ephemeralskin

First off, dunno if this is the right forum for this question, but let's see if y'all can help me out. I've been wanting a Ti frame for so long and it finally just happened! Yay Litespeed Classic!!!


So now I'm thinking I want to run some errands and pick up groceries on this one and maybe I should fit it out with a Tubus Fly or Airy rack. I'm looking at these dropouts and they have two holes that look almost but maybe slightly larger than the standard size of eyelets (see photo). But they are smooth not tapped. Would this be a safe rack attachment point or should I leave them be and go with a QR adapter? If I Try and attach the rack in one of these holes should I try and tap it or find a bolt that can fit the clearance between the frame and cassette?

aeshultz

Nice Classic! I've got a '96 Catalyst, no such holes in the dropouts. I'd doubt that you'll be able to tap that Ti, but smarter folks than me will soon ad on here.

ephemeralskin

Thanks! On closer inspection the holes are not only lacking threads but seem ever so slightly oblong. Less risky to just use the QR adapter that Tubus sells, I suppose.

PhotonDon

Beautiful bike, but I question whether it is a Classic. I have a '97 Classic which I bought new, (still have it), and it doesn't look like mine for a few reasons. First , the seat post treatment looks nothing like mine. On mine the seat stays attach higher up with less seat post showing above the junction. The decals appear to be pre-1997. That is not proof positive of year of manufacture (you can buy any year's decals from Litespeed. Mine are from the '98 year). I don't think LS offered that finish that year. Lastly, mine doesn't have eyelets of any kind.

Please don't misunderstand me; I'm not trying to be a buzzkill. What you have should be a fine riding machine. I truly enjoy mine. I have seen LS catalogs online. Track em down and check the pics. At the end of the day, I could be wrong. But I don't think I am in this case.
Enjoy the ride!

ephemeralskin

Oh wow, you are right this is definitely not a 1997! I would say this is still a Classic but from 1990-92 sometime, because they changed the dropouts in1993! The style on mine was called the "quick-change". Still the holes don't seem to be true eyelets, so I will be stuck using a QR skewer adapter unless someone on here can help me come up with a good way to tap titanium without damaging it.

bwilli88 

Really nice bike, drooling.

Just looking at the bike, I would rotate the bars up so they are relatively flat giving you a better position on the hoods and flat part leading out to the hoods. As it is resting on the reaching part will be hard and this give you more hand positions. See below

this will give you approximately 5 hand placements as seen below

ephemeralskin

I googled drilling and tapping titanium and it basically says just use proper technique (carbide metal drill and cooling fluid). I could prop the frame up and use a drill press. Hmmm, probably y'all in the vintage forum don't want me modifying it. Is this a bad idea though??

bwilli88 

It is your bike, mod away. Just read up on drilling and working titanium.

ephemeralskin

Oh thanks, yes I just used the seller's photo out of convenience and noticed this needed tweaking pretty quick. I am on the tall side for this bike and probably should have a longer stem, but I'm making do since it is a Serotta stem after all. I'll take some of my own photos once I feel she's ready to be showing off!

The seller has an ebay listing that is still up atm, but I found the bike locally on CL and got it for a lot less. You can peep all the details here-
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1997-57cm-L...AAAOSwyjNdO01E

tiger1964 

I guess rivnuts wouldn't work?

TenGrainBread 

Personally I would not drill and tap the frame. Although it might work, you are risking weakening the dropouts. P-clamps or the QR adapter you mentioned are plenty strong for carrying a small load. If you are planning on carrying a lot of weight on the back you need to use a different bike for that. The goal of this bike was light weight tubing so using it for a large amount of groceries or touring is not a good idea. It is just not the right tool for the job. Which might give you an excuse to find a different bike with rack eyelets

By the way, yes, those are early 90s decals. Very similar to a '93 Tachyon I once had.

ryansu

First off nice find OP, maybe I am missing something, it is your bike to do with as you will - but why turn a TI road racing machine into your errand runner when there are probably hundreds of cheap steel vintage road and mtb in your area that would do the job and have loads of braze-ons? If you do want the fastest and most TI errand runner on your block then maybe a Nitto rack with p-clamps or a Topeak beam rack ? YMMV

RobbieTunes

My '96 Classic has eyelets piggybacked on the rear dropouts and also up near the brake bridge.They are tapped.
Obviously for a rack, as there are no eyelets on the carbon fork for fenders, and I'm not sure of the clearance.
Not sure why I'd put a rack on it, but as I've not ridden it yet, never saying never.

I'm not a fan of the color scheme, with the decals and the yellow on the fork.
My endgame will be a black Ritchey fork and black decals, if any at all, and 6800.
Just like most of the other Ti bikes out there, I guess. They do tend to all look alike.

I would not drill and tap your frame holes. Even a pop rivet seems a better idea.
I'd find a bolt that went through and through with a lock washer and nut on the inside.
Easy on, easy off.

ephemeralskin

Hey y'all, my bad it took me this long to get around to posting an updated photo. Here it is with my own seat and pedals, plus the new rack, water bottle cage, lights and cell phone mount. The bike is perfect in so many ways, except still feeling kinda cramped. I keep wanting to slide further back on the saddle. Should I get a setback seatpost before a longer stem? I might end up trying both or trading someone for a bigger frame if possible.








I hadn't ever heard of these but this is pretty much exactly what I ended up finding, while rummaging through the various fastener drawers at the hardware store. They are called Brad Hole Tee Nuts and I still had to very slightly enlarge the holes in the frame, but this turned out to be easily managed with just a handheld drill and everything worked out great! Also, the main reason something like this is necessary is there is zero clearance for a bolt head or a regular washer/nut, since it would hit the teeth on the first cog.





I mean, how would anyone not want to have the fastest TI errand runner? Also I live 15 miles out in the country, so running errands is at minimum a 30 mile ride.

Brad L 

Your saddle appears to be tilted down slightly, which may be causing you to slide forward. I'd suggest leveling the saddle and see if it helps. If that's not the case, take your bike that fits the best and try matching the dimensions of its saddle location.

ephemeralskin

I think I sorted it out! I just remembered I have a little Campy post that is the exact right fit! I also tipped the nose up a bit and that feels better too.

retrodude

Great setback post choice, vintage C-Record is one of the best looking posts created (IMHO), are you within the max height line?

ephemeralskin

Agreed, love this post. The max line is not showing, but it is close and the end of the seatpost does not go past the bottom of the top tube. I think it is about 7/8 of the way there. Is this ok? I suppose the extended seat tube does something to support it and I tend to ride light.

RobbieTunes

I'm going to say "naye" on that post. The bottom of the post needs to get past the seat tube. If the bottom can move, even a little bit, the bike could fall over and break that ST Ti above the TT. It used to happen to Kestrel 200 Series all the time, even with a bit more insertion. As much as you like that seatpost, a cheap Chinese carbon works just fine.



Threaded seat stay eyelets

Threaded rear eyelets

Pretty sure it's a '96

scarlson 

Nicely done with the drill and innovative hardware. If I'd seen this thread earlier I would have told you to go ahead. Many machinists can be so pedantic and tend to condescend to laypeople, but I have extensive experience machining Ti with high-speed steel tooling and I can speak from experience: as long as your tooling is sharp and you use a lot of feed pressure you're fine. Coincidentally, that's exactly what a tap is, if it's in good condition! I actually prefer sharp steel tooling over carbide for Ti. But if your drill is dull, you'll melt it in no time!!

Your solution is less invasive. But those drops are massive, so I don't think there'd be much danger of them breaking, unless you took out a huge chunk.

And yeah, I get it. I have a friend who commutes on a similar old Litespeed, even in winter salt. He swears by it. Fenders next?!

ephemeralskin

I mean, you are right the seatpost should ideally extend further and that the rule of thumb is at minimum past the top tube. But as far as what can I get away with under normal use, idk the seat clamp is holding it pretty solid. I wanna say it is probably fine. Looking at a Kestrel 200 there is a lot less support on those frames, I'm not sure this is comparable. It is a shame these vintage aero posts don't come in a 250mm length. Is there anything out there that is similar? I guess a Thomson or a generic Ti post is my best replacement. I don't really trust the no-name carbon posts and also aesthetics.

due ruote 

I would side with Robbie on the seatpost, if we are voting. Much better situation with another inch or two. Will it be ok? I don’t know for sure but if it were my bike, I would always worry about it, and what fun is that?
Nice solution with the t-nuts. For the record, they are a very different fastener than a rivnut, which draws in on itself like a wall anchor to make a permanent attachment point.
Nice bike and one heck of a grocery getter.

ephemeralskin

I just bought a knock-off Lynskey looking Ti post for $80 of peace of mind. We'll see how that turns out.

ephemeralskin

How's that, got a looot more seatpost stuck down in there now.

RobbieTunes

Well, I feel better.