Phatman

Hey hey now, I'm only 34, I'm not dead yet!

Did either of them really win in that exchange?

I raced the C's in my freshman year too. I was strong from running cross country in high school but oh so sketchy. I did pretty well in that VT race though, no handling skills required to point a bicycle uphill and suffer. By the time I was better at handling a bike, my engineering classes had kicked in and I was struggling to get 5 hours a week in. Needless to say, I didn't have the most illustrious collegiate cycling career. It was fun though, especially the mountain bike season.

CKostie

I have/had a 2001 Lemond Zurich. Last Saturday (May 10) a small SUV decided to T-bone me as I was riding it. Fork is pretty much shattered in two places and the top tube has a healthy kink. I haven't done a complete inspection of the bike yet. It was my second road bike and the only one in the road stable.

As for me, I was taken by ambulance to the hospital. Came out with a broken rib, missing tooth, five stitches, and a bunch of bruising.

Eric F 

Sorry to hear. Glad you're still alive.

mruneedahelmet

That bike lived an epic life; thanks for sharing.

I nearly bought a Lemond Zurich last week but it was a size too long. I still don't get how mere mortals without long torsos and arms ride these with their stretched out geometry.

Even its most recent build is decently aggressive; I imagine that your center of mass is fairly forward of the BB when putting down maximum power. Such a strange location for the weld to fail.

Lazyass

That sucks but if you came out alive and not permanently disabled then you actually had a good day.

Dan333SP

I too raced in the ACCC while in grad school at VCU here in Richmond. Collegiate racing was by far the most fun bike racing I've ever done. Helps when your school/club pays the entry and travel fees. I never made it to Blacksburg for the VT race, but I'd heard stories about Ben King (current world tour pro, former VT student) lapping the entire A field in the crit with ease.

Phatman

You know, its actually bit deceptive. The top tube IS long, but the seat tube is slack (72.5). I don't want to ignite a fitting war, but if I put my saddle in a position that allows for KOPS or something in that ballpark, I end up with the saddle pretty much in the middle of the rails using a straight post. The front center is also pretty short, so a shorter stem can be used without feeling like the front wheel is WAAAY out there. A 110mm feels pretty good on this bike and paired with the 73.5* HTA, it steers pretty darn nice. So yeah, basically, its got a long top tube, but it fits smaller than the top tube length would suggest.

bikecrate

I lost my 2007 Zurich in much the same way to a left hook driver. Frame broken in half at the top tube. I slid on top of the car's hood and got away with cuts and bruises. Heal up soon!

RNAV

I think you should get it repaired, then repainted. Personally, I'm a fan of custom paint jobs on Lemonds.

pcunite

Awesome to see an 18 year update! I wished I had kept my 1992 or '93 Giant Perigee.

Phatman

Dang, that's nice! I see in your profile that its a 2003 Lemond Croix De Fer, though they didn't come out with the Croix De Fer until the 2006 model year, it was a bit of a throwback, probably because they went all in on aluminum and the "spine" bikes in 2004 and 2005. I'm thinking that with your straight blade 1 1/8" fork, you've probably got either a 2003 vintage Zurich or Buenos Aries OR and 2006 Croix de Fer/Sarthe. Very similar frames, but the 2003 frames were 853 and the 2006s were true temper. Probably very similar materials though.

https://www.vintage-trek.com/Trek-Fi...2003lemond.pdf

https://www.vintage-trek.com/Trek-Fi...2006lemond.pdf

Did yours have any rust inside the tubes? That's the main reason I'm not going to repair the one I've got, when I was trying to fix the creaking I took the BB out and it was just a nasty orange mess inside. No pitting in the BB shell, but the adjoining tubes looked like they were full of rust. Since I think the headtube crack might be stress corrosion cracking related, I'm worried that I'd just be chasing cracks the whole time. Also, a dirty secret about modern high hardenability steels like these is that they're not that repairable. Sure, I could get someone to grind out the crack and lay another bead, but all the stresses that caused the crack in the first place are still there and I think it would crack again very soon. It would be a much more dignified end to be an art piece for my den. I'll post pics when its up.

RNAV

Thank you for your very informative post! I'll have to update my sig to '06 . . . I was uncertain of the year when I acquired the frame. But, it was definitely a Croix de fer and it was definitely True Temper, so sounds like it's an '06. This is how I received it:





Inside the tubes were surprisingly clean. The seat tube had minor surface rust toward the top but had that removed/treated when I had the bike painted. That said, I can understand your hesitancy if there's concern your frame's internal integrity may not be up to snuff.

PeteHski

That's a pretty low benchmark for "a good day" LOL!

BobsPoprad

My Lemond.

Phatman

Nice! We didn't really sell many of these when I worked at the bike shop, they were a bit too relaxed and heavy for a pure CX race bike, but I think they were a bit ahead of their time and make for a really nice gravel/road/touring bike.