The R3V Bicycle Thread

[M-technik-3]

In DC then it's subject to being heisted. I have not bought a lock in years. I'd say the best is a chain and real padlock.

[geoffp]

Bought myself a Christmas present, Inglis single speed mountain bike:

[M-technik-3]

^ What fork is that? 29" correct.

[BlackbirdM3]

Bought myself a Christmas present, Inglis single speed mountain bike:

Nice frame, Inglis is just down the street from me. By just down the street, I mean about a block and a half.

Will

[LateFan]

Lemond is back

After 10 years in the wilderness, ostracized by the US bike industry and the Armstrong legal team / Trek machine, Greg Lemond has re-emerged as the only American Tour de France Champion.

Here's a good ESPN sports film on his battles with Bernard Hinault in 1985 & 1986. That team essentially signed Lemond to neutralize him, as he was clearly very dangerous already at 19 years old. For him there was no question about taking the deal - go from an unknown making minimum contract to making a million dollars / year and riding with the "Great Hinault?" Why would he say no? Then they made sure he couldn't win. He managed to anyway, in spite of threats.

http://espn.go.com/30for30/film?page=slayingthebadger

After Trek dumped him because of his opposition to Lance, he has formed a new bike company with three sweet carbon bikes made by Time in France (by the same engineer who built all his Tour bikes).



And now he's come out with a new US-made, 853 STEEL road bike, with classic Lemond geometry. Named for the Washoe Canyon in Nevada.



I sound like a cheerleader, sorry, but I'm glad to see him back. He's also involved at a high level in the sport, working towards really cleaning it up. He wants all teams to publish the power outputs of riders, to go along with their blood test "passport" or whatever it's called.

[BlackbirdM3]

Its good that Lemond is back. The Trek built bikes were so so. I think a frame built by Time is a far superior bike. The 853 frame looks pretty sweet as well. Who is building those?

Will

[M-technik-3]

I think it's great the LeMond is doing his own designs. My younger sister has a 853 frame done back when Trek was building his bikes and with the Rolfe wheels it rode horrible. Swapped some real 28/32 spokes and rode great.

[LateFan]

I haven't found yet who is building the Washoe. They say it's hand-made in the US, hand-painted and assembled in Minneapolis, then shipped built up directly from the website.

“The Washoe project offers a made in the USA frame that showcases our vision of a modern steel platform,” Greg LeMond explains. “We are not wed to any one material. To be honest, with all the traveling I do, I wanted a bike that was durable without sacrificing ride quality or performance. The Washoe provides one of the smoothest and most responsive rides that I have ridden at a weight that is competitive with similarly priced carbon models.”

“I prefer starting with a clean slate and challenging conventional thinking. I want to create meaningful products that positively impact the people that use them,” Greg explained. “We are just getting started here at LeMond.”

[LateFan]

From wikipedia..

"In 2001 Lance Armstrong reacted to LeMond's negative comments about doctor Michele Ferrari and Armstrong by saying he would "take him down" and that he could call Trek's owner and "shut him up." According to a 2012 Outside story by Armstrong assistant Mike Anderson, Armstrong said he would “put LeMond out of business” over comments about him and Ferrari.

"In 2001 the Trek deal proved painful for LeMond as he was forced by John Burke, the head of Trek, to apologize for the negative comments about Michele Ferrari, doping, and Lance Armstrong, who was by then a very important marketing force for Trek. LeMond's contract with Trek had a clause prohibiting LeMond from doing anything that would damage Trek. Burke reminded LeMond of this commitment, and strongly argued that LeMond publicly retract his statements. LeMond had to read a formal apology to Armstrong.

"In March 2008 LeMond Cycling Inc filed a complaint against Trek for breach of contract, claiming that they had not made a "best efforts" attempt to sell his bicycles, as well as describing the attempts to 'silence' him about doping, including incidents in 2001 and 2004. His complaint included statistics detailing slow sales in some markets, including the fact that between September 2001 and June 2007, Trek only sold $10,393 worth of LeMond bikes in France, a country in which Lemond remains both famous and popular."


I saw a web interview with Lemond recently, where he said it was suicide to say anything publicly, so he just shut up....for 10 years.

[BlackbirdM3]

I wonder if Waterford is building the frames? They are in Waterford Wi, build small batches of steel frames for other companies ( they built the 75th Aniversary Paramount frames for Schwinn)

I've never been impressed with anything Trek has done or built. They tend to be a bit of a bully when it comes to other companies. They bought Bontrager, Klein, Rolf, and Lemond. How many of those companies are still around? Only Lemond, but that is because he went elsewhere. Lance Armstrong is also a bully who liked to throw his weight around. Trek and Lance deserve each other. (I got to ride with Lance in early 2000, he was an asshole. The rest of the USPS team was great, even those guys who could barely speak english, but Lance was a straight up ass who was too good to talk to anyone but his team members.)

I'm happy that Lemond told Trek to take a hike and went to companies who build good frames. Time and Look are the two companies who build a carbon frame that I'd think about riding. I think they are the only companies who manufacture their own carbon tubing in house.

Will

[LateFan]

One speculation is Zen Fabrication in Portland. You have to be able to crank out a pretty big run. Waterford is close to Minneapolis, though..

Trek went from a 100 million dollar company pre-Lance to multi-billion after. That's a lot of power and money to be messing with, and they're not shy about pushing the industry around. I have one of the last high-end steel Fisher mountain bikes before Trek ruined them, too.

The head of the UCI had big investments with the company that Armstrong's attorneys ran. It was all so crooked. Armstrong's company "donated" $200,000 to the UCI to help with testing equipment.

Watch "The Armstrong Lie," a new documentary by a guy who started out making a film as a fan - very interesting.

[LateFan]

World Champion
Tour De France Champion
1st English-speaking TdF Champion
Shot with a shotgun at close range by his brother-in-law in a hunting accident. Nearly bled to death, and missed two years in his prime. Still has like 20 lead pellets in his system, including two in his heart lining.

When he came back and started winning again, EPO had arrived with no tests to detect it, and average riders were as fast as he was and he saw the writing on the wall and retired.


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[eduTechnic]

That pic 9 him winning the world champs is one of.my all-time favorite cycling images.

[yungmike]

Thinking of finally bitting the bullet and getting professionally fitted. Can't wait for the fitter to tell me how out of proportion and ridiculous my current setup is.

[LateFan]

I had an old Gitane 531 steel road bike that had originally been bought new by my wife's brother. Rode it for years, wondering if it really fit me, although I liked it.

I finally went in and got measured, thinking I would be changing stems and things. The guy just shook his head - "This bike is within a 1/2 cm of being perfect for you."

PS - I watch that gif of yours over & over & over… I think, does he just breath on that wall, or actually brush it with the bottom of his tires? His head gives a little sideways jerk..