ezmiller

There is a LeMond Nevada City 53" being offered for $400 near me and I am considering it.

I'm curious to know more about the frame and if it is a good value? Can anyone tell me more about these frames and if they are a good value? Anything about the frame geometry?

I would have liked to post a picture but the forum won't allow me because I am too new on here. :/

Still any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

ezmiller

Actually if I post three more times I may be able to include a picture.

cb400bill

Thread moved from C&V to C&V Appraisals.

Please do not make junk posts just to get to 10. They will be deleted.

ezmiller

cb400bill is there any way that I can post a picture. It's not really possible to ask the question that I would like to ask without being able to post a picture...

Charliekeet

ezmiller, maybe tell us a bit more about the bike as you see it. And where are you located?

TugaDude

I believe you can upload a picture or pictures to your gallery and then someone can take them from there and paste them to the thread.

ezmiller

The full description of the bike is:
the bike looks to be in decent shape from the images. I don't see anything obvious -- besides it being a bit dirty -- but I also don't know what to look for. I also know nothing of the frame model originally, and I've not been able to find much on it by searching the web.

Thought somebody here might know about the model, and when it might have been made.

jon c. 

Sounds like a nice frame with lesser components.

Could be worth the price if it fits. 853 is nice stuff.

xiaoman1 

OP there is a lot of information on the bike if you search the web

https://products.roadbikereview.com/...ty-290574.html
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...vada-city.html

fishboat

If it's dark blue it's a 2001, if silver it's a 2002.

2003 was a black bike with 520 tubing. 2004 was blue with white decals and aluminum tubing.

If it's an '01 or '02, then the frame makes it a fairly desirable bike(853 main tubes, 525 stays). $400, I'd think, is about a max value, depending on condition, wheels...location matters.

ezmiller

I think I may know be able to post pictures so here is the bike. It sounds like it may be the 2001 based on what fishboat said:

ezmiller

I managed to find a PDF with a description of the bike and some frame geometry!

fishboat

Has a steel fork..(nothing wrong with that) rather than the carbon fork that the higher end models had. The geometry should be the same as the higher end models. 853 "designer select" tubing seems the same as the second-tier buenos aires. Overall..it should ride very nice. A Zurich (top tier model) would run $500-$700 depending on condition and reality-state of the seller. Lots of ebay examples can be more$$..but there's less reality on ebay.

billmckay

Have you checked this site: Untitled Document It gives catalogs for all the years they were made. Lots of useful info.

For what an opinion is worth, it does not matter much whether it is 400 or 500 dollars; it depends where you live; what the market is like; and most importantly, what you want. I bought a 2003 Buenos Aires with full ultegra groupset in pretty good shape for $425 six months ago; I thought it was a great deal. I have been trying to sell it for a few bucks more and have not had a bite. The seller of my bike happened to find a guy who wanted a Lemond so it was well worth it to me. I have not. I think I will just keep it even though I found a bike a like even more, mostly because it is still a very cool bike.
Bill McKay

ezmiller

I bought the bike for $370. I rode it and it felt good. Needs a cleanup, but the shifting and breaks felt pretty good. The paint job has some blemishes in spots, which is too bad but maybe not surprising. Now I'm curious what kind of improvements could be made. I'm wondering if it makes sense to upgrade the components and wheels to more modern components.

I'm curious how people here might approach making improvements or fixing up a bike like this...

diphthong

lemonds from that era tended to ride a little more relaxed seat post was a little more set back so instead of pushing directly down on the pedals,
you pushed down and forwards to take advantage of (different) muscles differently.

you could spread/cold set the rear triangle to accommodate a bigger cassette/gear range if you're going to do hills, tour, etc.

really just depends on the riding you're planning on doing/is readily available to you. whatever keeps you returning to the bike is the key.
the goal is to avoid it, and you, collecting dust and cobwebs.

fishboat

$370 is reasonable. It's a nice ride by any measure. Good tires are always worthwhile investment. Mount the widest, fastest tire you can get on there. I can't see the what the wheels are. Even a nicely decent new set of wheels will run as much as you paid for the bike..and you may not(probably won't) feel much of a difference.

The most significant differences between this bike and a couple levels up are lighter wheels, carbon fork, and groupset. I personally have nothing against a good steel fork. The groupset you have will be heavier than 105, Ultegra, or DA, but if what you have works well(and it likely does) then any changes will offer very marginal improvements.

If you dropped a significant amount in upgrades ($1K or more) you'd notice it initially, but then you'd do better to have spent more than $1400 to begin with.

Tune it up as needed(derailleur adjustment, cables, brake pads, true the wheels), put good tires on it and ride it.

zukahn1 

Based on the pic the paint looks pretty good with a few spots of light touch up and nice wax it should come back to looking almost new. If thew wheels and shifter's are in good shape I think you did fine on price.

ezmiller

The pain is decent. There are definitely some rough spots that could use a touch up. Does anyone know of a good guide to how to do touch ups. For example, how does one even get a matching color?

In terms of other improvements, my thought was in part to use this bike to learn some stuff about bike maintenance and building. So I wouldn't mind putting some money into it. Upgrading or renewing the wheels seems like it could be a good place to start. I suppose swapping or renewing the groupset would be a bigger lift.

Any suggestions on where to focus if I did want to spend a bit o money / time on making this bike markedly better? I'm also curious how to think about making it better? With a bike like this, from 2001, does it make sense to put newer components on it because of improved tech? Or does it make more sense to improve it within the set of components that would have been available in 2001, for example maybe looking at the higher end versions of the frame and trying to find some of those components to put on the bike?