HauntedMyst

Gorgeous bike!

alan s 

Had the bike out in the beautiful weather this weekend on the C&O towpath. The Marathon Supremes in 700 x 40 are much more comfortable on the rough path than the 28s. Need to make a small adjustment to the rear fender which contacts the front derailleur in the large chainring. The presta valve stem rings work great as spacers for fine tuning the fit when there is not much room to spare. Couldn't ask for a nicer place to go for a ride.

KenshiBiker

Please stop posting pictures of this bike. It's not healthy for my checkbook .

Seriously, that is one gorgeous bike. Glad to hear (and see) you're riding the heck out of it.

HardyWeinberg

I agree. Which fork is that, among the Lynskey options?

alan s 

Endurance fork in carbon fiber with aluminum steerer. The headtube will take a tapered steerer, but the I don't think anyone makes an all CF fork with tapered steerer for disc brakes that has fender mounting holes. Needed a reducer to fit the headtube. Also, only comes with QR dropouts, not thruaxle. Still, it is a really nice fork for touring or commuting.

jayry

I am seriously considering this bike as my next commuter. As a matter of fact I would have already pulled the trigger if I wasn't so hooked on the idea of getting a belt+rohloff setup. Anyway, still on the cards, so thanks for all the information, it is very helpful.

I was very surprised to read a lot of "hate" in the comments section of this review here, I'd appreciate any feedback you may have on those complaints. Thank you so very much in advance.

Here's the review:

Lynskey Introduces UrBANskey, Commuter Smarts with Road Bike Speed

alan s 

Most of the reviews seem to be by people who haven't actually ridden the bike, so I wouldn't put much stock in them. The bike handles superbly loaded and unloaded. As far as COG is concerned, if you look at my photos of the bike set up for touring, all of the weight is up high, yet I can ride and corner with no hands very comfortably and don't feel like the bike will fall over.

My previous comment about the fender mounting on the bridge needs to be revised. Now that I have the 45 mm fenders and 40 mm tires, there is very little extra clearance. The bike is not supposed to fit a 700 x 40 tire with fenders, but I thought it would fit and really wanted a bit more cushion. Had the bike out for 35 miles of gravel grinding yesterday, and was thankful for the extra volume. So, instead of using the plastic bracket that comes with the fender, I had to drill a hole and screw it directly to the bridge. In retrospect, Lynskey got it right by putting the mounting hole on the bottom of the seatstay bridge instead of the back.

Anyway, you should go by the geometry charts. The bike is fairly close to the measurements for other road bikes. If something was really out of whack, you'd think it would have come up by actual bike owner and riders, and not a bunch of anonymous armchair reviewers.

Hope that helps. If you have any specific concerns, I'll try to answer them as best I can.

Capt_Sensible

In previous years Lynskey were offering an option to etch the graphics, which IMO looked really great, much better that the current 3D graphics. Minor cosmetic issue though, lovely bike and lovely build; congratulations!

jayry

They still offer it, at a pricey premium though.

Pathfinder27

Not that this bike needs any changes but I think the Lynskey 3D graphic would look good in a subdued black color to match the fork and fenders. Again, beautiful bike. I'll have to get down to DC from up here in Baltimore and ride some of these routes you keep posting pictures of.

jayry

Looks like an awesome bike. I am torn between it or a Schindlehauer Ludwig XIV. Pretty different concepts, I know!

jayry

I do have a question Alan. Compared to the Trek Lync 5 I've been commuting on (picture below), how much more of an aggressive position should I expect on the Urbansky when riding on the flats or hoods?. Thanks in advance.

alan s 

My bike is set up with the steerer at max recommended length of 40 mm and stem flipped -6 degrees. So the saddle to bar drop is minimal, which is not aggressive at all, but great for commuting and touring. You can obviously go lower or higher depending on your needs. As far as reach is concerned, you'll have to run the numbers based on the geometry charts for each bike in your size. It's all part of the online buying experience. I went with a 120 mm stem and 25 mm setback seatpost. As long as you start with the right frame size, tweaking the fit really depends on your preferences. You can always go to a bike shop and try a few road and cross bikes with different geometries to compare.

jayry

Ok, so finally I went ahead and ordered it. They say three weeks, we shall see.

Interestingly enough, they just added a flat version to the website that looks attractive, but I am not so sure about the drivetrain, opinions?

https://www.lynskeyperformance.com/s...1-flatbar.html

alan s 

Sounds like you ordered from the factory? The flat bar version looks nice, but don't see how it offers any advantage over drop bars. Perhaps less maintenance and lower cost. The gearing is lower, which for mountain biking is good, but I'd probably spin out in 32-10 pretty often.

alan s 

New touring/commuting wheels arrived. Velocity Aileron rims 32h, White Industries CLD hubs, Wheelsmith double butted spokes and brass nipples. Built by the fine folks at Ben's Cycle in Milwaukee.

Mounted up the Schwalbe Marathon Supremes in 700 x 40. The rims are supposed to be able to handle wider tires at higher pressure. Test ride yesterday went very well. Started out at 70 psi on the C&O towpath, rode 8 miles, then hopped on country roads for 14 miles back to the towpath farther out. Reduced pressure to about 50 psi for the 23 miles back on the towpath to where I started.

The Stan's Grail rims the bike came with have a tire pressure limitation of 50 psi for wider tires, so not ideal for road riding. Also, I feel more comfortable with 32 spokes for loaded touring than 28 spokes on the Grails.

New wheels



Pennyfield Lock at Mile 19 on the C&O towpath. The lockhouse is available for overnight stays.





Close ups

noglider 

Can you commute on that canal path? If so, you are very lucky.

alan s 

For sure. It runs right into Georgetown in DC. However, it's nice to have an alternate route when it rains, because it can get messy. I regularly ride it from Swains Lock at mile 16, Carderock at mile 11 or hop on at Mile 5. Then it's another 8 miles to the office.

alan s 

For those of you who like pictures, here are some more. Getting ready for a week long trip in Cape Cod, and had the bike out yesterday to make sure everything works together properly. Along with the Ortleib panniers, I added a Revelate Designs Tangle 1/2 frame bag, front harness and small bag that clips to the harness. The harness holds a 15 liter drybag with my sleeping bag, inflatable pad and pillow, sleeping bag liner, and tent footprint. Have to keep the drybag fairly narrow in order not to interfere with the shifters. With the weight evenly distributed, handling is excellent, even climbing out of the saddle and at 40 mph. A few 10%+ grades were a bit of a challenge with the road gearing, so hopefully there won't be too much of that.

jayry

Finally received mine, this very morning, so I just finished unpacking and haven't had an opportunity to ride it!

MauiWowwee

What's your overall thoughts on the saddle after a few months of riding on it? I'm looking to picking up either the C17 or C15.

alan s 

Love it. I'll be putting in 50-70 mile days next week on a short trip, and have no qualms. Other than being a bit heavier than other saddles, it is immediately perfectly comfortable. But that's me, and you may have a very different experience. Only minor issue is the rubber rubs on the rail if I slide up on the nose, causing a bit of squeaking noise, but a piece of electrical tape takes care of that.

alan s 

Nice. Hope to see more pictures.

superdex

late to the party -- is that a full carbon fork? that's a LOT of headtube spacers on there...

alan s 

No, it has an alloy steerer, and that is the max recommended steerer length. It puts the bars about even with the saddle, which for commuting and touring is great. Any lower, and the front bag would be resting on the fender.