It’s by no means straightforward shedding a testcycle, and this morning I bid farewell to the LeMond, which is starting it journey westward to Bainbridge Island, WA the place it’s going to rejoin its siblings at Basic Cycle:
I obtained the bike again in March of final yr:
And I’ve very a lot loved what in some ways represents a excessive water mark within the evolution of the highway racing bicycle. (Aside from the relative paucity within the tire clearance division, in fact.) When this bike was model new, which was in 2003, I used to be nonetheless very a lot a Racing Fred, however a motorbike like this was past my meager means. So for Basic Cycle to make the dream bikes of the period accessible to me for my delectation has been of a dream come true.
But alas, all desires should come to an finish. I had a tough time returning this high-quality bicycle, and on quite a few events I severely contemplated not returning it in any respect and formally buying it. However like an ice cream cone, the LeMond is one thing of a fair-weather confection, and it’s that a lot simpler to withstand such a temptation within the lifeless of winter. When the times are brief and the temperature is frigid, boxing up the bike lastly looks as if an affordable various to using it.
This in fact just isn’t the primary time I’ve bid adieu to a high-quality early-aughts titanium bicycle:
It’s in all probability silly to match two bicycles with totally different geometries and elements that I by no means even rode back-to-back. Nonetheless, my aesthetic choice for easy decals and all-metal frames however, my general impression is that the LeMond had a extra nice trip high quality even than the Litespeed. I attempt to keep away from princess-and-the-pea makes an attempt to parse the way in which a motorbike feels, and I do know all the explanations body materials has little to do with it, however the LeMond is a kind of bikes that makes me assume they’re actually is one thing to it, and that the way in which they used the carbon and the titanium collectively actually labored. Is it the the magic mixture of body supplies coupled with the much-vaunted “LeMond geometry?” Or is it largely psychological?
Both approach, in returning one other high-quality titanium bicycle, and one I in all probability preferred even higher than the primary, I can’t assist questioning if I’m making the identical mistake twice–although I additionally admit it’s straightforward to be cavalier once I know I’ve received this:
Little doubt when it’s shorts-and-jersey climate as soon as once more I’ll really feel the urge to trip a racy bike with skinny tires and miss the LeMond, however at the very least I’ll have this:
I by no means thought I’d maintain the Y-Foil this lengthy. Nonetheless, in contrast to the LeMond, which makes itself obvious instantly, the Y-Foil is an enigma, and one which accommodates multitudes, and so I need to proceed to plumb its depths. The suspension fork was solely the start, and by some means I believe that to actually perceive this bike is to unlock the secrets and techniques of the universe:
Or, in the event you want, the bike trade certain did some wacky stuff earlier than they discovered highway bikes ought to be capable to match wider tires. It’s straightforward to confuse workarounds and profundity.