PeteHski

LOL, good point and well presented! It's the sort of bike I would feel a bit too self-conscious riding. It's a very cool bike for sure, but I think you would need a 400w+ FTP to avoid looking like a bit of a tool on it.

chaadster

Interesting take. I thought it rather plain and understated.

PeteHski

I reckon if you rocked up on it at your local Sunday club ride people would take notice. I've seen guys taking the walk of shame up steep hills with their £12k S-Works and that really isn't a great look! My take is that if you are going to ride a £12k race bike then you really need to have the engine to match it to avoid the "all the gear but no idea" label. Obviously some people just don't care how it looks, but I would at this price-point. I'm only worth a £4.5k bike, lol.

Mojo31

I don’t feel like I’d look like a tool. I’d just look like an old guy who spent a lot on a bike. It’s more than double what I have in my current bike.

Mojo31

No different than having more car than you can drive, nicer guitar than you can play, etc.

PeteHski

Well it often is old guys who spend a lot on a bike. Their last bike and all that. But this particular one doesn't look like an old man's bike. For a start it isn't steel or ti and has fairly deep section rims and dropped stays.

PeteHski

I thought that analogy might come up. But to my mind people do often look like a plonka in all those situations too. You can add skis to that list too.

Mojo31

And motorcycles.

I don’t care what people think. I like fast sports cars, tech forward carbon bikes, etc. and will get them till I can’t. I’d rock that Lemond (in blue) even though I’m old and slow.

And, I don’t do steel, Ti, or classic and vintage. If it’s not new, it’s just old. IMHO

seypat

The main problem I see with that bike is if the D on the decals rubs off.....................Then you'd be stuck riding a lemon.

i also don't need all of the unnecessary sizzle that comes with the steak. Just sell me the bike at a lower cost. I don't need or want the group rides, giveaways and other fluff BS.

tomato coupe

I hope the dropouts hold up to the repeated insertion and torquing of those fine-threaded thru axles.

PeteHski

I'd give it a go too, but I do generally follow the rule that bike technology should really match your ability. As a more extreme example I wouldn't fancy turning up to a local TT with a skin-suit, aero/visor helmet and the latest and greatest Pinarello unless I was likely to be winning.

mstateglfr 

I eagerly await actual pictures and reviews of this bike.

How are all the threaded areas made since they obviously didnt just grind threads into carbon.
How is the X brace in the fork steerer designed and should other brands do something similar?
How is the bike designed to have fully hidden cables, externally routed cables, the 1 piece cockpit, your own cockpit setup, and also self-straighten stems? That seems like a lot of flexibility, which is awesome, but really confusing since nobody else has done it up to now.
Will the LeMond branding on the wheels be slightly off center from the valve tubes and continue to mess with my brain when production bikes are available?

FrankTuna

Asking the real questions!!

Mojo31

The pictures show a number of threaded inserts such as for the cage brazeons. I can't imagine that they are made of carbon due to the fragility of threaded carbon. Plus, if the idea is to eliminate galvanic corrosion by threading directly into carbon, then that does not make sense unless you have carbon screws. Some of the descriptions just seem implausible. Anyway, if I were a buyer I wouldn't want to be an early adopter.

himespau 

It's an attractive bike, and, if I had $13k burning a hole in my pocket that didn't have a better use (like college fund for the kids or new windows for the house or kitchen/bathroom remodel or nice vacation with the wife), I'd consider it. Unfortunately, my budget has no room for such a bike at this time (nor do I need something like that).

mstateglfr 

Well yeah, its something that I have thought of each time I have seen a rendering of the bike. My eyes are apparently drawn to the slightly off center logo. Maybe that is what they want? Maybe I am odd? Either way, its noticeable.

To bring things back to serious- the progressive chainstay geometry is interesting for an aero road bike at this price. My main road bike has 430mm stays and is a 65cm frame so I am certainly not complaining that the largest LeMond frame has 430mm stays. At the same time, I do recognize that I am not the target market for an aero road bike and 430mm stays are not common.

Oh, and what happened to LeMond Composites or whatever the company was 5 or 6 years ago that was going to revolutionize carbon fiber manufacturing? That company had rights to some technology that was developed at a national laboratory which was going to allow for low cost high volume carbon manufacturing. Based on pricing, that technology clearly is not utilized in this bike. Why wouldnt they use their own revolutionary technology?

RNAV

I interpreted the description as pretty explicit in saying the threaded areas are fully carbon. The reason why galvanic corrosion is a concern on other carbon bikes is because everyone else utilizes threaded aluminum inserts bonded into the carbon frame, and when you use alloy screws with alloy inserts you can get galvanic corrosion. Hence, you can eliminate galvanic corrosion as a possibility through the use of fully carbon threads, which allows the end user to use any metal screw they want and not have to worry about galvanic corrosion.

I, too, am interested about the durability of threaded carbon.

Mojo31

Actually, I’d be more concerned about the galvanic corrosion caused by the contact between the carbon threads and metal fastener:


Despite all of the excellent properties of CFRCs, there are issues with using carbon fiber reinforced compositesand metals together. The carbon fibers in CFRPs cause this material to become electrically conductive. The carbon fibers are electrically conductive and electrochemically very noble. Therefore, when a metal is electrically connected to a CFRP, it is more susceptible to galvanic corrosion. (To learn more about galvanic corrosion, read An Introduction to the Galvanic Series: Galvanic Compatibility and Corrosion.)

https://www.corrosionpedia.com/galva...olymers/2/1556

I’ve had experience with fastening fittings to carbon fiber sailboat masts and booms. Tapping and threading directly into CF does not make for a connection that is very durable. Better to bond a threaded insert to the carbon with an epoxy. At least that’s been my experience.

Bald Paul

If FTP dictated what type of bike you should be riding, I'd be on a 40+ lb Huffy single speed with coaster brake. I describe my bike (carbon fiber frame and wheels, aero bars, Di2) as a Ferrari with a Briggs & Stratton engine. However, I do look fast at the rest stops!

WhyFi

I'm of a mind that people don't need to earn the right to ride an expensive bike by way of performance - they just need to earn the money to buy it.

That said, I do think that a bike needs to fit the rider and the ride. If you need a 5cm stack of spacers under your stem and your bars need to be higher than your saddle, you're doing yourself a disservice by buying an aggressive racing frame. Likewise, showing up to a casual, family-centric cycling event in full kit and race bike is a bit of a wanker move.

The cost of the equipment really doesn't factor, though, IMO - if someone wouldn't be incongruous on an Allez, I think they'd be just fine on a LeMond, too.

PeteHski

Yeah, it's all about matching rider to bike and situation. To me this looks like a pretty racy bike and so I would want to do it some justice if I was going to be shelling out that kind of money on it. You could easily look like a wanker on it in certain scenarios. This is a bike that needs to be ridden fast in my view. Otherwise what's the point? There are other equally expensive bikes that are less race oriented and probably better suited to slower riding. I do like it though. It is a very sharp looking bike.

PeteHski

When it comes to machining threads directly into carbon, it can be done successfully if the right sort of carbon fibre is used in the design e.g. discontinuous fibre in an epoxy matrix. it's certainly not a good idea to just tap a hole into any random carbon fibre laminate. I presume Lemond have taken all this into account in the design of the carbon structure to make it machining friendly.

Mojo31

I hope so too. Like I said, I'm not a buyer, but if I was I would not be an early adapter. I'd want to watch this one for a while to see how they hold up.

WhyFi

What does "do it some justice" mean? If bike fits you and fits your needs, that's all the justice that needs be done, IMO. Do strong riders not get recovery rides? "Hey Bob - where's the LeMond?" "Recovery ride - can't; this old Emonda is my <2.5w/kg bike."

That's silly, IMO.

Sure, but the scenarios don't include those in which any other road bike, of a similar purpose, would be appropriate. Rolling up to a C group ride on it? Sure - why not?

seypat

It is an elite level racing bike. But with the cost of ownership, doubtful anyone but a professional will actually be racing it. A person has to have some deep pockets to risk crashing it in the local crit.