Classic and Vintage Bicycles: What's it Worth? Appraisals and Inquiries - Lemond Victoire Titanium - what's it worth?

Hi All,
apologies if this is posted in the wrong section - i wondered if anyone has an idea of the market rate for the following (frame and forks only)

2003 Lemond Victoire 55cm (56.5 TT) - full titanium handmade in the USA with
carbon forks.

I'm planning on selling it as no matter how hard i try i'm too stretched out on it.

many thanks

http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk216/devonbay/10122011356.jpg
http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk216/devonbay/10122011357.jpg

:popcorn

woops! just realised this should be in the appraisals/enquiries forum.... please can a moderator move it?
what does the popcorn smilie mean?

I think that Lemond used 3 or 4 different ti sources at varying times...Merlin, Sandvik and another. From the few I've seen, they vary...obviously parts/wheels will play a large role.

Photo would help - try and find a sticker that might indicate manufacturer. I don't THINK Trek made ti in house, but I could be wrong.

woops! just realised this should be in the appraisals/enquiries forum.... please can a moderator move it?
what does the popcorn smilie mean?

Just being facetious and kind of an ass since it is not CV and won't necessarily fit in the CV appraisals either.

All kidding aside, I am in Seattle, which is a high priced market. I'd be surprised if it broke $500, which is close to the low end asking price of TI frames from Litespeed.

Yep...$450-600 max for F+F.

just bought an "02 with natural ti color, paid 1200.00 with an extra set of wheels in addition to the x lites, and an extra triple dura ace crank. I think 500.00 for natural would be low, but painted right on. the natural color is what most people are looking for, in addition to the amazing ride quality.

I saw a Lemond natural ti frame on ebay recently go for around 900.00, which isn't bad, considering they usually are in great shape and don't deteriorate.

I sold my Victoire for $1400 and sorry I did. Very nice bike and garnered lots of attention on Chicago's Lake Front!

Painted Ti...It was Trek's way of showing their love for Lemond. Makes me think of the Buell and Harley relationship.

Painted Ti...It was Trek's way of showing their love for Lemond. Makes me think of the Buell and Harley relationship.

a well built ti frame is going to outlast all of us. the Lemond frames were built well, and with traditional geometry. I'm a fan of the earlier 2002 Zurich, as well as the later Poprad--------they both use simular geometry. this Victiorie is of the same ilk, isn't hard to look at, and lightweight. I think ti frames are the one material that will hold their value well. new frames are 1000.00 on up. there is an 02 victorie up on ebay right now that should end up around 600 or more by the time its done.

The photo of the bike includes a Reynolds Sticker which makes me wonder if it is steel?

The photo of the bike includes a Reynolds Sticker which makes me wonder if it is steel?

Reynolds 2000 sticker ---- the ti is 3Al/2.5V titanium on that frame. the early ti Lemond frames were built by Litespeed I believe, or one of the major independent bike builders. later, when trek started building the Lemond bikes, the ti frame reappeared.

@Aaron, yes, Trek had a couple of ti frame builders that were headed up by Gary Helfrich as a consultant in the early part of the century. the frames were built within the Lemond factory, inside the trek facilities at the time in the early 2000's--------where most of the frames were still domestically built. they stopped building the full ti frames about the time they took a different direction than g lemond wanted to go, which was not to his liking. the issue with armstrong reared it's ugly head, and you know the rest. the carbon fiber era had taken over alum, steel and titanium, and the high end spine frames had evolved--------then the full on carbon fiber, with only a couple of steel frames still built and no titanium the last couple of years. the steel frames were the last ones still built in the US, the CF frames in China I believe, by '08.

Oldmuthariley, on ebay is a good place to start, to see what lemond ti goes for, for the value of your bike. the victoirie frame/fork alone, I mentioned a couple of weeks ago seen on ebay, sold for 600.00 shipped. no wheels, comp group, any of that. your bike as a full entity still could command 1000.00 plus--------

here's the link to the cycling news artical on the Lemond titanium bikes from around 2002.
http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/sponsors/lemond02/

well happily i sold the frame and forks for £425 (UK) = $675 US :)

Reynolds 2000 sticker ---- the ti is 3Al/2.5V titanium on that frame. the early ti Lemond frames were built by Litespeed I believe, or one of the major independent bike builders. later, when trek started building the Lemond bikes, the ti frame reappeared.

@Aaron, yes, Trek had a couple of ti frame builders that were headed up by Gary Helfrich as a consultant in the early part of the century. the frames were built within the Lemond factory, inside the trek facilities at the time in the early 2000's--------where most of the frames were still domestically built. they stopped building the full ti frames about the time they took a different direction than g lemond wanted to go, which was not to his liking. the issue with armstrong reared it's ugly head, and you know the rest. the carbon fiber era had taken over alum, steel and titanium, and the high end spine frames had evolved--------then the full on carbon fiber, with only a couple of steel frames still built and no titanium the last couple of years. the steel frames were the last ones still built in the US, the CF frames in China I believe, by '08.

Oldmuthariley, on ebay is a good place to start, to see what lemond ti goes for, for the value of your bike. the victoirie frame/fork alone, I mentioned a couple of weeks ago seen on ebay, sold for 600.00 shipped. no wheels, comp group, any of that. your bike as a full entity still could command 1000.00 plus--------

here's the link to the cycling news artical on the Lemond titanium bikes from around 2002.
http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/sponsors/lemond02/

That's really interesting...thanks for posting that. I had no idea Trek had internal ti production.

I sold my Poprad and already miss it :(