2Mins2Midnight

I realize the history of the brands and realize that Lynskey is definitely more of the 'mom and pop' company than Lightspeed is. I said "you can draw your own conclusions" for a reason, and yours is plenty valid. There are two ways of looking at companies with a lot of sales, discounts, etc. Your viewpoint is one of them. Everyone has their own marketing strategies, but companies with constant sales can have a certain perception or reputation based on that. I'm not saying it's good or bad. Seems like I struck a nerve, but that wasn't my intention.

Maelochs

You struck my Marketing nerve, not my Cycling nerve ... no offense taken.

Camilo

I have a 96 Litespeed (Lynskey era). In 2020 we bought two very similar bike frames: Lynskey GR300 and Litespeed Watia. Both compare very favorably in quality - to my eyes - to the 96 Litespeed and to each other, in terms of weld quality. The new frames have different design decisions in terms of bottom bracket and head set standards. The GR300 has a threaded BB and an integrated headset. The Watia has a press fit BB and a press in headset. The Lynskey was a bit heavier but also a bit cheaper. The Litespeed was a bit lighter, but a bit more expensive. There are also some slight differnces tube shapes, and geometry.

All or some of these differences may affect your choice, but IMHO, none are game changers. Both bikes seem to be high quality at a good price point for a ti bike.

genejockey 

I'm waiting for "Crazy Eddie Merckx!!! He's practically giving it all away!!!"

EDIT: (This will be more meaningful to anyone who lived within range of NYC area TV stations BITD)

Maelochs

^ Particualrly with the advent of electric bikes and electronic shifting .....

indyfabz

“Our prices are INSANE!”

Is he still in jail?

genejockey 

I don't know. We had our own version out here - "MATTHEWS! 5400 Mission Street, top of the hill, Daly City!" which gave out really ****** bikes with many purchases. They even come up periodically over in C&V - "Hey, is this Firenze bike any good?" He - Stephen Matthew David - ended up going to jail, too. Funny thing - I worked with his son years ago. The son was a cyclist. Didn't ride Daddy's POS bikes, though.

Eric F 

I'm still looking for a mattress store that doesn't have a giant "SALE" sign in the window. As far as I can tell, mattresses are always on sale. Always.

genejockey 

Only suckers pay retail for a mattress.

Maelochs

Lol I think Firenze was a Sears brand ... OI owned a pair of Firenze rigid MTBs when I was in my "Plenty of free bikes in the garbage" phase. Nice little bikes but not up to hardcore daily urban commuting.

rekmeyata

Litespeed was sold to AGB, who by the way has trouble with honoring warranties, but I digress, the Lynskey sold the business when their dad and founder died, a decision I wonder if they regret doing?

David Lynskey was a triathlete, not just a runner, but he did have to stop running due to a knee injury.

My understanding was that Lynskey was created after some sort of feud occured between Lynskey and the owners of AGB, so Lynskey put on his fighting gloves and went after them with more competition, which hasn't seemed to hurt Litespeed any.

I can't find sales reports to see who sells the most bikes.

13ollocks

at one point I would’ve said Lynskey without hesitation. I ride a Lynskey-era Litespeed and it’s fantastic, and I think Litespeed lost their way a little post-takeover, expanding into CF frames that, to me at least, looked like slapping the LS brand on no-name frames. However, if I was in the market now, I think I’d give both a good look. Lynskey is a known quantity, to me at least, and I have a certain loyalty, given that they made my current ride. But Litespeed’s current lineup looks pretty good, and the prices compare well. My biggest ding against LS was their embrace of press-fit BBs, but they offer a T47 option (at a price), so that makes them more palatable to me.

boomer58 

At my age and with the injuries that I have sustained over the years, I would never reach the full benefits of a Titanium bike. I guess it's like owning a high end sports car. I'll never go 150 mph in it but it would be fun to have. I just enjoy riding very much, my goal is to do 50 - 60 mile rides. I ride by myself and am not one to say " look at me, I have the bestest, fastest, and yes shiniest bike on the block " I look at owning a Ti bike would be like owning the sports car. I also travel through Chattanooga at least once a year on my way to Indy so I can visit both places if I were to consider one of them. The treatments for rheumatoid arthritis are starting to work and I am able to tolerate riding more than I was a year ago but I still have a way to go. When I was working I would think about retiring and having the time to ride. That time is now and I want to enjoy it as much as I can. I find that joining a forum like this can be great for learning a lot and you guys are all very knowledgeable and helpful but it can also be very expensive. Thank you for all of your replies, boomer.

And yes I do remember "Crazy Eddie" My friend had cable when I was a kid and we used to see his commercials all the time. Ther was a story about him a few years ago that I read and I think he had passed away. I don't recall that he went to jail but now I'll have to do a little looking. Being he and I had the same first name, that was my nickname from back in that era.

datlas 

FWIW Wikipedia says "Crazy" Eddie Antar died in 2016.

rekmeyata

When I bought my titanium lynskey, my thought for doing so was comfort, not speed, I had fresh lower back fusion so I was trying to take some of the harshness out of riding. I test rode a lot of bikes, including 2 titanium bikes that friends of mine had, one had a Motobecane (which at the time was a tremendous deal), and the other was a Serotta with the S stays, I have a few steel bikes so I knew what I was comparing, the steel is real mantra vs titanium, which was going to be more comfortable. Both TI bikes were more comfortable than any of my steel bikes, except for my old touring bike, but it had wider 38c tires, and the frame has a longer wheelbase, but even that frame rode harsher with no load than a TI bike, however once loaded the bike rode like a Cadillac, better than the TI even. I rode their bikes for a year on and off, waiting for Motobecane to bring the their TI bikes back in stock, that didn't happen in a timely fashion, so while I was waiting Lynskey had a big close out sale on their Peloton model, and the price was about the same as the Motobecane except the Moto came with DA, mine came with 105, but I decided to snag the Lynskey instead of the Moto.

A TI bike looks like a cheap nude aluminum bike, so nothing flashy, and mine has low end wheels which are durable as heck, only a true bicycling hobbyist will know what it is. The Peloton is a tiny bit noodly when I push it as hard as I can, which doesn't bother me because I don't race, but lower end TI isn't going to be a racing bike type of stiffness. Look, Sean Kelly won the TDF on by far the most noodly bike I have ever ridden, a Vitus 992 small diameter tubing aluminum bike with bonded aluminum lugs, so don't be concerned about the flex in TI frames, that flex is what makes them comfortable. I ride a tall bike, probably if it was a small or medium I wouldn't even notice it on the Lynskey, plus the Peloton is more of a sport geometry not a racing geometry so that adds a bit to it as well. Some of that small degree of flexing could be due to the cheaper low spoke count wheels, but they take surface streets without ever needing a trueing. By the way, the Peloton has significantly less flex than a Peugeot PX10 professional I test rode years back in the mid 70s, or my first racing bike a 1976 Trek TX900 though that one had less flex than the PX10, and the Peloton has a bit less flex than the Serotta I tested, about equal to the Motobecane, but in all fairness the Serotta bike was built for comfort not racing, those S rear stays does that very well but the flexing is more noticeable.

Comfort does bring some compromises to the show, but nothing glaring, except on very long rides is where the comfort factor of TI will shine like a bright star, and you'll be glad you made the investment. If you don't ride very far then don't bother wasting money on a TI bike but once you start doing 40 mile plus rides, which you do, you come to love TI. Keep in mind, that the lower end TI bikes will be more comfortable because they are not built with that racing stiffness in mind, so that will save you some serious dough avoiding the higher end racing models. Also look at the geometry of a given bike, a gravel TI bike will be more comfortable to ride than a TI road race frame, not only due to the geometry being very similar to the old school sport geometry, but the wider tires as well which means you can run on lower PSI and doing so absorbs more shock.

You can make your current bike more comfortable without spending big bucks on a TI bike, the cheapest way is to go with the widest tire that will fit your bike, plus go another step and get a set of Rene Herse tires, those ride extremely well, sort of expensive but it is what it is; and if you want to take it another step add in a pair of latex tubes, but those are fragile so you need to be very good at installing tubes. Another thing you can do is go to RedShift Sports and buy the Shockstop system which involves a shock absorbing seatpost and stem. This product works very well, I have it on my touring bike and it helps immensely at keeping me more comfortable riding every day on a loaded bike, it does add some weight but for me it was worth the extra weight. That system is adjustable, so you can tailor it for you, my seat came supposedly adjusted to my weight but I found it too bouncy, so I tightened up the knob and now it's good. It does take a bit of getting use to riding with the Shockstop stuff, but eventually you forget it's there other than you know it's working.

Atlas Shrugged

There is absolutely no science behind the narrative that titanium is a more comfortable frame material than, say, steel. It is a long-disproven myth not based in fact.

genejockey 

So, probably not in jail anymore.

genejockey 

Although I suspect that cheaper Titanium frames may well be more "comfortable", i.e. more compliant, simply because there's less titanium in them. That seems to have been the case historically.

But, yeah - it's like saying "Aluminum frames are stiff".

rekmeyata

Welp, I'll tell my ass and body that, thanks for chiming in.

Camilo

I just wish we'd all quit saying stuff like this. The value of a nice bike, or any sports or hobby equipment, to anyone (except maybe a very serious racer, which are a very, very small portion of the high end sports equipment market) is not performance based, but how much fun it is to look, handle and use it. Who cares if the bike is better than the rider? Only people who are for some reason jealous because they don't have one. I love my CF and titanium and high end steel bikes clipping along at my 13 mph pace for about 2,000 miles per year.

Eric F 

I tend to agree with this. The premise that "carbon fiber bikes are only for pros" is utter nonsense. I love my high-end, lightweight, carbon fiber bikes because they get the most out of the fitness that I have right now. They also inspire me to want to ride more, which is a good thing. I may not be as fast as I used to be, but I still recognize and appreciate the ride qualities of a high-end, go-fast, race bike - road, gravel, and MTB.

I strongly believe that whatever bike excites you...or makes you happy...or best suits you needs...is a good bike, regardless of what material it's made from, and it's totally okay for us to have different preferences.

Eric F 

Aluminum frames are stiff...when they're built to be stiff. Same is true for other materials, as well.

Camilo

My stiffest, harshest bike is a vintage Italian steel bike. My single data point refutes the legendary luxurious steel ride. Of course, that's as ridiculous as the generalization that aluminum is harsh and CF or Ti are somehow magically comfortable.

It's only geometry, tires, and fit parts that make a difference. IMHO of course

Thatgoal26

Titanium all the way

nomadmax 

I agree wholeheartedly with you.