Road Cycling - about new LeMonds...

i was at a store yesturday and he gave me a LeMond catalog... LeMond started making aluminum frames... so i looked at this Alpe d'Huez with full Ultegra (except for bottom bracket), and 6000 aluminum... so i pointed at the catalog and asked him how much it is... he said that they don't have that in the shop right now but a lady just ordered one and it's $1,300... but doesn't that go against the "upgrade rule" of not "hanging" expensive parts on a cheap frame...? every aluminum bike i looked at with full Ultegra are atleast $500 more than this one...

The "rules" are different when you're talking OEM. Besides... who said the frame is cheap qualitywise? What grade of Al is it? What brand? What kind of butting? What's the finish quality like? How does it ride? My suggestion would be to test ride one first. Of course you'll have to wait until one shows up since you said they don't have any in stock.

I Rode a LeMond (Maillot Jaune) for about 6 weeks last summer, which back in '99 - '00 was aluminum. There was no way I could tell it was an aluminum frame from the quality of the ride. As was stated by khuon, don't past judgment until you have had a chance to fully evaluate it with a ride or two.

yes... but $500-$600 off the average cost is a big thing... they gotta be cutting some major corner somewhere to meet that price...

The 04 that i looked at was 853 steel with mostly 105.What were you looking at?

Here's a link to the relevant page of the Lemond website:
http://www.lemondbikes.com/bikes/bikes_alpe.html
Reynolds 850, if the info is up to date.

Originally posted by Poppaspoke
Here's a link to the relevant page of the Lemond website:
http://www.lemondbikes.com/bikes/bikes_alpe.html
Reynolds 850, if the info is up to date.

I think Code Monkey was referring to the 2004 model.

http://www.lemondbikes.com/bikes/2004/alpedhuez.html

Differences in 6066 Al vs 7005 Al or 7075 Al found in many other high-end Al frames:


Material Name and Condition. Density Yng's Poiss Yld Ult Elong Redu CTE Yld
lb/in^3 Modul Ratio Strs Strs % Area 10^-6 off-
msi ksi ksi % /degF set

aluminum 6066-o sheet 0.0980 10.00 0.330 12.0 22.0 20.0 0.0 12.90 0.20
aluminum 6066-t4 sheet 0.0980 10.00 0.330 30.0 52.0 15.0 0.0 12.90 0.20
aluminum 6066-t6 sheet 0.0980 10.00 0.330 51.0 59.0 12.0 0.0 12.90 0.20
aluminum x7005-o sheet 0.1010 10.30 0.330 12.0 28.0 20.0 0.0 13.20 0.20
aluminum x7005-t6 sheet 0.1010 10.30 0.330 46.0 52.0 14.0 0.0 13.20 0.20
aluminum 7005-t5351 0.1010 10.30 0.330 55.0 62.0 15.0 43.0 13.20 0.20
aluminum 7075-o sheet 0.1010 10.30 0.330 15.0 33.0 17.0 0.0 13.10 0.20
aluminum 7075-t6 sheet 0.1010 10.30 0.330 76.0 83.0 11.0 0.0 13.10 0.20
aluminum 7075-t651 plate 0.1010 10.40 0.330 76.0 85.0 10.0 0.0 13.10 0.20
aluminum 7075-t73 sheet 0.1010 10.30 0.330 63.0 72.0 11.0 0.0 13.10 0.20


Of course that doesn't say much... just materials properties but probably gives a little clue as to where the costs go or is saved. 6066 has a better elongation property allowing it to be more easily butted and shaped.

BTW, 6000-series Al offers a preferable ride to 7000-series and the bike will feel more like a steel bike.