interesting - if yours is a 1995, I wonder what year mine is (I'm the OP). I thought it was about the same age, but the graphics are quite a bit different.

CyclingFool95 

Mine is definitely 95/96 - I got it in fall 95.

Yours is probably a 94. You can find catalogs here: MOMBAT: Litespeed Bicycles History

SSRI

@CyclingFool95
Those CC wheels were very well build - too bad they dont do rebuilds anymore.
I still have a pair of Campy yspislon rims lace to ultregra Hubs from 1990.

Fox Farm

I use to have that same stem and post on my Merlin.

scaldin

I've got a 2000 classic with 23mm tires. Now my buddy wants to get into adventure biking and I was thinking of putting something like 40mm on there. Terrible idea? Has anyone tried this?

Litespud

highly unlikely you’ll be able to fit 40s. I have 25s on Zonda C17 rims (actual tire width = 26mm) and I’m at the limit of my fork and close to the limit at the chain stays. I might possibly squeeze a 28 into the rear

CyclingFool95 

Mine turns out to be a 96, if the catalog text is to be believed. In 95 the Classic had horizontal dropouts, in 96 it went vertical. Of course, both 95 & 96 catalogs say the Classic has a braze on derailleur hanger, which mine does not.

I just scored a 97 Ultimate in polished finish - always wanted one. Cleaning starts tonight - fortunately, everything seems to have been properly prepped, but it doesnt look to have been used or cleaned in quite a while.

Warren128

It's fun seeing all these Classics. Mine is a 1996, decals removed by a previous owner except for the David Lynskey signature on the chainstay. I bought it as a frameset in 2008, built it up in 2013, and rebuilt again in 2018.

jleeg

My 93 Merlin with a modern gruppo. Still loving the ride.

CyclingFool95 

So it took the better part of a year (wasn't a high priority) but my 97 Ultimate is now road worthy. Needs bar tape and cages and its ready for tomorrow. And yes, it got the brand new 11 speed Centaur group I had sitting around for a couple of years. And yes, Centaur performs well enough. I did swap out the Profile fork it came with for this nice Litespeed Look, although I'd still rather have a Kestrel one. I may pick up the replacement decals and a decal head tube badge (the original one fell off while I was working on the bike so I put it on display with a couple of others)