Ok, I'm looking for a Gravel Ti bike. I'm down to the Litespeed "ultimate or Lynskey Pro GR. The forums have a fair bit of info on the Lynskey Pro, but the 'Ultimate' is a bit new and not much is available. I must say, billing it as 'Aero' for gravel concerns me a little. At gravel speeds and setup, a ture Aero bike would have little, if any effect. And, the 'Ultimate' appears to have very little aero design into it. Seems like a pure case or Marketing BS. (Compared to my TT bike and Aero road bike)
Either bike would be a 2X Ultregra Di2 setup. The Litespeed seems to have abetter internal cable routing. Lynskey would be roughly $1000 less with the discount being offered. Rumor has it the Litespeed is about a 1 lb lighter.
Anyone have any experience with the Litespeed and Lynskey gravel to help make the choice?
Maybe Litespeed is marketing the aero aspect to appeal to those folks who will use the bike for typical road use as well as gravel. Not that will matter in any meaningful way, but hey, that’s marketing for you
Mudge wrote:Maybe Litespeed is marketing the aero aspect to appeal to those folks who will use the bike for typical road use as well as gravel. Not that will matter in any meaningful way, but hey, that’s marketing for you
I think they are actually targeting the gravel race crowd. Aero tube shapes and the use of aero race bars is becoming a hot topic at the pro level. Just take a look at Panaracer’s team and Ted King’s discussion on the topic.
I do not see the Litespeed as being very 'aero' in the design. Head tube is round, not 'shaped'. Even so, the speeds typically seen in gravel races won't benefit dramatically from aero frame designs. Hideous tt bars and positioning will make much greater difference.
For what it is worth. Both Jack (Litespeed) and Derek (Lynskey) were very helpful in my quest to choose the right bike for my needs. In the end, I went with the Lynskey. The build will be as follows: (I'll be putting Enve G23 wheels on it when it arrives)
Bicycle Frame Lynskey Titanium 2019 GR PRO MEDIUM LARGE
Brushed Finish
Finish Upgrade - Etched Graphics Lynskey Pro Gravel Fork Tapered Steerer Carbon Fork with thru axle and insert Cane Creek 110 Integrated/Tapered 1.5" headset bearings
Ultegra Di2 8070 Hydro Disc |
FSA Energy Modular 386 EVO 48/32 -
ENVE G Series SKU# 300-1025-001
Vision Team 30 Disc
Lynskey Titanium Stem 110mm X NEG 6 Degrees
Lynskey Ti 27.2 x 300mm 25mm Setback Seatpost etched
I think they are actually targeting the gravel race crowd. Aero tube shapes and the use of aero race bars is becoming a hot topic at the pro level. Just take a look at Panaracer’s team and Ted King’s discussion on the topic.
Here’s the folks from Litespeed discussing the design:
What crank doesn't fit on BSA68 threaded that fit on the PF30?
Currently using a set of Cane Creek EEwing Titanium Stages 30mm spindle crankset on my GR PRO. I can also use my 24mm Dura Ace 9100 crank or 24/22 Quarq Dfour91. So pretty much any 30mm, 24mm or 24/22(Sram) crankset on my BSA68 threaded BB bike with a BB swap.
As a member of a household with 4 Litespeeds and 3 Lynskey's (plus one Quintanoo Roo, but neither of the 2 options above) I can not understand why the worry about the PF30 Bottom Bracket. Newsflash, the bearings in the BSA68 and T47 bottom brackets are still pressed in. They are just pressed in by Shimano or Sram or Praxis etc. All it says to me is that you somehow are willing to drop several thousand dollars on a frame, but you don't trust them to get the machining on the BB shell correct, or you think (or it has been demonstrated) that you or your mechanic can't be trusted to press in 2 cartridge bearings as is done in other applications hundreds of thousands of times per day.
If the frame manufacturer can't be trusted to get the BB shell properly toleranced and in spec, why would you trust them to get the threads right either?
Out of those 7 bikes above, the only one I have ever had BB noise from was the Lynskey with a BSA68 and it was from the Rotor BB, not the frame!
I know everybody likes to whine about pressfit bottom brackets, but of the many times I have asked on multiple forums, no one has ever answered what the actual benefit is of adding an extra male and female thread to the BB area just to hold another machined bearing seat and pressfit bearing. If someone here can enlighten me, please do so.
It seems to me that this is mostly just a case of higher volume manufacturers saving money in their manufacturing process by getting slack on their BB tolerances and not getting the blame for it, and/or ham-fisted mechanics blaming the BB design for their inability to press in a cartridge bearing.
