Either way, it's a good looking bike.

But I am curious, how much money do you think famous riders make for allowing their name on a bike?

Interesting stuff - here's my question though - looking at the catalogs listed above, the 2001 Victoire does not have the same dropout design as the OP's frame. This dropout didn't show up until the 2004 catalog. I wonder if, as you say, the bike went in for a repair in- or after 2004, and they replaced the original dropouts with the 2004 style (which presumably was what they had in stock at the time), creating, in effect, a hybrid frame that defies easy identification

Very nice bike frame :thumb:

We have a answer from Trek
 

I’m going to share to response from Trek . Can’t say how impressed I am with the work done by Skip and folks at Trek to come up with a detailed answer .
most everything they have to say was said by someone in this thread , just needed to combine all the answers .


Hey there Scott,

Skip here at Trek Customer Care E-Commerce team. Happy New Year!

I was talking to Mara about this bike when you first contacted us as myself and one of the other team members are pretty knowledgeable with the older bicycles that Trek manufactured. I've been looking through our Lemond catalogs all day and can't seem to find the exact model in our system. There are a few things that stand out as a "non-factory" spec for this bike; one of which are the rear dropouts on the bike which are not stock for that Victoire Classic. The closest year we could come up with is a 2002 because of the stepped head tube design; the 2001 had a more uniform shaped head tube and this model has a widened upper and lower head tube for the oversized bearings. Lightspeed Bicycles actually did a lot of the repairs for the Titanium Lemond frames so it tracks that this rear drop out may have been installed later on it this bikes life. Another thing to note is the Lemond down tube frame decal which overlaps itself on the bottom side of the down tube (near the etched area). This would not have left the factory with overlapping decal edges which makes me think that an aftermarket Lemond decal was placed on it after the repair work.

Basically everything points to a 2002 Lemond Victoire Classic but it's definitely had some work done to it somewhere down the line and our best guess is that Lightspeed did some repair on this bike so that's why it doesn't look exactly like the 2002 model. Hopefully this helps with your question and I hope you have a great New Year and a great upcoming weekend.

Take care and thanks for reaching out!

I vaguely recall that was told years ago by Litespeed that they information on all the bikes they manufactured, even if for another company. You might contact them. I'd be interested in hearing what they have to say, if anything.

It’s nice they did some work, but their conclusion is not satisfying to me given there is a picture of at least one other frame out there (link upthread) built the same with the headtube and dropouts. Seems unlikely two bikes would have the same repairs done.

Three more things cast doubt on the Trek conclusion. First, while there are Victoire Classics out there with different dropouts, I did not see any Victoire Classic listed in any Lemond catalog 2001 through 2006, so I wonder what reference Skip at Trek used to determine the features on this frame are non-stock? Second, there is another frameset of the same construction as yours (which I linked to upthread) that came with a reply from Trek about those having been sold only as framesets. The third thing is that I found a couple of other pics of the same frame construction, but which I could not verify were not duplicate pics of the same frames, suggesting again that there were multiple frames built like yours and that yours is not a one-off repair job.

I appreciate your vast knowledge of these bikes . I in no way can disagree or argue with your opinions . All I know is that I plan to add a matching decal on the seat tube , and build the bike with a 10 speed Campagnolo Daytona groupset . I’m excited it is a genuine lemond titanium and to ride it for the first time .

And this is the best part.

There is definitely no vast knowledge on my end, I’m just asking questions, but I concur with cb400bill ; enjoy!

Yeah I was just thinking that now, right before I read your post. Usually they engraved SSN or driver's license number, either can be forever traced. My dad did that on things he shouldn't have. When I got my first good bike new, I declined to have it engraved at the police station, but I think did just register it there. If another number were to be engraved, it should be where the normal serial number is, as that is a lower stress area.

A Ti bike I bought, I took out some very minor scratches with a gentle application of scotch-brite, in the same direction as the rest of the brushed finish there. Holding the ends of a large scotch-brite sheet, I used a shoe-shine motion, that and the large sheet helped me keep the lines straight. Or, wrap around a block. Also, lifting at the end of each stroke, whereas keeping that or sandpaper in contact when reversing direction, and you get oval loops at the end of the strokes, which are easily visible because not in the direction of the straight brush lines, I learned this from polishing other stuff.

Nice Bike !

(since the mystery of the OP's bike is sorta solved - and man, that is a good looking bike he has!!)

My guess - not very much when compared to sneaker or clothing deals like B-Ball players get.

Lemond actually started his own brand, then made a deal with Trek to produce the bikes for him. Business went well for the pair until 2001. (morals and business don't always pair up well).
IMHO - Lemond's were some of the best looking bikes made. And depending on the year/model - fine riding and performing bikes as well.

I think the money is in being a brand ambassador (for lack of better words) vs being in the bike business itself. MVDP has a 10 year contract with Canyon - value unknown - but I assume its not insignificant.

Agree and we need a picture of the build that was used as a bike.
Scottcalgary please provide pic and ride notes

Build is completed
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...bd3275a8e.jpeg

yum! 🫡

Very cool build :thumb:

Question for you and others. . .I just purchased a 2001 Victoire, and am planning to upgrade to DA 7800. In looking at brakesets, I gather there are "regular" and "recessed" version of the brakes. Any idea which version I need? TIA for your help.

​​​​​​https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...9aa8635e_z.jpg

Killer Ride ! :thumb: