Jarrett2

Ordered it on 7/21/15 after much deliberation, got the shipping notice today (8/4/2015)

Here are the specs:

2015 Lynskey R240
Size Large / 573mm top tube
Industrial Mill Finish w/ R240 White Decal Set
Lynskey Pro #2 Series Tapered Steerer Carbon Fork (same spec as Enve 2.0, different sticker)
Cane Creek 40 ZS44/EC44 for OS Frame
Sram Force22 Kit w/ 175mm crankset, 50x34 cranks, 11x28 cassette
44cm FSA Gossamer Compact Road Handlebar w/ white Lynskey bar tape
90mm FSA SLK Stem

I'll be using my DT Swiss RR440/240s 28/32 wheelset with it and my usual saddle and Specialized CG-R seatpost.
I've also got some Shimano SPD pedals waiting for it as well.

Thankfully, it comes with a 45 day trial period. I'm currently riding a 2009 Jamis Eclipse (Reynolds 853 steel) road bike with SRAM Rival 10-speed groupset which I really enjoy. If the Lynskey doesn't wow me in some way, it will likely be going back as I'm pretty happy with my current bike. I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about on the titanium bikes and Lynskey was offering some pretty killer deals at the time of purchase.

I'm firmly in the Clydesdale camp at 278 lbs. and I'm interested to see if the R240 will be stiff enough for me or not. Lots of speculation there. I'll post thoughts and pics here during the 45 day trial in case anyone might be interested.

PhotoJoe 

I'll be interested to hear your thoughts, but at the same time will be amazed if you send it back.

jsigone

truthfully, if your current bike totally pleasing to ride, I doubt you would drop 3k for another one. Or just dropping 3k for the hell of it to try something. If that s the case, then you won't send the bike back. Overall all, it's well spec'd and should be fun to ride. Mind blowing? Not sure, its just another bike. The problem with owning multiple bikes is that you spend less time on the others. Or logically think you can share your time among them all. I have 6 bikes, I only really use 2.

Can't wait to see the real pics

Jarrett2

Yeah, the titanium thing is an itch that I've just been wanting to scratch for a while. Everyone in the know says if you like steel, then you need a titanium bike. I like steel, so I wanted to see.

And a lot of the long time riders I know went through a few bikes, then bought a titanium bike and never bought anything else after that under the premise that its a last bike sort of experience. Time will tell I guess.

bassjones

I'd like to try a Ti bike, but haven't found one in my size - 62/64

ShortLegCyclist

In the same boat... ordered a Moots titanium road bike that should be here in about two more weeks.

Looked at Lynskey/Litespeed but there was no way to test ride that locally while we have Moots and Seven dealers here locally in Seattle area who have bikes on hand to test ride.

The one I tried was too big for me but was still way more comfortable, especially on harsh road surfaces, the vibrations just got eaten up.

But then again, my only comparison was to my 15 year old aluminum mass produced Trek.

indyfabz

Started riding ti in May after being on steel since 2004. Definitely more comfortable, but I cannot say if that's due to geometry, frame material, tube size or something else besides the wheels, which I moved over from my steel frame.

Maybe one day I will try one of those carbon fiber bikes that seem to be so popular. My only concern there is that I have heard carbon can asplode. Any truth to that?

ShortLegCyclist

Apparently so, but only if you buy a knockoff carbon frame on eBay...

JohnJ80

Probably a lot more due to the geometry and design than the material. I have two steel bikes now after replacing my 2007 carbon road bike with a stainless steel custom frame. The new frame rides better than ether of the two other bikes in terms of both performance and compliance. The other steel frame is really stiff. So it's not the material. Or at least the material has a significantly lesser impact on the ride quality than the design.

J.

adrien

Cool. Happy almost-new-bike-day.

Just added ti to all the steel. Got rid of all the alu rides I had. They just hurt after a couple of hours.

I would venture -- after about 20 different frame in 10 years -- owned, rented, borrowed but each well over 200 miles, and some several thousand...that steel and Ti are very similar. I've ridden harsh and stiff steel and Ti, and noodly steel and Ti. Ti is lighter, more expensive, more industrial and less classic, but still pretty in an industrial kinda way. Never rode a Lynsky, and I got into hand-made bikes in part because my fit is a bit odd, and I really like some things and not others. My new Ti bike has giant chain stays, for example, but no press-fit bb. By choice.

The only material that seriously has never done it for me is plastic / carbon. Those bikes are stiff, fast, and very clinical feeling. Rented a Pinarello Dogma to go up Ventoux last year. A good 10% faster than my custom steel. 3x the price, way uglier, and not at all fun until it was going 20 mph. Then -- holy crap it was great. But then I had to slow down again and realize the !@#!$% thing was worth more than our car. I've ridden s-works roubaix and tarmac at length, as well as Madones. Closest to nice in terms of feel was the Roubaix, but even then it just felt sorta like carbon tuned to feel like steel. And an s-works Roubaix is 9.5k, which is well over a true custom ti bike, made just for you. Those ads aren't free, after all.

Let us know how the Lynsky feels. Just realize that the difference will have as much if not more to do with geometry and tubing than it will with what the tubes are made of.

krue1971

The only issue I have with my Lynskey mountain bike is that my son stole it from me to race on this year. Rides as good or better than my El Mariachi, love it.

DMC707

3k ???? That seems like a really good deal --- i would have expected the frame to be $2500 i hope it works out for you

TrojanHorse

Mine's out in the garage asploding right now! The carbon wheels are asploding too or maybe they're just squealing, it's hard to say.

Jarrett2

That's hard to imagine, but hope the same is true for me. It should be here Thursday.

I hope carbon doesn't asplode as I've got some on all my bikes.

Jarrett2

Yeah, they are running some smoking deals right now on both new and used bikes.

indyfabz

What's hard to imagine?

Jarrett2

This:

Ti being more comfortable than steel is hard for me to imagine, but I hope that it is.

indyfabz

As I noted, that could be due to the geometry, tube size or some other than the frame material or wheel set. I went full custom from a guy who knows his stuff. He has won best mountain bike at the North American Hand Built Bicycle Show twice, and he was well familiar with my steel bike build and riding style when he designed my new bike.

JohnJ80

That was exactly my experience too.

J.

Jarrett2

The R240 came in. I just finished building it up. It weighs about one pound less than my Jamis at 17.6 lbs on my scale. That's built minus pedals and accessories.

Here are some pics I snapped along the way:


It was well packed:


It came out looking basically like this:


After getting the wrap off and bars on:


Finished product:


I definitely need to do some adjusting as its got too much drop for me right now. I'm going to ride the Jamis in my normal group ride tomorrow and take the Lynskey out on Sunday morning solo after some tweaking.

superdex

she's a beaut!

gjhsu

That. is. SWEET!

adrien

Nice!

Looks like you'll gain a bit by just flipping the stem.

jsigone

good looking rig from the non drive side

TrojanHorse

How long is that stem? It looks a little short. I assume they give you whatever size you want?