Maelochs

^ if ti doesn't show up here at least once a month I feel something is missing .......

TiHabanero

Paul, your Capitol looks Piet Mondial-ish. Lovely paint scheme.

jwalther

That's my Capitol lol, and yes the paint scheme is Mondrian/La Vie Claire inspired!

indyfabz

I haven't posted a photo of that bike in a good while.

Koyote

That's a great saddle, and it must be pretty old -- I bought the last one in the US, and that must've been around 2008 or so.

genejockey 

Got it on Ebay, lightly used. I bought 3 of the last 5 at Palo Alto Bicycles in about 2007, but I used the last one when I got the Canyon in 2020. I have a saved search on Ebay that alerts me when one comes up.

Maelochs

Yeah ... thanks you for posting,. I was jonesing ...


( )

Caliwild

I picked up this beauty barely used at a fraction of the cost of a new titanium frame (not sure I would pay beaucoup bucks for a brand new Moots, Bingham, or Mosaic)... This is my first titanium bike, having ridden dozens of steel bikes, aluminum bikes, and carbon bikes. Honestly, I thought there would be more of a perceptible difference between a titanium bike and all the other materials. This bike basically rides almost like my other high end carbon bikes. But this could be due to the beefier seat stays and chain stays (as compared to another titanium bike that could be seen as "noodly"). I'm very happy with it so far (electronic shifting and rim brakes FTW!). And just admiring the fine craftsman welds makes me feel all warm and fuzzy... Plus, you have the peace of mind that titanium is just a tougher and more weather-resistant material...

Koyote

Then I guess I got the last of those five saddles from them. Still riding it, even though it looks much worse for wear.

gene99

One of the harshest and most uncomfortable bikes I've ever ridden.

genejockey 

Just bought another off Ebay. I'll see how it looks when I get home. Last month I got too enthusiastic - I bought one that looked to be in great shape. Turns out its not an R, it's an M. Really wide across the back! It looks strange, so I haven't mounted it on anything yet.

Wildwood 

Thinking about this 'super' bike concept. I think where the bike can take you is the part that is super.
Like: Across Washington State, or across Oregon, or around the Olympic Peninsula, etc.
Just one opinion.

rekmeyata

There is no such thing as a super bike, only super riders which are far and few between.

indyfabz

Been there. Done that. Twice. West to east. Fully loaded. Nice ride. Rainy/Washington-day off in Winthrop-Loup Loup to Tonasket-Wacounda to Republic-Sherman to Collville.

HenryK

What's wrong with mechanical Groups and rim Brakes

indyfabz

A lot to many on BF.

At the time, electronic shifting was stupid expensive compared to DA 9000. And the builder was a few months away from incorporating disc brakes into his designs. Finally, the wheels were swapped from my 2004 IF, so the no disc hubs. (Hard to give up on a pair of CK hubs, especially when you got the set for what the rear one retailed for when you bought them.). With sending the frame out for Cerakote, it took long enough. I went with a happy medium of price, craftsmanship and time.

Wildwood 

I started Neah Bay, but on to Hwy 20 Rainy&Washington Passes, the Okanogan with Loop Loop, bit south to Nespelem and across the Reservation and on to Spokane. My support driver and fellow camper made it possible.

indyfabz

The first time I was out that way was the first time I had ridden out west. We got rained and snowed on crossing the Cascades. Yet they were watering the grass at the Winthrop KOA, and there were tumbleweeds. During the day off, you could look west and see the clouds over the mountains, but they never moved closer. It was cool climbing Loup Loup, but the Okanogan Valley on the other side was damn warm and dry. Maybe the problem is that I was riding a stock aluminum bike.

boomer58 

Just wondering is Lynskey and Litespeed somehow related ? I see they are both from Chattanooga Tn. Is there a background story on these 2 companies ?

13ollocks

Litespeed was started by David Lynskey back in the…80s? The Lynskeys were already in the Ti fabrication business for industrial applications, and the story goes that David L, a runner, looked for a decent bike while recovering from injury, couldn’t find anything he liked, so took a swing a building his own in Ti. The bikes took off and the rest is history. The company bought, or was bought by (have heard different versions), ABG in 1999, with a 5-year non-compete clause. When the clause expired, the Lynskeys started building Ti again under their own name. Both the original Litespeed factory and the newer Lynskey factory are based in Chattanooga

RH Clark

Ya'll know they going to crack, right?

boomer58 

Thank you 13ollocks. I know this is just an opinion but being Litespeed is or was owned by ABG and is probably an investment group and Lynskey being a family owned operation, ( and here goes the opinion part ) which is considered the better bike for the money ?

2Mins2Midnight

I've never owned either bike but was considering Litespeed and Lynskey heavily while deciding which new frame I wanted late last year. Given some of the research/internet talk I've found and all the discounts Lynskey seems to be pushing, I get the indication that Litespeed is considered a bit more of a premium brand. Quality wise, they both seem top notch but it seems like the overall build quality is a bit higher for Litespeed. It seems that most people, if given the choice and money isn't a factor, would go for the Litespeed. But I would love for someone who's owned one or both to chime in as my knowledge is mostly hearing from others.

I will say that Lynskey has 20% off discounts for the vast majority of the year. I signed up for both company's email list and I see 20% off discount emails from Lynskey almost weekly, whereas Litespeed doesn't seem to have nearly as many sales. You can draw your own conclusions there.

On a side note, I don't like the look of either brand's 'premium' offerings - the square-tube frames of the Spezia and R500 just aren't my jam, but I also wasn't in the market for either of those specific models.

Maelochs

One conclusion would be that Lightspeed got bought by a giant consortium and has more advertising and also has plenty of capital to get though lean times.

Lynskey is a small reboot of the original, with no big corporate backer, who needs to build good bikes because the slightest bad publicity could tank the marque.

Also ... "Sales" are a sales technique, an advertising method .... Notice how a lot of major retailers have "sales" on every holiday, every season, every whatever day: "It's our 'Crazy Friday' Sale! Come in and spend money because you think you will save money!"

People like to think they are getting deals. So ... price your goods at a reasonable, substantial price ... say 25% more than the lowest that is feasible for financial stability ... and then do lots off 'discounts" and "sales" of 15-20 % and you are still making more than enough money but people are motivated to buy because "It's on sale"

Sometimes just thinking they are getting a deal is enough to make people pull the trigger.

You'd be surprised how many companies mark up everything a little bit then do "deep discounts" on a few items because one people are in the store and spending, they often buy other things, which are not on sale, and the retailer makes bank.

Nothing but a marketing trick. If you choose to think Lynskey must be a worse bike because of its marketing strategy, I am sure that is more than offset by people who made up their mind because "Oh, look, the frame I wanted just went on sale!"

My justification for saying that? Lynskey is still in business. If Lynskey made bad bikes, social media would be full of complaints and no "sale price" would be low enough. But the company still makes bikes. Further, if Lynskey was desperate and needed to swell stuff cheap to make financial goals (e.g. loans coming due) those sales would not persist once the nut was made, ... unless the :"sale price" was enough to sustain the company.

Here is another hing to consider: Lynskey made Lightspeed. Lightspeed got to be a prominent Ti manufacturer because the builders were so good at making Ti bikes.

Now the people who made Lightspeed, make Lynskeys. it is not like Lynskey hired a bunch of 16-year-olds who couldn't push brooms and handed them welders. This is still the guy and some of the crew which has built great Ti bikes for however many decades.

I see no direct link between sales strategy and bike quality here. if you do, shop accordingly. I know that I looked at Lynskey frames for a while, and saw the frequent sales ... all I thought was, "If I am going to buy one, I will wait for the next sale."

himespau 

I feel a bit criminal in saying this, but my Ti bike (1996 Merckx Titainume EX) is only ridden on the trainer. Part of that is because it's a trainer and I sweat a lot, and the Ti is more sweat resistant than my steel frames and part of it is that, after getting hit a couple years back, almost all my rides are done on the trainer, so why not have my best fitting bike be my trainer bike? It's a pretty damn smooth ride on my rocker plate though.