Lynskey Ti

[ramjm_2000]

There doesn’t seem to be a Lynskey Gallery thread so I thought I’s start one. The first pic is my previous Level Custom, I believe it was Lynskey frame #54. Next is my current Helix, just under 15lbs with Record and the Reynolds Hoops, the only change is a change in brakes from Camillo Negative Gs to The Hive Revls. I’ll apologize in advance for the fuzzy spot on the Helix photo, I guess my 3 year old got a hold of the camera at one point prior to the shot. Better pics forthcoming.

L3 w/ Record 10


Helix w/ Record 11


Next up will a a Cooper CX Disk w/Campy and SRAM Mix, cant wait!

JR

[Lmwong]

The helix is awesome and impressive for weight. What reynolds wheels? Is that just the ghosting artifact from removing the decals or did you have black ones made?

[ramjm_2000]

The helix is awesome and impressive for weight. What reynolds wheels? Is that just the ghosting artifact from removing the decals or did you have black ones made?

Thanks. The graphics are ghosted and from the graphicshak in the UK.

JR

[the bottle ride]

Here is my single speed- now geared. And soon to be put on the block (I think). An amazing bike.

[manx71]

tisex01.jpg

tisex03.jpg

Lynskey made elmar.

Looked nice but streight guage tubes for a 155lb rider were like chalk and cheese for me. It rode like a brick and I sold it after a couple of weeks.

[the bottle ride]

[the bottle ride]

tisex01.jpg

tisex03.jpg

Lynskey made elmar.

Looked nice but streight guage tubes for a 155lb rider were like chalk and cheese for me. It rode like a brick and I sold it after a couple of weeks.

Chalk and cheese? I am curious- does that mean it was too stiff or not stiff enough?

[ramjm_2000]

I wondered the same thing. I'm thinking he found it too stiff but at the same time I don't tink I'd describe a straight gauge Ti hard tail with oversized racing ralphs as too stiff.

[C D]

I had one of their bikes. It was shit. I sold it. That's the end of the story.

Doesn't matter what it is made of, there are good and terrible bikes in every material.

[ramjm_2000]

Wow, great post. Helpful and informative. Thanks for contributing to the gallery.

[Boar]

R310.jpg

Hello Everybody,
here is my R310 in a bucolic picture taken this morning in the Langhe hills in Italy

[manx71]

Talk about late reply.. hehe.

The frame was a small with oversized non butted tubes. It wasn`t just stiff but very harsh. I owned a Niner sir 9 steel and that had a springy nimble feel to it. The Salsa was point and shoot, hold on for your dear life. The trails here a technical and rocky/rooty..... These days I just ride full suspension mountainbikes. :)

[espressonray]

I'll play cuz I used to own a Lynskey Cooper. It rides very nicely, pretty close to a steel bike but the Alpha Q GS-10 fork is just too flexy for my liking. Ti up keeping is great as it looks like a new bike after every wash. However, somehow my heart still yearn for skinnier tubed steel bike so the Cooper was sold to finance my new steel ride that can be found in this forum ;)

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[RichTheRoadie]

Long since moved on from this, but my old R330...

[nspace]

Long since moved on from this, but my old R330...

And my current R330. I love this bike.

[ramjm_2000]

And my current R330. I love this bike.

nspace

I never get tired on seeing that 330, simple and classic!

[ramjm_2000]

Talk about late reply.. hehe.

The frame was a small with oversized non butted tubes. It wasn`t just stiff but very harsh. I owned a Niner sir 9 steel and that had a springy nimble feel to it. The Salsa was point and shoot, hold on for your dear life. The trails here a technical and rocky/rooty..... These days I just ride full suspension mountainbikes. :)

Ah I see. I didn't even realize it was a Salsa Lynksey vs. a Lynskey Lynskey. Makes sense now.

[ldamelio]

Two Lynskeys pictured here. 2009 R430 and 2010 ProCross Cantilever. Here's the good and bad. The R430 is a very capable race bike - bottom bracket a little higher than I'd like, but pretty much point and shoot. Ride somewhere between 3/2.5 ti and my old aluminum Cannondales, which is as expected for the shaped tubing and 6/4 alloy. Welds so-so and paint flawless (more later on both.) Bought this in 2009 as it was the only ti offering from a new shop which was kind enough (and crazy enough) to sponsor a local team (subsequently grew into a pro team over a couple of years including Olympian Bobby Lea, but that's another story.) I am a ti geek and previously had been riding a Lynskey era Litespeed Tuscany, which was and continues to be a great bike, just not very 'racy'. Not enthralled with the company overall, however.
Lynskey's initial marketing on return to the industry from their non-compete clause with ABG was that they were going to be a 'framebuilder of trust.' I bought this bike happily seeing it as a reasonable alternative to IF, Crisp, Spectrum and any of the other ti builders I would have looked to. The Firefly crew was still at IF at that point. Good initial sales experience and standard geometry was near ideal for me. Last year had a true JRA with the initial Alpha Q fork - snapped off at the bottom of the aluminum insert despite always being torqued to spec, etc. No harm, not foul WRT Lynskey regarding the breakage, but they handled my attempts to replace the fork poorly. They didn't have my paint codes and pretty much blew me off. Bought a Enve 2.0 through the shop, Parlee matched the paint pretty damn closely, and it was back on the road. One month later, creaks, groans and a crack at the seat tube-BB junction. This time they were a little more helpful. About 6 week turnaround and it returned with a much prettier weld. They stripped the paint in this area and didn't include repaint as warranty item but overall it's just another area of brushed ti on the frame and looks OK. We'll see how the repair holds up - I'm skeptical and suspect design flaw with paper-thin pyramidal tube. While waiting for it, I was thinking about potential replacements. Was at the Philly bike Expo and spoke to a small bespoke ti effbuilder who used to work for Litespeed/Lynskey. Tells me that they have 4 or 5 welders and one is responsible for most of their warranty claims. Pretty clear that whoever did my repair is a much better welder than the guy who built the frame.

ProCross has seen two seasons of racing, about 30 total. I could live without the gimmicky helical tubing and bought this because I liked the chainstay plate compared to their Cooper and got it as a closeout when the went all-disc. This bike I love. The sloping TT narrows the main triangle a little for shouldering, but otherwise it's a flawless race bike for me.

Since I bought these, Lynskey has changed their marketing and sales channel from 'framebuilder of trust' at non-Canontrekalized shops to be more of direct internet sales. My shop is too polite to come out and say it, but reading between the lines, it sounds like they're a PIA for dealers. I guess this doesn't change the bikes inherently, but it's not consistent with my value system. I like companies that support the grass roots of the sport and/or the brick and mortar LBS. At some point, the R430 will get sold (if it doesn't crack again) and it will be replaced by a dream bike worth Firefly, Spectrum, or Engin as my ti bike (I also love lugged steel - Sachs road and possibly a Vanilla in the queue - separate topic.)


http://www.flickr.com/photos/9048918...ream/lightbox/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9048918...ream/lightbox/