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Litespeed Ultimate

Old 04-13-19, 06:12 AM
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Kars 
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Litespeed Ultimate

I bought this 1996 litespeed from craigslist. For $300. Titanium frame.
Can you tell me if I overpaid , or was a fair price or good deal? What is it worth. I have a lot of cleaning to do and rear wheel has bad wobble.
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Old 04-13-19, 06:31 AM
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ridelikeaturtle
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To me that's fair if the frame/fork are in good condition, given that (based on your photo, I can't tell exactly) the components seem to not be "traditional" according to the frame - was the previous owner using this as a city commuter / hybrid?

If you decide to strip it down to the frame/fork, sell off all the parts, and find a second-hand road groupset and entry- or mid-level wheels, you'll have a very nice rider and will have done extremely well for your $300.
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Old 04-13-19, 06:50 AM
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Kars 
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Originally Posted by ridelikeaturtle
To me that's fair if the frame/fork are in good condition, given that (based on your photo, I can't tell exactly) the components seem to not be "traditional" according to the frame - was the previous owner using this as a city commuter / hybrid?

If you decide to strip it down to the frame/fork, sell off all the parts, and find a second-hand road groupset and entry- or mid-level wheels, you'll have a very nice rider and will have done extremely well for your $300.
previous owner used it as commuter hybrid/trail bike, it is a litespeed ultimate. Frame is in pretty good condition but the fork I need to inspect more. I think it is ok. He gave me also the the original handlebars separately. It has mixture of dura ace and ultegra. Thanks for your response/advice
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Old 04-13-19, 05:22 PM
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Nice bike but odd setup older top end DT shift group with with upright bars. As for value I would say $400 or so as presented so the OP did fine value wise.
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Old 04-13-19, 05:37 PM
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Nessism
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Unless there is something wrong with the frame I'd say you got a killer deal. The Ultimate was Litespeed's top of the line frame at that time and it's made from cold worked 6/4V tubing (I think). The Kestral fork was stout, maybe too stout for some. It's very robust. Thompson seat post is top shelf, but that stem is junk.

What are you going to do with the bike? Convert to road riding? That would make a good crit bike after adding some STI shifters.
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Old 04-13-19, 06:36 PM
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Yeah you got a great deal. It’s a titanium frame.
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Old 04-14-19, 06:36 AM
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Kars 
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Originally Posted by Nessism
Unless there is something wrong with the frame I'd say you got a killer deal. The Ultimate was Litespeed's top of the line frame at that time and it's made from cold worked 6/4V tubing (I think). The Kestral fork was stout, maybe too stout for some. It's very robust. Thompson seat post is top shelf, but that stem is junk.

What are you going to do with the bike? Convert to road riding? That would make a good crit bike after adding some STI shifters.
thanks. first I have a ton of cleaning to do . This was the dirtiest bike I ever purchased. You cannot see that so much in the pictures. I cannot wait to get rid of those handlebars. I want to convert it back to road bike handlbar for sure. I would like to put on period corect dura ace stem/ handlebar if possible and if not too much $That way it would match the other components. I believe the original groupset was dura ace but have not found a lot of info on that.I read it was available in several different groupets such as ultegra , campy , dura ace etc. But not sure. I hope I can get the bottom bracket out and replace
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Old 04-21-19, 06:56 AM
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I’d have happily paid $450 for it so I’d say you got an awesome deal. I’d still upgrade all the components to a nice 9
speed setup with either campy or shimano brake/shifters. I’d probably go with a shimano hub though for closer cog spacing and some say better shifting hyper glide.
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