Road Cycling - Litespeed Sienna opinions?

Ive narraowed it down to that or a Trek. I saw one at a shop that was broken but I suppose anything can break.

I am leaning toward the Sienna for 04 since there'll be some improvments: 1) increased diameter tubing espcially the down tube which will be more like the blade; 2)increased diameter carbon rear stays plus they be more areo tapered in the rear trailing edge; 3) they'll offer their on carbon fork which is also much more areo looking; 4) (and this is a big one) they're making there own CARBON wheelsets that will be comparabel with the Ksyriums all this and the frame will increase in weight by about 30 -40 grams.


So I am thinking this will be an even stiffer bike than before.

Can anbody give me there expereince with the bike especially compared with others they ridden. I'ld appreciate it a lot. Thanks in advance!

George

I wrench at a Litespeed dealer and I personally would recommend the Siena over the Trek. Far better craftsmanship and ride as well as some originality, lets face it a lot of people ride Litespeeds but even more ride Treks. The new seatstays are really sharp looking and the new fork is ridiculously cool. I built a custom Vortex last week for a customer that featured both of those new items and I can definitely say they make the bike look fast standing still. As for the Sienas ride it is very stable and sure footed but it still retains a lively feel like any performance road bike should. Wait for the 2004s to become available to the general public and pick one up, you won't be disappointed.

-Ryan

I used to work at a Litespeed dealer and was rather impressed with the ride of the Siena. I prefer a full Ti frame but appreciate what Litespeed is trying to do with that model. I assume the broken bike you refer to was a Trek, as their carbon bikes do seem to crack now and then. In my old shop's 8 years dealing Litespeed, they hadn't warranteed one.

I have an '02 Tuscany (basically the conventional geometry version of the Siena) and for me it is a better bike than the Trek.

Not sure what you're meanby new downtube though. Looks the same as the one on the Tuscany (perhaps it's new to the Siena??) but the new rear stays are pretty and the new fork is an imrovement over the older LiteTec version, bringing handling and tracking into the Ouzo Pro equiped bikes league.

For the money the Siena is the better bike and will fetch a higher resal value also if yu ever want to sell it in future.

Thanks everybody for your useful comments.

Anybody have any comment on the the Kestrel Talon or Talon SL?

-George

expensive!

You don't mention which Trek model. If you mean the 5200 or one of the other OCLV models, I surely don't understand the "better craftmanship" comment. OCLV's are almost certainly the highest quality carbon framesets you can buy - I'm not a carbon guy (or a mass produced guy) but OCLV is the only carbon I'd ever even consider. You will be very hard pressed to find a better made bike. I know it's fashionable to dump on Trek because everyone and their brother has one, but there's a reason they sell so many - those really are darn fine bikes.

I lived in Chattanooga for 4 years during college, and I saw plenty of poorly made Litespeeds - and I saw plenty of well made ones. The Blade model itself is one of the worst, if not the worst, Litespeed has made, and saying anything is "Bladelike" gives me the shivers. I'd very closely inspect every weld on a Litespeed before I purchased it, - especially around the seat clamp, for some reason a lot of them seem to be totally unwelded or very poorly spot welded.

That being said, Litespeeds are very nice bikes. Make your choice on whether you want a Titanium or Carbon ride, and what fits you properly. If you are buying either a Trek or a Litespeed from a reputable dealer, you won't regret either one.

P.S - Litespeed Ghisallo + Lookout Mountain = Heaven

(too bad I don't live there anymore)

2004 Sienna looks sweet!

Aren't Kestrel bikes made in Korea or China by a generic company? I'm pretty sure I heard that somewhere.

Originally posted by LSR

Aren't Kestrel bikes made in Korea or China by a generic company? I'm pretty sure I heard that somewhere.

Some of the models of Kestrel are made in China then assembled here in Watsonville,CA.

If you have any concerns about quality at Litespeed just follow this link.
http://www.litespeed.com/english/technology/technology.html

I have heard from people who worked there in the past (framebuilders) that the quality control guys would regularly walk out onto the production floor with 2 tubes in hand and randomly pick a builder and say "weld these together." They would then take it into the lab and x ray the welds for quality. They also x ray the production frames for weld flaws.

-Ryan

The August issue of Procycling has a review of the Sienna by Chris Boardman. You can look it up for more details, but in general he said it was a nice bike, par with the others in that price range, although the Litespeed brochure hyped it to be more than what it really is. He had nice things to say about the fork (Ti-enhanced Carbon) and especially the Campy carbon wheelset.

Alex33,

I think the bike your taking about was one of their aluminum bikes with the old carbon stays....

I do know he didnt think the Ti mesh on the fork did as much as they claim it did. He also mentioned the S stays did weigh more since there was more material. But I do know that in their catalogue for '03 the Sienna was lighter than all their Ti bikes except for the gihsallo ( go figure!)

Overall I started to wonder if I shoudl try to find their lowest all Ti bike. ... but I think I'll wieight till I get to ride each of them.

-George

I think the bike your taking about was one of their aluminum bikes with the old carbon stays....
George,
you are right, it was an AL bike...


I do know he didnt think the Ti mesh on the fork did as much as they claim it did.
I don't have the article in front of me, but I remember him mentioning the design concept was interesting, although the test ride didn't reveal vast improvements over other carbon forks.

No the test did'nt reveal anything of a performance advantage but he did say it is one of the most comfortable bikes he's ever ridden so perhaps theres something in the Ti mesh stuf afterall. Thats the gist of the article. i have it in front of me.
The test was the Sirius , the top end Al bike. In no way similar to the Siena in performance.

The Siena is not targeted at the same market as the Ghisallo or Vortex so it stands to reasn tht it will be tuned to different things.
The person buying the Siena, in Litespeeds mind, is someone who oves to ride but not necessarily compete in races very weekend. The design and manufacturing tune show inthe final product. It's not as stiff or lively as a Vortex or Ultimate but it is more comfortable to ride over long distances.

Having riddent he Trek and Siena and Tuscany I opted for the Tuscany because it was stiff and lively enough to race but it's comfort over long rides was the decider. I ruled out the Siena because of the carbon rear stays. I personally don't think any Carbon rear stays are great. They're not lighter (and Cannondale showed this) they're not necessarily stiffer either. They do create aconversation point and therefore arouse interest on the shop floor.

Of the 3 mentioned the Trek OCLV was ruled out because even though it's also comfortable it's still harsh ( it's a verticaly and laterally stiff bike)
I'mnot a fan of full carbon frames simply because I don't believe the construction methods (although Trek, Time and Colnago probably have the best processes out there) yield a bike as strong or crash worthy as metal construction.

(although Trek, Time and Colnago probably have the best processes out there)- TimB

Really? You can get a REAL 25 yr. warranty on a full carbon Calfee. Craig Calfee is one of the premier carbon manufacturers in the industry...a true leader if not THE leader.
www.calfeedesign.com

Parlee is really nice too.

Very happy Calfee owner.

I personally trust and prefer an all Ti frame, but if I had to buy a carbon frame I have no doubts at all that it would be one of the Look frames.

Well after doing a lot of searching I surfed into a site where they had a '03 Ghisallo full Ultegra/Ouza Pro fork bike for $2900.

I'll be building it slowly , starting with some light wheels ( Chris King hubs, 28 double butted spokes, alloy nipples.... etc, etc).

-G

Congrats and welcome to the club :) Don't forget to register with the owners club at www.litespeed.com