Return of the Lemon D
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Beaverton, OR
Posts: 14,744
Bikes: Yes
Mentioned: 525 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3230 Post(s)
Liked 3,868 Times
in
1,439 Posts
Return of the Lemon D
Backstory
I've told this story before, but I'll repeat it here as it's the primary backstory of this bike. My interest in steel bikes began in earnest in 2015. I'd owned steel bikes before that, of course, but I never thought about it that way. They were just bikes. In 2015, I was on the dark path of carbon fiber. I had a nice carbon Ridley Excaliber and I didn't want to get it all messed up by doing things like riding it to work. My commute bike was a workhorse aluminum cyclocross bike, but I wanted something more fun to ride when the weather was nice, while still keeping the Ridley as the special weekend rider. I went to Craigslist looking for something cheap but fun and found this 2001 LeMond Buenos Aires:
Horrible, right? But I could see its potential. So I bought it and outfitted it with a new set of Shimano 105 components, and it was exactly what I wanted -- a fast, fun bike that I could abuse and not worry about while it was lashed to the rack at work.
My daughter dubbed it the "Lemon D".
But a funny thing happened. I really enjoyed riding this bike. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I gradually stopped riding the Ridley. As this was happening, and I realized how much I enjoyed riding the LeMond, I started branching out and discovering vintage bikes. The number of bikes in my garage exploded and the LeMond itself fell into disuse. Sometime in 2020 I stripped it down and used the 105 parts to build another bike and the LeMond frame had been hanging above the desk in my home office ever since.
Rebirth
With the frame hanging where it was, I saw it every day. I had fond memories of riding it, and I kept it in the back of my mind that some day I'd want to put it back on the road again. Then a few weeks ago I was assessing the state of my quiver. I had just built a Cannondale and needed to free up a hook in the garage to hang it on. Looking over the bikes, I identified a few that were expendable. After picking one to give up space for the Cannondale, I realized that I liked the LeMond more than a couple of the other candidates, so I stripped one down, hung its frame in the office in place of the LeMond and put the LeMond on the workstand to be rebuilt.
As many of you know, I generally like vintage frames much more than I like vintage components. I really like 10-speed second generation Ergo Campagnolo components. These generally date to around 2001. As I was thinking about what to do with the LeMond, a light came on in my head illuminating the obvious connection between a 2001 frame that I love and 2001 components that I love. I'm slow sometimes, but I get there. And so, breaking from my usual pattern, I went to work building a bike with period-correct components!
I know this is still a few years from meeting the typical standards for "vintage" but it's steel, it has a quill stem, and in my mind anything with Greg LeMond's name on it is classic.
At long last, the part that most of you scrolled down to see without reading that whole overly verbose explanation -- the pictures of the new build.
(Potenza brakes -- I couldn't go totally period correct)
Thanks to the wonders of Reynolds 853 steel and with a little help from the carbon fiber fork, the build comes in at 21.5 pounds, just short of dethroning my 2015 Jake the Snake as my lightest bike.
I've told this story before, but I'll repeat it here as it's the primary backstory of this bike. My interest in steel bikes began in earnest in 2015. I'd owned steel bikes before that, of course, but I never thought about it that way. They were just bikes. In 2015, I was on the dark path of carbon fiber. I had a nice carbon Ridley Excaliber and I didn't want to get it all messed up by doing things like riding it to work. My commute bike was a workhorse aluminum cyclocross bike, but I wanted something more fun to ride when the weather was nice, while still keeping the Ridley as the special weekend rider. I went to Craigslist looking for something cheap but fun and found this 2001 LeMond Buenos Aires:
Horrible, right? But I could see its potential. So I bought it and outfitted it with a new set of Shimano 105 components, and it was exactly what I wanted -- a fast, fun bike that I could abuse and not worry about while it was lashed to the rack at work.
My daughter dubbed it the "Lemon D".
But a funny thing happened. I really enjoyed riding this bike. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I gradually stopped riding the Ridley. As this was happening, and I realized how much I enjoyed riding the LeMond, I started branching out and discovering vintage bikes. The number of bikes in my garage exploded and the LeMond itself fell into disuse. Sometime in 2020 I stripped it down and used the 105 parts to build another bike and the LeMond frame had been hanging above the desk in my home office ever since.
Rebirth
With the frame hanging where it was, I saw it every day. I had fond memories of riding it, and I kept it in the back of my mind that some day I'd want to put it back on the road again. Then a few weeks ago I was assessing the state of my quiver. I had just built a Cannondale and needed to free up a hook in the garage to hang it on. Looking over the bikes, I identified a few that were expendable. After picking one to give up space for the Cannondale, I realized that I liked the LeMond more than a couple of the other candidates, so I stripped one down, hung its frame in the office in place of the LeMond and put the LeMond on the workstand to be rebuilt.
As many of you know, I generally like vintage frames much more than I like vintage components. I really like 10-speed second generation Ergo Campagnolo components. These generally date to around 2001. As I was thinking about what to do with the LeMond, a light came on in my head illuminating the obvious connection between a 2001 frame that I love and 2001 components that I love. I'm slow sometimes, but I get there. And so, breaking from my usual pattern, I went to work building a bike with period-correct components!
I know this is still a few years from meeting the typical standards for "vintage" but it's steel, it has a quill stem, and in my mind anything with Greg LeMond's name on it is classic.
At long last, the part that most of you scrolled down to see without reading that whole overly verbose explanation -- the pictures of the new build.
(Potenza brakes -- I couldn't go totally period correct)
Thanks to the wonders of Reynolds 853 steel and with a little help from the carbon fiber fork, the build comes in at 21.5 pounds, just short of dethroning my 2015 Jake the Snake as my lightest bike.
__________________
My Bikes
My Bikes
Likes For Andy_K:
#2
Full Member
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Arizona
Posts: 364
Bikes: Many!
Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 186 Post(s)
Liked 206 Times
in
124 Posts
Lovely back, I am glad you're able to give it a better life. Careful with those forks, mine left me facedown on the concrete after it snapped in half on a 1/4 inch increase in sidewalks. One of the best bikes I have owned, besides the nearly fatal flaw.
#3
Banned.
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: PAZ
Posts: 12,294
Mentioned: 255 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2588 Post(s)
Liked 4,824 Times
in
1,709 Posts
DD
#4
Edumacator
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Goose Creek, SC
Posts: 6,806
Bikes: '87 Crestdale, '87 Basso Gap, '92 Rossin Performance EL-OS, 1990 VanTuyl, 1980s Losa, 1985 Trek 670, 1982 AD SLE, 1987 PX10, etc...
Mentioned: 59 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2439 Post(s)
Liked 3,125 Times
in
1,966 Posts
Some of my favorite brake calipers...I have a few Centaurs.
Daytona/Centaur stuff is excellent stuff.
Daytona/Centaur stuff is excellent stuff.
__________________
1987 Crest Cannondale, 1987 Basso Gap, 1992 Rossin Performance EL, 1990ish Van Tuyl, 1985 Trek 670, 1982 AD SLE, 2003 Pinarello Surprise, 1990ish MBK Atlantique, 1987 Peugeot Competition, 1987 Nishiki Tri-A, 1981 Faggin, 1996 Cannondale M500, 1984 Mercian, 1982 AD SuperLeicht, 1985 Massi (model unknown), 1988 Daccordi Griffe , 1989 Fauxsin MTB, 1981 Ciocc Mockba, 1992 Bianchi Giro, 1977 Colnago Super
1987 Crest Cannondale, 1987 Basso Gap, 1992 Rossin Performance EL, 1990ish Van Tuyl, 1985 Trek 670, 1982 AD SLE, 2003 Pinarello Surprise, 1990ish MBK Atlantique, 1987 Peugeot Competition, 1987 Nishiki Tri-A, 1981 Faggin, 1996 Cannondale M500, 1984 Mercian, 1982 AD SuperLeicht, 1985 Massi (model unknown), 1988 Daccordi Griffe , 1989 Fauxsin MTB, 1981 Ciocc Mockba, 1992 Bianchi Giro, 1977 Colnago Super
#5
Junior Member
#6
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Beaverton, OR
Posts: 14,744
Bikes: Yes
Mentioned: 525 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3230 Post(s)
Liked 3,868 Times
in
1,439 Posts
I have a friend who had one of these and for reasons known only to him decided it would be OK to ride a short distance home while carrying a few pieces of rebar. He fumbled the rebar, one of the pieces got into the spokes, and he got a broken fork and busted face. Can't blame the bike for that, of course. A steel fork would still have left him with a busted face but it would have failed in a totally different way.
__________________
My Bikes
My Bikes
Likes For Andy_K:
#7
Veteran, Pacifist
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Seattle area
Posts: 13,328
Bikes: Bikes??? Thought this was social media?!?
Mentioned: 284 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3898 Post(s)
Liked 4,833 Times
in
2,229 Posts
picured below a carbon fork, titanium steerer, 1”, threaded from 1999 or early 2000. After about a year of hard use (Santa Cruz Mts earthquackked roads) I took the bike in for a service and Craig Calfee told me to change the fork. 2nd pic shows a small vertical crack which he said would propagate to failure. I have forgotten who produced this fork, sorry. But the crown is a place to check on older CF forks and of course the fork ends are glued and easy to check for tightness.
I replaced it with a carbon fork aluminum steerer.
__________________
Vintage, modern, e-road. It is a big cycling universe.
Vintage, modern, e-road. It is a big cycling universe.
Last edited by Wildwood; 01-27-22 at 06:13 PM.
#8
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 17,158
Mentioned: 481 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3810 Post(s)
Liked 6,693 Times
in
2,611 Posts
Likes For nlerner:
#9
Mother Nature's Son
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Sussex County, Delaware
Posts: 3,118
Bikes: 2014 Orbea Avant MD30, 2004 Airborne Zeppelin TI, 2003 Lemond Poprad, 2001 Lemond Tourmalet, 2014? Soma Smoothie
Mentioned: 15 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 853 Post(s)
Liked 1,436 Times
in
818 Posts
#10
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Beaverton, OR
Posts: 14,744
Bikes: Yes
Mentioned: 525 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3230 Post(s)
Liked 3,868 Times
in
1,439 Posts
#11
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 17,158
Mentioned: 481 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3810 Post(s)
Liked 6,693 Times
in
2,611 Posts
^ Well, in the interest of full disclosure, I did have to dimple the chainstays a bit, but that wasn't too difficult as they're kind of flattish to begin with and widely spaced enough to do it with my bench vise and some metal bits to do the indenting. I did it, too, for my buddy's BA:
Likes For nlerner:
#12
Forum Moderator
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Kalamazoo MI
Posts: 20,650
Bikes: Fuji SL2.1 Carbon Di2 Cannondale Synapse Alloy 4 Trek Checkpoint ALR-5 Viscount Aerospace Pro Colnago Classic Rabobank Schwinn Waterford PMount Raleigh C50 Cromoly Hybrid Legnano Tipo Roma Pista
Mentioned: 59 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3090 Post(s)
Liked 6,595 Times
in
3,781 Posts
Had I not recently bought my Paramount...
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...5-46d4f70fbb3c - $270.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...5-46d4f70fbb3c - $270.
#13
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Western MI
Posts: 2,770
Mentioned: 45 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 656 Post(s)
Liked 469 Times
in
302 Posts
Had I not recently bought my Paramount...
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...5-46d4f70fbb3c - $270.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...5-46d4f70fbb3c - $270.