2001 Litespeed Tuscany work in progress. Waiting for new Sram Force 10 speed group and Kent Eriksen seat post.

There are so many hot Ti bikes in this thread. Quite the inspiration. Here is my updated 1998 Dean Castanza:

Refreshed my 2006 Moots Compact with new Ritchey WCS (73 degree)stem, Ritchey WCS Classic handlebars, white Campy cables, fizik white tape and a Powertap G3 hub with Velocity Deep V rim (28H). Needed to readjust the cockpit position because I got so use to the lower position of my Alchemy Xanthus. Now both bikes have the same position.

Now:





Before:

My early 90's Merlin Extralight. Reynolds Assaults, now de-stickered, replaced the Spinergy Rev X's.

My Lynskey Custom Level 2 2007 - Size Small

That looks fast just standing still!

I love the paint!

Looks sick!

I can't decide on the Kent Eriksen Sweatpost or the Thomson Masterpiece. Either one would be with setback, not straight. I need 18mm of setback, the Thomson is 16, the Eriksen is 20, so either would work. The Thomson can be had for $130, the Eriksen $230. I like the look of both, although the Eriksen clamp is cleaner looking in my opinion. The Thomson is a bit lighter at 158g compared to 175 for the Eriksen. Would the Aluminum Thomson or the Ti Eriksen complement my '01 Litespeed Tuscany best? I'm thinking more about performance(stiffness, etc.) than aesthetics. Any Thoughts?
(the orange tuscany above with the HED wheel set)

From a stiffness perspective I doubt there would be a noticeable difference between the two. In terms of road vibration dampening:

1) Carbon Fiber
2) Ti
3) Al

I spent the latter half of this year researching what $2-3000 sportive road bike I was going to buy.
I was leaning towards a Trek Domane or a Lynskey Sportive but then decided to just wait since I ultimately want a carbon road with disc brakes.
Since it will take a few years for all the manufacturers to sort disc technology out, and hopefully electronic groups will come down in price; I got this 1998 GT Forte to ease me back into road cycling after a 25 year hiatus.
I always wanted this bike but it was ~$2700 back in 1998 which seemed crazy to me.
I luckily got this for only $625 since the seller was moving overseas.
Gotta love titanium since it never looks old.

I'm 5'8" so I thought the 54cm was a good size, but I feel it is too long for me or my 40y.o. body just doesn't like to stretch like when I was a kid.
It came with a Selle Flite saddle, then I tried a Brooks Finesse, but find the Rido saddle slammed forward the best so far.
I also raised the stem as far up as possible.
I removed the small chainring since there are no hills here and my computer is on the back wheel since I ride on a turbo trainer.



I wouldn't dare to put this in the Hot or Not thread, but I plan to upgrade everything to fit me better and just be cooler; threadless fork, straight seatpost and shorter stem will be on the list for sure.
I will post again when it significantly different.

Congrats on the find. I'm sure it will work well for you. Anything that gets you back into cycling is a good thing. Enjoy!

I'm leaning towards the Ti just because it really is a sweet seat post.

It's not a road bike, but it's a ti that I ride on the road.

my touring bike somewhere in the middle of washington. so many good miles on this bike.

I recently completed building up this polished 1996 Litespeed Classic frame that I purchased from a BF member over 5 years ago (!). I spent a year gathering the parts, then got busy with life and job until a couple of months ago. The frame and parts were in storage in my basement until I recently took everything out and put it all together. The drivetrain is Campagnolo Centaur from 2008/2009 except for the Chorus rear derailleur (got a great deal on it). I chose to get the silver alloy version of the Centaur brifters, and also other alloy parts (vs. carbon). It sort of goes well with the polished TI frame, IMO I am very happy with the bike and I learned a lot about putting together a more modern bike than what I'm used to working with. It's smoooooth .



--Warren

Mine's gone through a few small changes since I posted last. Still going strong

06 Merlin Compact , down to 14 lbs , since my last post I have added Planet X brakes, Kcnc ti cassette, 170g Bontrager tires , the bike started out at 18 lbs a year ago . I plan on keeping the triple for those Colorado Climbs on my Vacation this year , yes go ahead and call me a wimp , but the 50 year knees are not what they use to be ......

Just beautiful. My '11 Merlin Extralight is still over 17lbs =(

Motobecane Century Apex (or Rival) with upgraded handlebars and saddle? I have the same bike. It's a really stiff bike.

Great looking bike, and what a job you did getting the bike down to 14 pounds! Dang. You must race a lot? How long will those TI gears last? What wheels are those? (I couldn't read the brand on my monitor).

Those Motobecanes are the best deal anywhere for a quality titanium bike, I would match it up any time to the much more expensive Habanero. I was going to buy one (Century model) but starting over a year and a half ago they couldn't get my size in any of the TI bikes, and they wanted to go to disk brakes which I didn't want, they still don't have my size in the Century (Team?) or the any of the other TI road bikes! So I settled on a Lynskey which I got on a introductory sale price. Not sure why Bikes Direct isn't getting anymore TI bikes in, kind of weird, but they obviously lost my business among I'm sure quite a few others.

By the way, the Habanero, which is made in China, was more expensive then my Lynskey made in America even after all the price increases Lynskey has had on the Silver series.

14lbs with that triple .... NFW ..... you need a new scale. The Topolino wheelset is fairly light but there is nothing on the bike uber weight weenie. My guess is with pedals that bike is easily over 15lbs ... maybe more.

14lbs with that triple .... NFW ..... you need a new scale. The Topolino wheelset is fairly light but there is nothing on the bike uber weight weenie. My guess is with pedals that bike is easily over 15lbs ... maybe more.