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 is going to rejoin its siblings at Traditional Cycle:
I acquired the bike again in March of final 12 months:
And I’ve very a lot loved what in some ways represents a excessive water mark within the evolution of the street 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 motorcycle like this was past my meager means. So for Traditional 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 tremendous bicycle, and on quite a few events I critically 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 quick and the temperature is frigid, boxing up the bike lastly looks like an affordable different to driving it.
This in fact isn’t the primary time I’ve bid adieu to a tremendous early-aughts titanium bicycle:
It’s in all probability silly to check two bicycles with completely different geometries and elements that I by no means even rode back-to-back. Nevertheless, 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 motorcycle 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 suppose 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 tremendous titanium bicycle, and one I in all probability favored 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 acquired 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 least I’ll have this:
I by no means thought I’d maintain the Y-Foil this lengthy. Nevertheless, not like the LeMond, which makes itself obvious instantly, the Y-Foil is an enigma, and one which comprises multitudes, and so I need to proceed to plumb its depths. The suspension fork was solely the start, and someway I believe that to actually perceive this bike is to unlock the secrets and techniques of the universe:
Or, in case you choose, the bike trade positive did some wacky stuff earlier than they found out street bikes ought to be capable to match wider tires. It’s straightforward to confuse workarounds and profundity.
