Greg loved carbon, experimented with prototypes in the 80s, and rides a carbon bike to this day. Lemond bikes had a full complement of high-end carbon offerings.

He was not a traditionalist - he happily adopted new technologies. I don't know why a future company of his would be any different.

Course it helps ANY brand, when the company pushes your product heavily, something the Lemond bikes never really got from Trek. We all know why, but its kinda hard imo, to do anything w/o a companys support fully behind you? It started off that way in the beginning, then NOTHING @ the end, my opinion of course.

Agreed. I think any new Lemond offerings, would be excellent technology, and state of the art.

Your right about all of the above. But that doesn't necessarily translate into bike sales. I'd like to see the sales figures for the different Lemond frame materials because I see the steel ones on road fairly often but not so much anything else, and that's also what the people in thread appear to be most interested in. I don't know why a future Lemond frame building venture wouldn't involve what sold well in the past and what posters here seem to miss in the marketplace.

To go state of the art would require some pretty deep pockets which I don't think Greg has or another partner like Trek. Otherwise, it won't happen.

I'm not really following your argument here. You started off by saying that traditional frames wouldn't sell, and now you seem to be saying that future Lemond bikes would likely be traditional, because that's what sells.

To my mind, there is a void in the marketplace for an American road bike. Sure you have Trek and Specialized but those companies have determinedly watered down their image with hybrids and other such nonsense. I think Cervelo has proven that an innovative company can be successful focusing purely on the high end of bike retail. Perhaps an American company with some name cachet and some innovation could give American cyclists - especially in a certain age group, which seems to be buying a lot of these high end bikes - something with some history to buy and be proud of.

My 2007 Buenos Aires is carbon fiber and when I test rode a 5.2 Madone recently I liked my Lemond better. By the way did you see the recent Gary Fischer interview recently in which he as much as said Greg was telling the truth even if not very diplomatically

Excellent post, agreed. Maybe its a stretch, or wishful thinking on my part, couldnt a well known such as Cannondale, take a shot @ possibly working w/ Lemond, to build, good quality bikes, for a niche market? I mean, imo, it could only make their brand name even bigger, should it work. I see nothing wrong w/ a company trying to take a gamble on something like that. Offer steel & carbon, maybe even some titanium offerings? A line of bikes in those offerings, imo, would gain whoever an even BIGGER fan base.

Every person ive spoken to about Lemond bikes, say theyre nice, and still ride that way. Then again, thats 3 people, but still.

I have not, sorry. Mind sharing the link/article? Hes spot on too, imo.

If you guys keep going that way bad things will happen.

If people who hate Greg LeMond will only separate their feelings about the man and his bikes.

Greg knows bicycles very well. He might be a lousy businessman and what not, but he was an innovator when he rode competitively, and he did transfer some of his knowledge and experience about bicycles into his frames. My LeMond frame (Min-Max) has one of the most balanced ride I've ever encountered on a bicycle frame.

I, for one, hopes he gets back in the bike frame business.

I'm saying there is a market for steel Lemonds, but that it's a niche market and that they won't come close to competing with Trek. Waterford and Jamis still make some money selling steel along with others.

[/QUOTE]To my mind, there is a void in the marketplace for an American road bike. Sure you have Trek and Specialized but those companies have determinedly watered down their image with hybrids and other such nonsense. I think Cervelo has proven that an innovative company can be successful focusing purely on the high end of bike retail. Perhaps an American company with some name cachet and some innovation could give American cyclists - especially in a certain age group, which seems to be buying a lot of these high end bikes - something with some history to buy and be proud of.[/QUOTE]

You could be right with that, but Cervelo didn't need a Lemond or (Steve Bauer?), and I don't know that the Lemond name still carries enough marketing weight to offset the past history of prickly business dealing.

Don't get me wrong, I would be rooting for him. From everything I've read he does seem to be into the technical details. But even with good ideas it would be a crap shoot to actually succeed in high end race bikes. But there already seems to be a few folks here who would be interested in a new 853 bike.

+1
Yeah, that sounds interesting.

He can pm me the link if he wants, just asked a question..easy my friend.

+1 If he did, and made one in my size, heck yeah, id give one a shot. I think alot of folks would

i also have a 2000 LeMond Zurich triple.

Can you define this quality?

Any of that stuff in this thread will be considered off topic and deleted. Sorry.

For starters, a frame that does almost everything very well. It climbs great, descends well, corners as if on rails, the front triangle and the rear do not overwhelm one another, tracks well and stiff enough for me at 215-220Ibs with no harshness at all.

If anything, I wish the frame and spec'd fork could be lighter. I am working on that though, as I plan on eventually replacing the aluminum steerer fork with an all carbon fork.

The Min-Max frame were much better than some of the high-end Madone I test-rode. And on my test-rides, I take no chances. I always test-ride with my own wheels and saddle. That way, I can get a very subjective and even feel accross all test-rides.

Maybe I can. I've heard it said the road bike geometry features a relatively long wheelbase, I presume due to a relatively long toptube. I can attest to the toptube but never personally had the chance to measure or compare wheelbases.

I know it's a great ride, and the Reynolds 853 models I've ridden play a part in that as well.

I can see the weight coming off the fork...the frame - not so much. But wouldn't it follow, that an alteration on the frame will affect the overall characterisitc?

Yeah, that is what has been holding me back from replacing the fork. The rake is 45mm, and even though I've found forks that can work very well, I've been kinda reticent for fear I'll mess up the geometry slightly, thus the handling.

I'm at the same place regarding the fork. I need need a new headset and want to put on a shorter stem, so I thought about installing a lighter all-carbon threadless fork. But, I don't want to ruin the look with a mismatched fork or mess with the geometry.

What to do when you can no longer legally sell actual bike:
https://www.lemondfitness.com/

My Zurich gave me another really nice 51 mile ride today. Dialed in the saddle to exactly duplicate the fit from my Trek and it was pure nirvana despite the below freezing conditions. These 853 steel bikes are a dream to ride.

1999 or so Maillot Jaune in 853 with Campy Chorus.

Love this bike but I must admit that a Litespeed Ultimate has knocked it into the #2 spot. I prefer the longer TT of the LeMond but have become enamored with the Ti.

I am getting older though.