I love it! It has about 3000 miles on it ... the ride is smooth and responsive. Had knees replaced last july, so my longest ride this season has only been forty miles ... have not done a century with this bike yet. Will report back after I complete one this summer. Can't imagine it will be anything less than magical on any ride.

I decided to go with straight bars with bar ends, because I can't remember the last time I actually used the drops on any bike I ride. I also went with a mix of road and mountain bike components, which fit my riding style more efficiently. I prefer very hilly, long rides.

Here is a pic of my new Lynskey Peloton that Matthew at Adrenalin Bikes took before he sent it out: https://www.motomatt.com/wordpress/wp...5/IMG_0594.jpg I should be getting it tomorrow.

It's equipped with all silver edition of the Shimano 105 components. I upgraded the rear derailleur to Ultegra silver, the FSA Orbit headset to Cane Creek 110, Shimano black wheels were switched to the silver version which are a bit deeper then the black version, white instead of black bar tape, cable covers, and seat, and the most expensive upgrade was from the Lynskey CF fork to the Enve 2.0, and SpeedPlay Frog pedals (yes I know those are not typical road pedals but I wanted the option of using a shoe I can walk around in without feeling a bump as I walk). I also accessorized it with silver Lezyne Road Drive pump and silver Lezyne bottle cages; there is also a Topeak saddle bag not pictured I ordered with it.

Matthew at Adrenalin was a great person to deal with and very knowledgeable.

I posted my Helix OS when I first got it and now it has been almost 18 months later, with a few modifications. I also posted my Lynskey R330 a while back.

I have almost 10k km on my Helix OS and about 2000 km on my R330 but all it takes is a swipe of my trusty scotch brite pad to restore the finish to its original bright brushed finish.

The Helix OS has become my defacto rainy day bike due to its complete lack of electronics.



The stack and reach are almost identical with the effective top tube, seat post height, stem, and head set spacers. The Helix OS feels faster and more responsive but the R330 is more comfortable on centuries and 200 mile long weekends.

Mark

Finally got around to taking some pics.

Carl Strong Titanium frame.
Mix of SRAM Force & Rival components
Kinlin rims / bikehubstore hubs
Thomson seatpost & stem
Ritchey bar
Time RXS pedals

Nice Palmares! I hear those bikes were pretty brutal, OS 6/4 tubing on the main triangle right? Also nice groupset my favorite!

My revised Ghisallo

I just bought this Spectrum by Merlin and Tom Kellogg.

The Spectrum Titanium came with Mavic SSC components. Trying to keep it almost all French!







Thank you, Mike

Good to see this thread back.

Here's mine...

Carl Strong double butted ti
Mix of SRAM force and rival
Thomson post & stem, Ritchey bars
Kinlin 27mm rims to Bikehubstore hubs
Time RXS pedals

Salsa Fargo in road set up. Only difference is the tires and pedals. I go from 700x32's to 29x2.2's.

Here is my 2001 Litespeed Ultimate I built over the winter. I have always loved this frame and have always viewed the Ultimate as .... well ... the Ultimate bike! My desire was to create a silver bullet ... so everything is silver if possible. I also prefer the 2001 because it of the headtube, which does not require an integrated headset. I wanted a Chris King headset and no creaking!

This currently has training wheels (Velocity rims and Ultegra hubs) with Schwalbe Durano Plus tyres. I am building a set of wheels around silver Chris King Classic hubs, H+ Sons TB14 polished rims with Wheelsmith stainless steel spokes. The tyres will be gum wall Vittoria Open Corsa. I wanted to make the bike look old school. Additional build parts:

Dura Ace 7800 Crank with Dura Ace bottom bracket
BeBop pedals (I like these so much more than Speedplay pedals because they're lighter and have more float)
SRAM Red Yaw front derailleur
SRAM Red rear derailleur
SRAM Force cassette
SRAM Red chain
Dura Ace 7800 brakes (I thought about ee brakes but the DA are just as good if not better and far cheaper).
Yokozuna Reaction cables

Reynolds Ouzo Pro fork
Thomson seatpost, seatpost clamp, and stem
San Marcos Rolls seat
Ritchey Classic bars (silver)
Alero mount for Garmin Edge (silver)
Brooks leather bar tape
Chris King headset (silver)
King titanium water bottle cages

eddy merckx ax. full dura-ace.

Last month, I crashed into a van - I was riding at over 35 kmh (22 mph) when I applied both front and rear brakes and could only slow down to 25 kmh before crashing. It was a straight T collision and I was on the verge of doing a front wheelie when I crashed. Because it was a van, I did not flip over the van but the impact was spread among the front wheel, front handle bar that dissipated the crash to the frame, and my helmet and the van window that shattered, and my chest and shoulders on the van window frame. I suppose I was lucky in that I could walk away from the accident - in fact, I could have ridden my bike even though the wheels were a bit out of true and the top tube and down tube of my Lynskey Helix OS were bent. My doctor checked me over and said I was okay - apart from my overweight self. I suppose my other sports of swimming, skiing, and judo helped.

I contacted my LBS, Total Access Bikes, and Don Erwin, Lynskey's sales manager within a week after my crash. After studying the photos of my bent frame and after considering the cost of shipping the bike back to the US, of the repairs and of the return shipping back through Thai customs, Don Erwin made me an amazing crash replacement deal and a promise that I would be riding the bike within a month. This included the bright brush finish, custom etching of the logos and my name on the bike and shipping to Thailand. Lynskey kept their promise.



Surprisingly, the ENVE 1.0 fork, ENVE stem, and ENVE handlebar were A-okay as were the SRAM Red shifters. All of the components were moved over from my old Helix OS and I did not change a thing except for the required 27.2mm ENVE seatpost, a 131mm Selle Italia SLR Flow saddle, and a Jagwire brake/shifter cable set. The delrin PF30 cup and one side of the Enduro ceramic bearing BB set had to be replaced. TAB cleaned/serviced the components, trued both wheels, serviced/relubed the wheel hubs, moved over all of the components for the cost of a normal cleaning service. All within a month of the first email.

I now can honestly say that given a chance to redo things, I would change nothing about my Helix OS.

Lynskey and Don Erwin came through - customer service and complete satisfaction not just guaranteed but delivered.

Mark

Mark, I'm glad to hear that you were not hurt badly, and that you're back in the saddle again. That's a beautiful bike!

I'm also a big fan of Lynskey, their products, and their customer service. Jack was very helpful when I purchased my R330, and if I buy another ti frame, Lynskey will be at the top of my list.

Mark - first, I'm glad you're ok. That sounded scary.

Don is great. The whole Lynskey team is great. They made my buying experience so easy and I'm glad to hear they helped you out.

The frame bent but the fork is ok? That's great to hear. Makes me feel better about my Enve fork. I'm no expert, but that's pretty impressive (to me).

Ride safe, and enjoy that Helix!

Another great to hear you're ok!!! I'm too am a bit surprised the fork survived, which also made me feel a lot safer and I have the more stout Enve 2.0 on my Lynskey. It's also quite surprising to hear how good of service Lysnkey provided, I'm no longer least bit skeptical about them. I'm always a bit skeptical of any company's service until proven to be unfounded or vice a versa, but what they did for you is amazing, it was good to hear about it.

White garage:


2013 Motobecane Team Ti frame (size 53)
Ancient but well-cared-for 6600, 6700 pedals
2013 Farsports 50MM carbon/alloy wheels
Spec Romin Evo Expert
Generic Chinese carbon cockpit.
Cheap everything else.

First Ti bike. It's perfect for fast club rides on rough midwestern roads and fits me like a glove.

I don't think that bike is cheap, maybe cockpit is a bit lower quality but that can easily be upgraded and fairly cheaply. And the cost of it makes it a very suitable club racer. I was considering either the Moto LeChamp SL or the Infernal but they sold out of them and Mike at BD claimed they were going to go with disk brakes when the new ones come in February of this year, which I didn't want at all; but I have feeling that BD may not be carrying the TI bikes anymore, they've hadn't gotten new ones since last November to replace stock!

But that frame is is a very nicely made frame that is worthy of putting on better components when the time arrives.

You seem to think that I'm brand conscious or interested in "upgrades". I think it's pretty evident from my bike that neither is the case. I plan on riding the crap out of this bike as is.

BD doesn't have any Ti in stock because the redesigned 2014s with the tapered headtube are about to hit.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...nio?highlight=

Hey Mark, I saw a pic of you and your bike on Lynskey's site. You're famous!!!

Kudos goes to Lynskey.



I had my structural engineer look at my bicycle and he remarked that there were two factors that prevented my injuries from being serious.

Firstly, the straight T-impact into the van spread the force of the impact into the front wheel, frame, handle bar, and then my head, neck, and shoulders. He said the situation is similar to straight head-on automobile collisions as oppose to front offset collisions, which cause more damage.

Secondly, he thinks that the titanium frame acted as a crumple zone absorbing most of the impact force as I was lifted up and my head, neck, and shoulders shattered the van window that also spread and absorbed some of the impact force. He commented that the welds were perfect in that they did not break and that the crumpling started where the titanium tubes were double-butted. He thinks that if the frame material were carbon, the frame would have not only snapped without absorbing any of the impact force but also broken into dangerous shards that could have impaled me!


So, yet another advantage of Lynskey titanium bikes.

Mark

Hello Mark,
Glad you are OK after such a hard wreck, that's a mean bend on that frame from the crash!
I have a few questions if you please about your Lynsky.
What size frame is your bike?
How tall are you in feet, inches?
How much does your bike weight built up now in pounds or grams or kilograms?
I ask because Lynsky is having a sale here. Leaning towards a custom built frame,
but the Lynsky sale is tempting.
Thank you for your time.

Hi Burnette,

My frame is a Size S. I am 5'8" or about 171 cm and, according to Lynskey's website sizer, I should have chosen an M. But, my LBS recommended a size S based on my leg length and the stack and reach recommendations after a fitting on the Juteau-Cantin bike rig.

So, I got the Helix OS size S with a 53 cm top tube and 48 cm seat tube. My saddle to BB length is 69 cm with a 25mm offset seat post with the 74 degree seat-tube with a 170mm crank length. This works for the Fizik Alliante and the Selle Italia SLR Flow saddle but the Selle SMP Lite 209 saddle required additional adjustments. I am currently using a 100mm stem with 2 cm of head tube spacers on the Helix OS but I have also used a 110mm stem as well. This probably depends on where you usually place your hands on the hoods - my hands are on the bars 10%, on the hoods and edge of the hoods 60 %, and in the drops 30% of the time.

My Helix OS weighs 7.2 - 7.3 kg, as built-up with the new Red shifters, RD, FD, and 11-23 cassette, Cannondale SISL Hollogram crankset, Speedplay Zero stainless steel pedals, Jagwire cables, eeBrakes, ENVE bars, stem, and seatpost, Selle Italia SLR Flow saddle, King cages, and the 28/32-spoke HED C2 White Industries training wheels. With carbon, tubular wheels, the bike ends up at 6.8 - 6.9 kg.

My R330 weighs 7.9 kg, as built-up with the old Red shifters and RD, the new Red Yaw FD and Brakes, 12-25 PG1070 cassette, the new Red Quarq crankset, Speedplay Zero stainless steel pedals, Gore cables, ENVE bars, stem, and seatpost, Selle Italia XC Flow saddle, King cages, and the 32/32-spoke HED C2 White Industries training wheels.

As for getting a custom Lynskey bike, I am sure that it will be a fantastic fit. I was fortunate that the Lynskey bikes (Helix OS and R330 size S) fit me really, really wellI only got the bright-brushed finish with etched logos customization for my Lynskeys. However, I used the Helix OS and R330 geometry as the basis for my custom Parlee Z1 (6.3 kg).

As for getting a Lynskey, I can not emphasize how great they are - both their bikes and their customer service. Give Don Erwin a call regardless of which way you are deciding.

Mark