mrk_in_fl

It's a '04 Litespeed Firenze. I have a little over 500 miles on it. 59 cm frame, Ultegra, Mavic Cosmos wheels...pretty much stock except for a Cannondale 90cm stem and Nashbar Ventoux pedals. Weighed in at 18.75 lbs without pedals. I've only ridden aluminum road bikes before this one and it's a dream compared to them.

jitteringjr

Sweet bike, but you need to zoom in more next time. Nice crown molding btw

mrk_in_fl

Thanks. I have a really crappy camera...I spend all my spare money on bike stuff...and beer.

jitteringjr

On crappy cameras you can use the manual zoom by walking closer to the object.

mrk_in_fl

I'll try and take some more...I did some closer ones, but they came out blurry. BTW, there's a large dinning room table right in front of the bike stand keeping me from walking closer. Maybe I should just stand on it.

turbominnow

very nice,
Once I get my ass in shape I can see myself riding a firenze.

jitteringjr

You do have your priorites straight. You can sit at your table after a ride drinking a beer while admiring your bike on the stand next to the table.

MacMan

lol! If my wife caught me stashing my rigs in the living room, or any room in the house come to that, she'd chop my goolies off

Mattlikesbikes

I want in . I want in.

Here is my 05 Firenze about 3.5 weeks old with around 600 miles on it so far and one bad crash where I cracked my helmet and had some nasty road rash I was riding the next day so it was not that bad of a crash

Oh I really really love this bike.


Matt

AEsco48

can you give us a review of your old bike to this new Ti...

mrk_in_fl

I hear ya Mac. I currently have six bikes stored in various spots thoughout the house...guess that's one benefit of being freshly divorced.

mrk_in_fl

I'll try...I came from the world of MTB. I just got into road biking last year and wanted to spend less than $1K. So, I took a friends advice and went to one of the local Cycle Spectrums to look. I ended up getting alone well with the shop manager and bought a Motobecane Le Champion. Before that I had ridden an old Cannondale R400. The Cannondale was stiff and harsh. The Motobecane wasn't as bad but it wasn't an "all day" bike. I had always wanted a ti bike, so after a year of riding I decided to take the plunge.

The Firenze is basically the bottom-of-the-ine ti Litespeed, but I couldn't be more happy with it. The Cannondale was bone shaking (alu fork and alu frame), the Motobecane wasn't as bad, but my back started to ache after around and hour and a half of riding. The Litespeed is smooth. I rode the bike close to four hours last Sunday and felt great afterwards. It's lighter, smoother, and quicker. I don't notice any flex, but I only weight around 175 lbs...so I don't think I could make the BB flex if I wanted to.

To sum it up...I love it and will be riding it for many years to come...if I don't get hit by a city bus first.

mrk_in_fl

Sweet bike Matt. Nice wheels.

Mattlikesbikes

Thanks
Yours is looking mighty fine also.
Those are the wheels I had on my old Allez I figured they where better then the stock fsa’s that the bike came with. I would love to switch them to the sl’s someday but my bike funds are pretty low after that purchase so it is going to be a while. One thing that I lucked out on is it was a full Ultegra (9 speed)where according to the Litespeed website the 2005 Firenze is 105 with an fsa compact crank and bb
It is a great bike and rides like a dream compared to my Specialized

CPcyclist

That pic is so unwarranted. The Bike should be Free from being hung on a wall. Wheels not even touching the ground. you are so.......... nice bike .

Geoff326

higher res pic requested

turbominnow

Ohhhh sweetneesssss, I have the same color xB. You have the roof rack or just pile it up the in hatch?

AEsco48

Thanks for the review.....i would really like a Ultimate or a Siena...Ti frame with the CF fork and CF seat stay for damping....i think that would be the best bike...even over a CF monocoque...but the litespeeds are $$$...$3.6k for the ultimate frame set alone....then i would love to set it up with campy record....we will see...

i have to ride a Ti bike and a CF mono first and see how i like it...

got to find out the price on the Siena frameset alone...

slvoid

Congrats, I picked up a firenze 04' last year too, the thing is bullet proof. Cept I really need to replace the ultegra brake pads, they suck.
I got the same specialized seat bag too, do yourself a favor and rip the cast metal "S" off the sides. It's pretty sharp and everyonce in a while gets caught in the side of my shorts.

Mattlikesbikes

I do have A Thule rack but I mainly use that for my mountain bike. I usually keep the lightspeed in the back locked up. It is way to easy to bust open the lock on the roof rack then it is to break in my car .

mrk_in_fl

Thanks Slvoid. Your posts from earlier in the year helped me decided on the Firenze. I haven't had any problems with the seat bag snagging yet. I'll take a look at it though.