chaadster

I do not have personal experience with Volagi, no. I've just been looking at them for a dirt road/winter bike option to supplement my current winter bike, an old Lemond Buenos Aires.

The BA is just a road bike, so I can only fit 23c tires under fenders, and only the slimmest, the Crud RoadRacer MkII fenders, at that. When the dirt roads around here are in good condition, not recently graded, and/or frozen, the BA's skinny rubber is acceptable, but I'd like to be more confident and able to ride dirt roads faster in all conditions, so I'd like to step up to something that can fender 28c tires, but still have the manners of a roadie. CX bikes and their high bottom brackets are less than ideal for me, so that's where the Viaje comes in, possibly; I may want to go light as possible for dirt, where the frequent decelerations and high drag make weight a little more noticeable.

dr_lha

I've read some reports that Road Logic frame sold well this year and stocks might be low. It is however an off the shelf item, so if they have them, there's no wait time. I bought mine from these guys, don't let the crappy website put you off, they give good deals and are recommended by Ritchey.

Bicycle Doctor USA Home

Cheese Head

Any thoughts on Lynskey Ti frames? Bicycle Dr. has some great deals on the Lynskey's.

bassjones

Friend of mine has a Waterford and a Gunnar Sport. He's an inch taller than me so both bikes are set up poorly for me but he let me test ride both. Both were terrific bikes. He has the Waterford set up for a more relaxed ride and the Gunnar a tad more aggressive. Not race ready aggressive, because it's not designed for that. More fast group ride aggressive. The Waterford is definitely set up for randoneurs. Ride quality is similar between the two, responsive, yet smooth. Like a well set up sports coupe.

nola70119

First time poster, long time lurker...little bit about me, I'm 51 yrs old, about 215 lbs and dropping - took up road cycling about two years ago. I don't race, but I do a handful of metric centuries and a few charity rides and ride mainly for exercise and fitness. I've had a Volagi Viaje with 10spd SRAM Rival and hydraulic brakes about a year. I test rode a Trek Domane, Cannondale Synapse, Specialized Roubaix -all really, really good bikes) and was certain I would get a Domane until I test rode a Viaje.

I live in AZ and Volagi does not have a dealer here, but I was lucky to test ride a Viaje while on vacation in Minnesota. Very, very comfortable bike and easy to ride for extended periods. The word that comes to mind is smooth. I ended up ordering the bike directly from the company. They were very responsive and helpful - I even got to chat with Robert Choi, the founder, on one of my calls.

If you're looking for a steel endurance road bike, you should give them a look.

Cheese Head

Thank you. And welcome!

nola70119

Thanks! Hopefully that was somewhat helpful

Cheese Head

After a little research (I still have way more to do before I pull the plug) I'm really liking the reviews on the Lynskey Ti Sportive. It can be built with Sram Force 22 for just over 3k. I think if I go this route this would be a bike that I could be buried with.

https://www.lynskeyperformance.com/s...ptions-wrapper

https://www.roadbikereview.com/cat/la...x.aspx#reviews

Anyone have first hand experience with Lynskey? I really haven't read a bad review on any of their bikes.

yooperbiker

Kona make some nice steel bikes. A good strong enduro road bike would be:KONA BIKES | 2016 BIKES | STEEL ROAD | Roadhouse

adrien

I've seen many, and a friend has one. Nice looking bike. Someone here bought one recently and returned it because it was "softer" than he had hoped -- which may in fact make it closer to what you were looking for.

I believe they have a no-questions return policy. Check it out, but if so that's not a bad call at all.

Cheese Head

Thanks, I just sent them an inquiry. From the reviews, most seem to state that the ride seems slow to them. But after checking their computers they are similar or even faster than the bike they replace. Which seems to attribute to the comfortable ride of Ti and frame design. It does sound exactly like what I am looking for. A bike that will do most anything on road and can do it comfortably for a very long time.

adrien

I think you're on the right path. Ti has many of the steel qualities, though it can be built super-stiff as can steel, anything marketed as a sportive bike will be more enduro focused. If the stock sizes fit, you'll be in decent shape, especially with a return policy.

They have a good rep as a company; I'd recommend talking to them not only about the return but bout the model.

adrien

Look: https://www.lynskeyperformance.com/s...faction-policy

Cheese Head

Yes, I read that while looking through their site. Just another reason to strongly consider Lynskey. From my research they are one of the first manufacturers to use Ti in their frames. At that time they were under the Litespeed which they later sold and formed Lynskey.

Good read -

https://www.lynskeyperformance.com/store/about-us/

kingston 

A friend of mine has a titanium seven that he absolutely loves, but I'm sure he spent way more than three grand.

Jarrett2

In the last couple of years, I've owned and ridden steel, carbon, aluminum and titanium bikes. A lot of people say titanium is steel, but better. I disagree. There is a ride quality to steel that is not there on titanium in my experience. That steel specific ride quality is what keeps me buying steel bikes.

That said, if your local riding area is all nice, smooth roads, then ride quality might be irrelevant. I happen to live and ride on some really crappy roads. Here, you can immediately feel a ride quality difference between frame materials.

I do. These are great bikes sold by good people, but I preferred my 853 steel bike to the R240 I demo'ed.

If you go on Facebook and look up the Lynskey Owners and Enthusiasts (something like that) group, you'll see tons of glowing owner reports, but you might also be surprised at the number of people that report cracked frames on there. Granted, Lynskey offers a lifetime warranty (to original owners) and usually has a frame back to a customer within 10 business days, but who wants to deal with that? You have to strip you frame down, have it shipped, etc. I'd rather have a frame that didn't crack even if it comes with an incredible warranty and if you do a little digging you will find lots of reports of cracked titanium frames with a couple of simple Google searches.

That said, even the 15+ owners (I saw) that reported cracked and fixed Lynskey frames, still had good things to say about their bike and Lynskey as a whole. That's pretty impressive when you think about it.

That is the only bad thing I've found in research about their bikes. Everything else is pretty much glowing.

I was hoping to fall in love with the R240, but it just didn't happen. People say titanium bikes are lighter than steel. That's true. But I've also found they were more noodly than steel. For example, my 853 steel bike weighed somewhere around 18.5-19 lbs when first assembled the base parts, but it has a smooth ride without any noticeable noodliness and transfers power well. This is coming from a 280 lb guy with 327 FTP.

The R240 I demo'ed was around 17. something pounds. Seems like it was about a pound lighter exactly from my 853 steel bike. (My steel bike has Rival parts, the R240 had Force as well) But when I took it out on the same roads as my steel bike, it was a little rougher feeling while also being noodly. For example, when I stood to climb or sprint on it. I could feel flex in the bottom bracket and in front end of the bike. So much that it actually made me a little nervous and refrain from pouring the power to the bike when I wanted to.

So, yes I could have sent the R240 back and purchased a different Ti bike from them that was built a little more stiff, using larger/stronger Ti tubing, but I would have likely closed that weight gap on my 853 steel bike in the process, essentially negating the weight savings from Ti. Not to mention, the ride quality would likely have suffered as well.

To me, I liked the weight, ride quality and power transfer that my 853 steel bike delivered more than the Lynskey R240. So I stuck with steel.

By the way, Lynskey took the bike back and provided a full refund in the matter of just a few days. I was blown away by their customer service. If they made lightweight steel bikes, I'd likely be riding one as I like the company so much.

If you happen to live and ride on smooth roads and weight to power transfer ratio is not high on your list of needs from a bike, then a Lynskey would be a fantastic bike to own, imo.

Jarrett2

How did I miss these steel bikes?!

Raleigh Bicycles - Grand Vitesse ($2500, full 853, carbon fork, Ultegra)

Raleigh Bicycles - Record Ace ($1900, 631, campy, long reach brakes)

kingston 

I remember reading somewhere on the forum that people liked the Breezer Venturi.

I like the looks of the Pashley Clubman, but it seems too expensive for a 531 frame with shimano 105.

chaadster

Besides being out of production (the last was MY14), the Venturi is nowhere near an endurance bike geometry.

alfonsejr

Rodriguez Bikes may be worth considering; I learned about them when shopping for a tandem. A lot to read on their site, if interested. I like them because I'm extra-tall and they make bikes that fit. If I ever buy new, the Rainier will be one I consider. Several models within your $3k budget. Custom Bicycles and Frames | Custom Tandems and Bikes | Rodriguez Bicycles | Custom Paint

dr_lha

I grew up on Raleighs and Dawes* steel bikes, I have a lot of love for them. The Record Ace is one of the few production bikes in the USA that comes with Campy components, and I'll admit it looks a lot like what my next fantasy bike looks like in my head (albeit perhaps a bit lower spec, but $1900 is a great price for what you get).


*Proper Dawes (who still exist in the UK), not BikeDirect junk.

rmfnla

I agree.

The frame is essentially the suspension of a road bike, and steel gives the best ride.

There's a reason springs are made of steel...

DMC707

I have a "Lynskey era" Litespeed Classic ---- (I dont know all the details , but Lynskey is a spin off company of Litespeed, -- i thought the former owners left to form Lynskey after they sold out to a larger corporation who wanted to branch out with carbon- but i cant be too sure)

The Classic delivers on the promise of a steel-like ride with a couple pounds less weight -- it has more than enough stiffness for most of the riding i do, as my days of being a Quadmonster sprinter are 10 years behind me , and i appreciate the resiliency of Ti after a long day in the saddle

adrien

Huh. I recall your thread.

I've ridden noodly steel, and noodly ti. I've ridden incredibly, punishingly stiff steel, and I own a Ti bike which is very stiff, though not punishing. What you describe is the bike, but correlation to the material is not what I've experienced.

I do think that some Ti bikes -- notably sportive bikes -- are made to ride more plushly. But that's something a manufacturer can tune, between models or between one custom bike and another.

Cheese Head

Thank you for this post. This is what I have to base my ultimate decision on - peoples experiences and reviews. Unfortunately with the custom type bikes I won't be able to walk into my lbs and do side by side ride comparisons.

May I ask what size frame the Lynskey was that you road? Just wondering if larger frames would have the noodly feeling more so than a smaller frame. I haven't seen to much talk about a loose noodly feeling in the reviews I have read. Then I am considering a sportive also.

And thank you also for the information on cracked Ti frames. I read up on that as well. But it seems to me if I search any of the frame materials including 853 I see comments about cracked frames. I wonder if this is poor workmanship or bad materials more than frame materials.