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Lemond Tourmalet project

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Lemond Tourmalet project

Old 01-06-20, 06:27 PM
  #1  
delbiker1 
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Lemond Tourmalet project

It is a 2001 Lemond Tourmalet. Once I received this bike, I realized I paid too much for it. After tearing it all down and cleaning/shining everything, it was not as bad as initial inspection had me believe. Stripped and sanded out to 800 grit wet sanding. I put another hundred bucks into it for powder coating the frame/fork. Otherwise, I am using the components/parts that came with the bike, or things I already had. The seller did send new cables and housing, tires and tubes. That helps, but still a bit high on the dollars. I was planning on doing a home spray paint, maybe just primer and clear coat, but went with the coating. I am not into taking before and after pictures, but I may wish I had with this bike.

I got it back from the shop yesterday and I do like the color, Halloween Orange, not flashy or bright, but a nice deeper hue of orange. I started the build this afternoon. Here are a couple of pictures of the frame and fork, and where the build is now. I am going to get either Navy blue or black in the color scheme somehow. Ideas and suggestions, or criticisms always welcome

Halloween Orange


Going to be a mix of Shimano components/parts
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Old 01-06-20, 06:32 PM
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Looks Great. A welded frame is a great candidate for Powder Coat.

Is it reynolds 853?
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Old 01-06-20, 07:47 PM
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Very nice color you have there...looking forward to more pics..are decals in the frames future?
Ben
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Old 01-06-20, 08:12 PM
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Wileyone, it is Reynolds 853. I also have a Lemond Poprad that I bought used this past August. It had already been powder coated by the seller, it is in really good shape. This is my second 853 and I regret not getting one sooner.

xiaoman1, I am undecided about decals. I am probably going to use some stripes, chevrons or something of that ilk. If I use Lemond stickers, it will not be a total package. I am starting to think a combo of some darker shade of blue and black together. I thought about using black brake calipers. I have a pair of Promax on hand, but was not thrilled about the performance of them. I really want to keep any more cost down to a minimum.
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Old 01-06-20, 08:40 PM
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Originally Posted by delbiker1
Wileyone, it is Reynolds 853. I also have a Lemond Poprad that I bought used this past August. It had already been powder coated by the seller, it is in really good shape. This is my second 853 and I regret not getting one sooner.
The reason I ask is because I found a Lemond frame and fork at the local co-op. No paint just black primer. It is identical to yours except it has horizontal dropouts. Lemond heirarchy is very confusing it seems they used the same frame for many models, the differences being in the groupsets offered and maybe different fork options. My frame is a size 57 and weighs in at 3.7 lbs. So I guess it must be 853 rather than 520.
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Old 01-06-20, 09:13 PM
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I have a Lemond that's a Tourmalet frame and Buenos Aires fork, powder coated red to match the original Buenos Aires color. I sourced decals from Wanit. They did a great job. I need to take some pics.
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Old 01-06-20, 09:48 PM
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Originally Posted by nlerner
I have a Lemond that's a Tourmalet frame and Buenos Aires fork, powder coated red to match the original Buenos Aires color. I sourced decals from Wanit. They did a great job. I need to take some pics.
Thanks for the link. They seem to advise against using their decals on a powder coated frame. Did you have any problems? Did you clear coat them?
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Old 01-07-20, 07:25 AM
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Originally Posted by Wileyone
Thanks for the link. They seem to advise against using their decals on a powder coated frame. Did you have any problems? Did you clear coat them?
Yeah, I ignored that suggestion (they do not seem to be fans of powder coat!) and have not clear coated either. We’ll see how well they hold up.
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Old 01-11-20, 08:35 AM
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My Tourmalet build hit a snag. I had all the components installed. When I tried to mount the real wheel, I could not get the driver side of the axle to slide into the drop out. It looked like the axle end was getting hung up on the QR nut. Being the mechanically challenged person that I am, it took a while and a few looks at everything before I realized the rear section of the dropout was bent inward, which narrowed the dropout slot and there was not enough room for the axle to slide into it. I really was not sure what to do about it. I came to the conclusion that I could either replace the dropout, or bend the rear section rearward to re-open the slot. I decided to go ahead and try to bend it back into place. Just last week, I had bought and mounted a bench vise, so this was the opportunity to use it for the first time. I took the RD off and clamped the rear section of the dropout into the vise, rear to front, and used the frame as leverage. I slowly and carefully started pull the frame backward and kept an eye on the slot to watch the progress of opening it up. I stopped a few times and closely checked the line up of the slot. The third time the slot was reopened to the point that the axle would again slide into it. I tried to mount the wheel again and it slid into the slot just right. I re-mounted the RD and all is good. That is as far as I got. I am about to take my Poprad out for a ride, and will start working on the Tourmalet again later. One thing I would do different is to somehow cushion the dropout before clamping it in the jaws. I did wind up with paint chipped off and some minor pits in the dropout. I guess I will just try to smooth those a bit and do some touch up paint on it. Not a big deal, now I already have put the first imperfection on the powder coat and do not have to fret about it.
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Old 01-11-20, 08:44 AM
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Whew, holding my breath while I read! Glad it was a success!
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Old 01-11-20, 05:05 PM
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The 853 Tourmalets are great. Most 853 Lemonds had carbon forks, I don’t care for carbon forks in general and don’t trust them on 20 year old used bikes. The 853 Tourmalet, Nevada City and Poprad had steel forks. I’ve got a 2001 53cm Tourmalet with full 9 sp Ultegra and a 1650 gram Vuleta wheelset and it is a blast to ride. I also have a 2002 55cm with the original Tiagara group. I’d like to find a Zurich my size and replace the carbon fork with a steel one from a Tourmalet Looking forward to see your completed build and glad you solved the drop out issue.

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Old 01-11-20, 10:48 PM
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First ride

Looks I am going to get in the first ride on my Tourmalet tomorrow, weather permitting. I spent too many hours working on the bike today. Had to go back and redo a few things due to my lousy mechanic skills and my declining mental acuity. I am still going to have to redo the brake cables/housing. I left my handlebar too low and once I wrap the bar I do not have the housing with enough length to raise the bar. Fortunately, the cables shave not been cut. My back is letting me know that it has been stressed today. I will feel it tomorrow. The back is the main reason I cannot do the low bars anymore. A couple of pictures of the bike is now.

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Old 01-12-20, 04:58 PM
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A while back I posted a chart of all the 853 Lemonds with their frame/fork materials: Lemond model comparison chart - 853
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Old 01-12-20, 05:06 PM
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Iowa10Speed, thanks for the link on the comparison chart. I knew the stays were a different steel alloy, but not what. I have thought about going to a CF fork, but will stick to the original CroMo for now. No Poprads on the chart. I suspect they are the same as for the 853 frames of other models.
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Old 01-12-20, 05:33 PM
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delbiker1 - I looked at the 2003 catalog on the Vintage-Trek site. Your 2003 Poprad frame is "853 Designer Select", which is 853 main tubes and 525 stays. That's the same alloy as most of the later Lemond frames except Zurich which was all 853. The Poprad fork is listed as "X-Lite Cross, alloy".

I have a Zurich to try in the spring., It's the first carbon-fiber anything I will have ridden. I'm curious what the carbon fiber forks feels like.
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Old 01-12-20, 05:42 PM
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Another set back today. I had everything ready to go, I thought. Took the bike out to go for a ride this morning. The first time I put pressure on the NDS pedal, the crank arm just flopped loose and I was dumbfounded. What the hell just happened. When I took the arm off and looked at the connection links, they were sheared off and pieces of metal on the end of the spindle. I know when I installed that arm, before tightening it on to the spindle, it did not align correctly with the driveside arm. I pulled it off and remounted it and aligned ok. However, tightening it onto the spindle only took maybe half the number of normal full turns of the bolt before it was seated on the spindle. I did not know what was going on. I looked at both arms and they were aligned properly, both were equidistant from the BB shell and the chainstay. I put pressure on them with my hands/arms and all seemed to be good. I do not know if I somehow screwed it up, or if it was damaged when I got it. I bought it off Ebay because it looked really nice and a very good price, and the arms are 170 mm.

So, I removed the DS crankarm, looked at, cleaned and lubed the BB spindle, got the 175mm crankset I had replaced, and mounted both sides with no issues. That is far as I got. I just need to put the pedals back on, take another look at everything, and hopefully, ride it tomorrow. It sure could have been me that did the damage. At this point, doesn't matter. It is done, so just move forward. I always have challenges doing anything mechanical, DIY projects, and such. This one has been a tough one. As always, it could have been much worse.
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Old 06-04-20, 10:01 AM
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Cliffhanger! I'd enjoy seeing your update.

How much do 2001 Tourmalets weigh?

I may have a affection for this bike. If I got one I would try to keep the steel forks, quill stem and 9 speed.
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Old 06-04-20, 11:25 AM
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Originally Posted by Anemic
Cliffhanger! I'd enjoy seeing your update.

How much do 2001 Tourmalets weigh?

I may have a affection for this bike. If I got one I would try to keep the steel forks, quill stem and 9 speed.
This bike ha become my favorite to ride and I have been putting a lot of miles on it. I have made a lot of changes since the original build. It now is 10 speed with Dura Ace 7800 crankset 48/38T, Ultegra 6600 shifters and brake calipers, Tiagra 4600 mid-cage rear derailleur and cassette 12/27, 5600 front derailleur derailleur, Vuelta SLR wheelset. I had some of these components, others bought new or used when I saw what i perceived as a great price. I was having issues with the old components that came with the bike, so I decided to replace them. Also, I like riding the bike so much that I wanted better quality performance from the components. I have been seeing quite a few Tourmalets on Ebay recently, a couple at what looks like a good price. I just weighed the bike as you see it in the pictures, spot on 22lbs. Pretty good for a steel frame/fork with all those extras on it.



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Old 06-04-20, 12:00 PM
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Nice work on recovering a good frame. I'm interested to know how your decals are working with the powder coat, and also what tires you have fitted? Are they 28mm?
The 853 LeMonds are excellent riding frames, and I have one with a "coda" brand Time carbon fork, but am restricted to 25mm tires because of the crown.
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Old 06-04-20, 12:05 PM
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Go stealth mode with no decals, and have people guess what it is.
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Old 06-04-20, 01:30 PM
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Originally Posted by AlfredoBinda
Nice work on recovering a good frame. I'm interested to know how your decals are working with the powder coat, and also what tires you have fitted? Are they 28mm?
The 853 LeMonds are excellent riding frames, and I have one with a "coda" brand Time carbon fork, but am restricted to 25mm tires because of the crown.


Thanks much, it was a lot of work. The frame/fork and all the components were filthy and a bit tired when I received it. I used chem stripper and a scraper to get the original paint mostly off. I sanded out to 600 grit, then fine steel wool, then wet sanded with 800 grit paper. The powder coater did a fine job. I cleaned and polished all the original components, but once I put the bike back together, I was having issues with most of them and they were still old and tired. I used stuff I had, and new and used parts I bought. I definitely put more money into it than I anticipated, or wanted to spend. I am now glad I upgraded/updated the components as the bike rides, handles and , IMO, it looks real nice. I have 25mm tire on it now, but did have 28mm Hutchinson Fusion 5's on it. Still had a bit of room but not enough for 32's. I also have a 2003 Poprad that is a bit too big for me. I am probably going to put that up for sale as either a full build or frame/fork, headset, BB and the cantilever brakes.

The decals are cheap replicas I bought from Ebay. I did not use the full package as I just wanted to see how they looked and if they would last. They are still as when I mounted them. I am really thinking of removing them and leaving it with no decals. No clear coat over them so they should come off with a little heat or Goo Gone.

Last edited by delbiker1; 06-04-20 at 01:38 PM.
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