Comments like that would make me question why the dealer is nudging me in the direction of an Litespeed over a Lynskey. Self-serving perhaps? You can buy direct from Lynskey, and they know it.

Just saying...

I seem to remember some post here warning against Columbus Spirit frames for Clydes.

For the record, before I bought my Road Logic, I had enquired with Adam at Wraith about how the frame would work for a 250lber like me, but he unfortunately never gave me an answer.

Do you know much about the Ritchey steel? I didn't see a lot of info on it.

Not much. All Ritchey say is that it's Tom's "special blend" and as such is custom tubing. This is what "ritchey_dave" (Dave Law of Ritchey Design) says over on Road Bike Review:

EDIT: Sorry this quote actually comes from MTBR forums, but RBR he has said similar.

Ultralight steel has never been recommended for heavy riders. Even if it doesn't break, it'll ride like overcooked pasta. Oversized 853 or TruTemper OX platinum would be better options.

Ah the old "Clydes need gaspipes" argument. I have no experience with riding a Columbus Spirit frame, but I can tell you that the 3.9lb Ritchey Road Logic 2.0 frame is stiff and solid feeling under my 250lb frame. It has less frame flex when riding than my Aluminum bike does.

Ritchey FAQ

...and

Ritchey Road Logic Frame

Unfortunately, there's nothing I can find on the website with more details on the tubing.

EDIT - Oops. I see dr_lha already responded.

Yeah, sounds like voodoo :) But hey, if it is light and holds a 250 lb rider well, then hard to argue with that voodoo.

On a side note, I posted a question in the Lynskey fan Facebook page about cracking frames and I'm a little shocked at how many came back and said their frames had cracked. Quite a few, on their fan page...

Looks like 5-6 out 13 responses so far had cracks... Here are the responses:

User #1 - I've been beating the Dickens out of my Linskey M290 for a couple of years on very rocky trails. I've broken a back rim but no cracks in this great frame yet. I have an R340 road bike too, which I've crashed once. Bent the rear der hanger but bent it right back in shape. No prob.

User #2 - I cracked my Lynskey pro 29, but they took care of me on it. I have cracked aluminum, steel and scandium in the past over the years, the only one I have not cracked yet is carbon, but I just added my first to the stable about 6 months ago,

User #3 - I've had mine since 2007, and it's still rocking.

User #4 - I've had my Level 4 for over 7 years and used it hard. Zero problems. Zero cracks.

User #5 - I have sold well over 1000 titanium frames in the last 20 years from Lynskey, Litespeed, Merlin, Independent Fabrication, Seven, Serotta and Moots. I would solidly say that we have seen no more that 40 total including crash damage that have cracked or failed. Many of those frames that did fail would of had 25,000 miles or more.

User #6 - Mine cracked at the end of the left chainstay, crack was at the bottom in the middle, horizontal, very unusual place, but send it back to lynskey for repair, they told me it can be repaired and will look like new, so lynskey has amazing repairing skill...See More

User #7 - I've got 30,000 miles on my Lynskey Cooper CX. I averaged a little over 6,000 miles on it each year over the last 5 years, about 10-15% of that riding is on cross-country trails that my buddies would use their mountain bikes on.

User #8 - I don't believe there is such a thing as a frame that will "never fail", if you ride anything long enough and hard enough it's going to break (especially in mountain biking). But in my experience lynskey will take good care of you if it does.

User #9 - A lot of Lynskey haters on the web in my opinion. Including dealers unhappy with their direct sale model. I think yeah Ti frame can crack especially given the latest craze about light frame and butted tubes. However that can happen with any material. W...See More

User #1 0 - Cracked mine twice, they have taken good care of me.

User #1 1 - Every frame will eventually break. I have personally broken 3 carbon frames and one aluminum frame and I only weigh about 160 and just ride xc. I have ridden way more miles on steel and Ti, but haven't managed to break one.

User #1 2 - My Sportive cracked on the non drive side chainstay, Lynskey were good at sorting it out and HM customs were even better at delaying its return. It wouldn't put me getting another one.

User #1 3 - I've had two Lynskey-made frames and both have cracked (R230 and an On-One MTB frame). Lynskey was great in taking care of both repairs. Going back, it shouldn't affect my decision to buy the frames. All frames will fail eventually, but Ti can be repaired, and will be done at no cost, so long as Lynskey is still around.

Update:

User # 14 - My Sportive is in Chattanooga right now for two parallel cracks in the NDS chainstay. Waiting to hear when it will be returned to me.

FYI @Jarrett2, have you see this guy's blog about his Road Logic?

Ritchey Road Logic 2.0

The guy is also a Clyde, says he's 240lbs right now but has lost around 25lbs.

Just another datapoint to show that the Road Logic frame is not Clyde-unfriendly.

Ah cool, thanks. The more I research, the more I am digging the Ritchey.

So, can you give me some tips of sourcing parts and building one?

Guessing frame/fork/headset (maybe stem/bars) from BikeDoctor?
Groupset from Ribble?

I've got a wheelset, saddle and seatpost that I like already.

I got my groupset from Merlin (Ultegra w/Pedals for ~$600).
Ritchey Handlebars and Stem I bought from Nashbar on one of their "21% off days".
Thomson Seatpost + Tires I got from Chain Reaction cycles
Cages, Cork Tape and Jagwire Inline Adjusters (you need these for FD adjustment at least as you can't mount a barrel adjuster to the downtube on the frame) I got from Amazon.
Braze-on adapter for the FD I got from Bike Wagon (problem solvers one).
Frame (as you guessed) I got from BikeWagon (paid with a check for discount). They didn't have my size in stock, so they ordered it from Ritchey, and CC'd me on the emails to Ritchey's sale rep (the previously mentioned Dave Law).
Most of everything else I picked up around town. The only other thing I can think of is that I bought some CF stem spacers off Ritchey's website.

As for the build, I did this myself in my basement with a standard bike repair stand.

The RL frame I got did not need "chasing or facing" of the BB, the threads were paint free as was the edge of the BB. The bottom bracket screwed in smoothly and flush to the frame. This is in direct contrast to other frames I've seen which usually have lots of paint residuals in them.

I treated the frame with "Framesaver" before I did the build.

The fork needed to have the crown race installed and the steerer cut. The crown race I installed using a hammer and a tool made of PVC plumbing parts, like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5n3vVSIjts

I bought a cheapo fork cutting guide off Nashbar when I decided on the steerer tube length, and cut with a standard fine hacksaw blade which I already had in my garage. This was the most stressful part of the build, and something probably worth having a bike shop do!

Installing the headset on the RL frame is a breeze, as you just drop in the bearings. No bearing press is required.

The rest of the build is all about just getting the right torques for screwing things in! Oh and of course, lubing everything up!

Cool, thanks for the info. I'd have guessed that since they send the frame/fork/headset as a group that it would be built.

Trying to decide if I can save some (worthwhile) money doing the build myself or having someone local do the build.

This is the first time I've ever heard OX Platinum and 853 referred to as "gaspipe".

*Oversized* 853! I don't need or want no stinking oversized tubing on my lovely steel frame!! :)

That kind of thinking is incomprehensible to me.

It's 1/8" larger and what's almost always used on modern steel frames. Seems like an obvious choice, but I'm also not a ferrophile.

The issue is that Clydes are sick of being told that they need steel frames built like tanks to ride, or else the frame will be like wet spaghetti under them. Myself and @Jarrett2 are both big guys, riding steel frames with normal size/lightweight tubing, who are both very happy with how our rides feel, despite skinny roadies telling us that we can't ride those bikes. It's not like I'm in denial, I have 36 spoke wheels on my bike because I know that my weight causes issues.

Then take it up with someone who is saying that. #ffs .

I do often. If you weren't suggesting that I apologize. Just the mention of me needing "oversized tubing" is enough to press the button though. :)

OVERSIZE TUBING?!?!

http://img05.deviantart.net/af18/i/2...gy-d59feew.jpg

:)

Lynskey Owner #15 - I cracked a dropout on my Helix, fixed under warranty with no hassle and the welds on the new dropouts are indistinguishable from the other welds.

Lysnkey Owner #16 - Funny thing; I just noticed a small (3/8")crack on my lynskey Pro29 where the top tube meets the seat post and rear stays.

I think I accidentally started something on their fan page...

SO, to get back to the original topic(since I'm considering this now myself):

Probably no real difference in ride quality. We seem to agree a good builder can make a frame stiff/cushy, twitchy/slow regardless of the material.
Note: even though we seem to agree a good builder can make a frame stiff/cushy, twitchy/slow regardless of the material, some think paying for a custom frame to get YOUR desired ride quality is marketing hype of fairy dust.

Probably the Ti frame will be a little lighter.

Ti seems to have a more care free finish.

Ti welds seem to suffer cracks more than steel.

Yes?

That's what it seems like so far.

The frame cracking question is a tough one. It's hard to get good data. I just found it interesting that one the Lynskey fan page, that 16 different people said they had cracked frames. I did a few more google searches and found other forums talking about cracked frames.

The upshot is that it that Lynskey seems to fix every one of them to the owner's satisfaction. I've seen lots of reports of Litespeed saying, oh well sorry.

That's great than Lynskey fixes them, but I'd rather have a frame that wasn't known for cracking in the first place.

Given than Ti is sold as "the last frame you'll ever need" and "super durable", stories of cracks are worrying, although maybe not indicative of Ti as a whole.

Just found out from Ritchey that their warranty is 5 years on their frame.