Lemond Build Advice

Back by popular demand, the general all-things Road forum!

Moderator: robbosmans

severinj
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2018 6:38 pm

by severinj

sent you an email

Toby
Posts: 105
Joined: Thu Sep 06, 2012 4:30 am

by Toby

severinj wrote:
Thu Apr 12, 2018 8:49 pm
He really is special. His name is Toby and he is making us a fortune. You'll see him on Kimmel in the next month.
Hey, how did I get dragged into this? I am the other resident tri geek though. Which means I can ask this: is your goal to make the Zurich "fly as shit" or "as fast as possible for tri"? The two are likely not going to be the same course of action.

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



severinj
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2018 6:38 pm

by severinj

BOOM Image

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk


severinj
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2018 6:38 pm

by severinj

Toby wrote:
severinj wrote:
Thu Apr 12, 2018 8:49 pm
He really is special. His name is Toby and he is making us a fortune. You'll see him on Kimmel in the next month.
Hey, how did I get dragged into this? I am the other resident tri geek though. Which means I can ask this: is your goal to make the Zurich "fly as shit" or "as fast as possible for tri"? The two are likely not going to be the same course of action.
I am open to either direction but both would be best

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk


severinj
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2018 6:38 pm

by severinj

severinj wrote:
Toby wrote:
severinj wrote:
Thu Apr 12, 2018 8:49 pm
He really is special. His name is Toby and he is making us a fortune. You'll see him on Kimmel in the next month.
Hey, how did I get dragged into this? I am the other resident tri geek though. Which means I can ask this: is your goal to make the Zurich "fly as shit" or "as fast as possible for tri"? The two are likely not going to be the same course of action.
I am open to either direction but both would be best

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
Can anyone recommend a chinese carbon wheelset of about 50mm, fork, and maybe handlebar? I have no idea where to start but am willing to take the leap.

Toby
Posts: 105
Joined: Thu Sep 06, 2012 4:30 am

by Toby

severinj wrote:
Sat Apr 14, 2018 1:28 pm
Toby wrote:
severinj wrote:
Thu Apr 12, 2018 8:49 pm
He really is special. His name is Toby and he is making us a fortune. You'll see him on Kimmel in the next month.
Hey, how did I get dragged into this? I am the other resident tri geek though. Which means I can ask this: is your goal to make the Zurich "fly as shit" or "as fast as possible for tri"? The two are likely not going to be the same course of action.
I am open to either direction but both would be best

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
If you don't know what you want, I can't help you. Neither can anyone else. Both of those are not happening for $1500.

severinj
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2018 6:38 pm

by severinj

Toby wrote:
severinj wrote:
Sat Apr 14, 2018 1:28 pm
Toby wrote:
severinj wrote:
Thu Apr 12, 2018 8:49 pm
He really is special. His name is Toby and he is making us a fortune. You'll see him on Kimmel in the next month.
Hey, how did I get dragged into this? I am the other resident tri geek though. Which means I can ask this: is your goal to make the Zurich "fly as shit" or "as fast as possible for tri"? The two are likely not going to be the same course of action.
I am open to either direction but both would be best

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
If you don't know what you want, I can't help you. Neither can anyone else. Both of those are not happening for $1500.
Hmmm... I thought I was clear I am just looking for suggestions. Then let's pick fork. That is definitely going to change. I have been looking at used eastons. Any thoughts on that?

Toby
Posts: 105
Joined: Thu Sep 06, 2012 4:30 am

by Toby

severinj wrote:
Sun Apr 15, 2018 11:45 pm
Toby wrote:
severinj wrote:
Sat Apr 14, 2018 1:28 pm
Toby wrote:
Hey, how did I get dragged into this? I am the other resident tri geek though. Which means I can ask this: is your goal to make the Zurich "fly as shit" or "as fast as possible for tri"? The two are likely not going to be the same course of action.
I am open to either direction but both would be best

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
If you don't know what you want, I can't help you. Neither can anyone else. Both of those are not happening for $1500.
Hmmm... I thought I was clear I am just looking for suggestions. Then let's pick fork. That is definitely going to change. I have been looking at used eastons. Any thoughts on that?
I assume an EC90 bladed fork? Probably fine. If you want to go fast in a triathlon, though, what you want to do is buy a rear disc cover from Wheelbuilder (get and use the fasteners; I've had electrical tape, even Super33+, fail), a good aero helmet (Aerohead, P-09), and whatever front end gets you into the best position for aero while not locking up your hips too much to run. Run fresh GP4KSIIs with latex tubes for racing. Get a DarkSpeedWorks bag for behind the stem.

Are you running drop bars? If so, get a really good set of aero road bars, like the Cervelo ones with the bridge in front of the stem. Don't use bar tape past where your palms rest while on the hoods. Are you running aero bars? Get the PD J--5 clip, ski jump extensions, and a fit by a guy who knows what he's doing.

The problem is that this doesn't make for a sexy bike, but it's how you'll go faster in a triathlon. That's where I was going with my comment - you probably have to choose one way or the other.

User avatar
ALAN Carbon+
Posts: 294
Joined: Mon Dec 26, 2005 9:21 am
Location: Canberra, Australia

by ALAN Carbon+

I always liked the mid 2000's steel and titanium LeMond bikes.

That being said, for me, aesthetically a smallish round tubed steel frame lends itself to more of a simple, pared back build, something more road specific, not something that is triathlon appropriate.

Something like this
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFQyE8kQlFo/

Trying to turn your LeMond into a Tri bike is likely to end up looking pretty odd, i.e. more fred sled than "fly as shit".

I would make some modest upgrades to the LeMond and ride it as a road bike and take a chunk of the money you have and look to see what you can buy second hand in a specific TT/Tri bike (n+1 and all that).

severinj
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2018 6:38 pm

by severinj

Yeah it's a fair point. The underlying rationale is I have a hunch that steel for mass participation triathlon is the appropriate frame medium even despite an aero penalty. All components equal, the trade off seems to be you give up top cruising speed on flats and accelleration in exchange for comfort and higher average speed over rough roads. I think the pros might outweigh the cons for steel and I want to test this thought out in races. More importantly, I love riding the lemond at all times. Trading that experience for riding a lower end tt bike... not the direction I want to go but probably smart from a performance and $$ standpoint. This is about the HEART.

Toby
Posts: 105
Joined: Thu Sep 06, 2012 4:30 am

by Toby

severinj wrote:
Tue Apr 17, 2018 9:53 am
Yeah it's a fair point. The underlying rationale is I have a hunch that steel for mass participation triathlon is the appropriate frame medium even despite an aero penalty. All components equal, the trade off seems to be you give up top cruising speed on flats and accelleration in exchange for comfort and higher average speed over rough roads. I think the pros might outweigh the cons for steel and I want to test this thought out in races. More importantly, I love riding the lemond at all times. Trading that experience for riding a lower end tt bike... not the direction I want to go but probably smart from a performance and $$ standpoint. This is about the HEART.
This is what I was talking about earlier. :)

You won't just lose top-end speed; you'll be spending more watts or going slower, pretty much all the time. Run bigger tires at lower pressure if you need more comfort on poor surfaces, and that will cost less speed than a steel, round-tube frame.

Now, if you don't really care how fast you go and aren't trying to KQ or hop on the podium of a bigger race, well, you do you. Go out and have fun (I'm going to do Boulder 70.3 on my S1 this year), but I rather strongly suspect you're going to be disappointed with the result compared to a dedicated tri bike. Even if that dedicated tri bike is a used Kestrel Talon.

severinj
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2018 6:38 pm

by severinj

Toby wrote:
severinj wrote:
Tue Apr 17, 2018 9:53 am
Yeah it's a fair point. The underlying rationale is I have a hunch that steel for mass participation triathlon is the appropriate frame medium even despite an aero penalty. All components equal, the trade off seems to be you give up top cruising speed on flats and accelleration in exchange for comfort and higher average speed over rough roads. I think the pros might outweigh the cons for steel and I want to test this thought out in races. More importantly, I love riding the lemond at all times. Trading that experience for riding a lower end tt bike... not the direction I want to go but probably smart from a performance and $$ standpoint. This is about the HEART.
This is what I was talking about earlier. :)

You won't just lose top-end speed; you'll be spending more watts or going slower, pretty much all the time. Run bigger tires at lower pressure if you need more comfort on poor surfaces, and that will cost less speed than a steel, round-tube frame.

Now, if you don't really care how fast you go and aren't trying to KQ or hop on the podium of a bigger race, well, you do you. Go out and have fun (I'm going to do Boulder 70.3 on my S1 this year), but I rather strongly suspect you're going to be disappointed with the result compared to a dedicated tri bike. Even if that dedicated tri bike is a used Kestrel Talon.
Yeah it will be an interesting experiment. I actually have a giant trinity that I am testing it against. I'll go back to that if the delta is too great. This is with all identical components aside from seatpost bars frame and fork. So far it hasn't been as much of a compromise as I thought in terms of average speed. Lots more time trialing and running off it to do before I can get a better feel for the comparison. Thanks for the input.

Post Reply