Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - bike geomtry question

I'm wondering if this Lemond Tourmalet bike would make a good century plus bike. I already have a trek 520 but I was sort of hoping to get a lighter bike for many I am not hauling lots of stuff. I saw it on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330249619026&fromMakeTrack=true

I think if I switched out the wheels and upgraded the components it could easily be 20 pounds. Right now is it is 22 pounds. the 853 steel looks good too, I'm a big steel fan. the frame is only 1 pound more than a litespeed women's specific frame. So for club rides it would be nice and for centuries I could just strap a bag to the seat and roll with it.

can anyone give me any thoughts?

friend of mine rides a tourmalet, and has done centuries & double-centuries on it - so it seems like a good LD bike to me!

only downside i can see is lack of fender clearance, but that's the case with pretty much all new road bikes, and most seem to be OK with race blades.

In general, I don't think it's worth it to buy a bike for at least $350 (probably more, by the time the bidding is over) and then buy new wheels AND new components. Unless you know how to do it yourself, wheels can run you $350 for starters. A new cassette is $100, new RD is another $100+, new Ultegra crankset is $225....

By the time you're done, you could easily be 2/3 of the way to a new bike; there are tons of excellent century-capable bikes in the $1000 - $1500 range. Even a new Tourmalet Women's is $1300 MSRP.

Also, 2 pounds on the bike doesn't make a difference unless you're racing or live in the top floor of a 5th story walkup. Seriously.


As to whether that type of bike will work for you, it's really up to you -- how flexible you are and what level of comfort you're going to need on a longer ride. There's also the question of fit, which would be hard to determine from a used / eBay sale.

Unfortunately, it's going to be very hard to determine whether a certain bike works for you without putting at least 50 miles on it. What you might try to do as an experiment is temporarily set up the 520 in a more aggressive position. Specifically, you can change the stem to get the handlebars lower and further away. If you really want to get crazy, you can get a seatpost with a lot of setback. Ride awhile with that setup, then do 75 miles, and see how it feels.

really I thought that 400 for essentially an 853 frame in good shape would be a fair deal. 1300 for the stock tourmalet does not sound like a fair deal. It is tiagra (nothing wrong with tiagra), mostly aluminum, and nothing really special. I would probably only buy it on sale. Now if it were a steel tourmalet with an ultegra set up, or dura ace 7703 and XT cassette with short reach shifters for 1300 that would be a good deal. By the way I spent that much for an exact set up on my 520 and by being clever I did not hit 1000- including labor. wheels are a whole new story.

No geometry for the 2003 steel version listed. Assuming the geometry is the same as the 2004 in aluminum,
the top tube is just shy of 50 cm. Is that OK? And that's with 71 head and 75 seat. Might well work for a woman sitting a bit further forward than many men, but still a rather sharp angle. I don't mind the 71 head, but don't expect it to handle quite as quickly. 410 chainstay - be nice to be able to fit with a moderately long stem given that short rear end and the shallow head angle.

That's getting down to the size where smaller wheels start to look good.

I commuted on Bontrager Select without any trouble. I get the impression that I would kill them moderately quickly if traveling long distance loaded, but they are still doing fine. On a similar sort of bike, the Wayzata.

Have fun!

I think too much is made of geometry. Yes, there are some special circumstances that require particular geometry (loaded touring, handlebar bag, etc.) but for just riding, plain vanilla geometry is fine.

HTH!

I rode a 2002 Tourmalet (Reynolds 853 main triangle, etc.) and found it to be a very smooth long-distance bike. The geometry is typical (of the time) LeMond: slack angles and long top tubes. For example, where in most frames I'd ride a 61cm, in the LeMond steel frames I ride a 59cm - the 61's top tube length is a bit long.

As far as fender clearance is concerned, the LeMond fork isn't the best for it, but it's a standard 1" (2002 and earlier) or 1.125" (2003 and later) threadless unit, so you could get a more touring-oriented fork for very little and not only add the fender clearance but lighten it up (the stock fork on the Tourmalet is an all-steel tank - a 1" steerer one in the example you site from eBay). In the rear, you can run most standard fenders for race-style bikes. As-is, the frame can run up to a 28mm tire - nice for cushy touring.

And the frame, if kept well, will run for years: it's a nice steel rig. I'd ask a lot of questions about frame and paint condition: is there rust, etc.

Thank you for the input. Here are my thoughts and why I thought of doing this. $400 for an 853 frame in good condition. 1300 For Tiagra does not sounds like a fair deal. On sale I might go for it otherwise not. My thoughts are: I have a trek 520 that I placed a DA 7703 on with XT cassette and short reach shifters and it was less than $1000 for labor and parts including the bike itself. I am very happy to have a bike that suits my needs without going crazy on money. Maybe I would do the labor myself but that would have to wait until the winter off season for anything major. I would consider a similar set up for the Tourmalet but I am open to suggestions.

I thought the goal was to have a sub 20 pound bike? My current tourer is 27 pounds.

does the stated bike seat tube length and the answers to questions at the bottom make anyone else's head swim? your inseam must be 1 yard for you to be comfortable on the bike.

No geometry for the 2003 steel version listed. Assuming the geometry is the same as the 2004 in aluminum,
the top tube is just shy of 50 cm. Is that OK? And that's with 71 head and 75 seat. Might well work for a woman sitting a bit further forward than many men, but still a rather sharp angle. I don't mind the 71 head, but don't expect it to handle quite as quickly. 410 chainstay - be nice to be able to fit with a moderately long stem given that short rear end and the shallow head angle.

That's getting down to the size where smaller wheels start to look good.

I commuted on Bontrager Select without any trouble. I get the impression that I would kill them moderately quickly if traveling long distance loaded, but they are still doing fine. On a similar sort of bike, the Wayzata.

Have fun!

I think LeMonde has only a limited number of geometries for its road bikes. The website also used to have some links to the historical geometries.

Re the 71 degree HT, my Mondonico has that angle and a 41 chainstay and it is a very snappy steerer. My Masi is a bit less snappy, with a steeper HT and shorter wheelbase! Go figger, I don't really get it.

I haven't done enough LD on the Mondonico to rule it out, but on 45-50 mile rides it is easy to control at the end of the ride. More so for the Masi. Surprising my long-base Woodrup is less easy to keep in a line.

Road Fan