Here's my follow-up. You can see the above in higher res here.
Seems like a more than fair price. He explained the following:
1) He flipped the stem and brought the saddle down low and forward since he normally rides a 56cm. This is why the bike setup looks a bit strange in the CL photos.
2) He got it from a guy in Sacramento who bought it from a store in that area. We'll call the guy I saw today Guy B. Guy B got it from Guy A who verified with Trek that it was a "Lemond Victoire Classic" (not Victory like the ad says). This frame was apparently a step up from the Lemond Victoire. According to Guy A via Guy B (and this checks out with a quick Google), very few were made. The story here is that Lemond decals ran out and thus were never applied, thus the Trek decals and head badge. These were sold only as framesets. Guy B says Guy A's shop told him the brazing was overseen by Sandvik, so Guy B really doesn't know for sure. Looks like there is little to refute what @bargainguy gathered about the earlier ones being Sandvik earlier in this thread.
He showed me the dropouts, which confirm it is indeed a Lemond (you can see it in the last photo in my link above). "LeMond" was stamped right into the outside of the dropouts, only visible when you take the wheel off. He also showed me that above and below the existing Trek badge on the head tube there were also two curious little holes bored - these holes were for the Lemond badge that they must not have had in stock... shrug. I am no machinist but the brazing looks really nice and there are no cracks or separations at any joint. The downtube also does this weird thing: it becomes an oval shape as it approaches the bottom bracket. Anyone know what that's about? Can anyone identify the cranks? They say Bontrager, 175.
This frame is a strange one to me.
I could not identify the material of the seat tube or the model of the crankset, but they are both Bontrager, as is the carbon fork. Regardless, this bike was light, and I mean LIGHT. I happened upon an old Cannondale SR600 up for sale right after this and the aluminum frame felt as heavy as steel in comparison.
The Lemond also has a Shimano 105 FD and STIs, and an Ultegra RD.
The test ride:
The guy was nice enough to let me ride it without any collateral. I hopped right on after adjusting saddle height and felt like the bike weighed next to nothing. Well, that's what I get for riding only a chromoly steel frame from the eighties all last year. It accelerated better. It didn't feel whippy like I thought it would. It felt solid and stiff and light and handled well. It handled turns harder than I normally take (albeit, I am no Crit racer). Then I got up out of the saddle and sprinted, came to a near stop and started mashing to accelerate again, repeated this a few times, and the bike didn't flex noticeably or feel like it couldn't handle the force. There was no sound of chain rub. Being a big guy, I was initially worried about this.
Somehow, the aluminum Cannondale I tried afterwards DID feel whippy. Maybe it was due to the 600EX cranks on that one? I have no idea. I thought aluminum was known for feeling stiff and harsh?
I think I like this bike alot. But what makes me hesitate is that I had originally planned on spending $500 total in building up my own aluminum or carbon bike. Now I'm going to look up Victoire Classic and figure out what they are worth and verify with Trek what is going on here. Judging by the eye, the components, and the ride, I know it's a great bike. On Craigslist, smaller sizes are going for $1500, frame only. I am thinking it's a go if a few more things are a go ('d like to get ahold of someone from Trek to verify and see a bit more about what people have been paying for these).
I thought I got the serial # but I guess I missed it... should I ask the seller for it?
Random sidenote:
Guy B collects weird bikes but this one was just too big for him. He showed me one of his bikes which was made form bamboo, lashed together with hemp and epoxied at the joints... he was for real.
Last edited by warrennnnnnnnnn; 01-09-14 at 03:08 AM.
Reason: formatting