My Lemond

[Spear45]

I could get one for £117 although Royce charge £170, the original one on my bike is now 21 years old,still smooth but I need a back up before they are extinct.

 

[Wold Ranger]

ps thanks mike muz i guess 853 is out for me permanently...always thought they were a bit too thin .im
96 kg anyway.

Too thin for me as well I guess , at 78kg . Along with those lovely looking Mavic Helium wheels

Mike

Air Hardened 853, has the highest tensile strength of any ferrous steel tube, think you would have to go to 953 or Ti to exceed this, strangely I always found 853 a very harsh ride, being so stiff and not that light either, which would suggest they are thicker at the welds than they belie. My LBS have a chart up on their wall with every metal frame tubing ever made and it's at the top of the steel list.

 

[oonaff]

Re:

at the time of writing i had googled 'lemond 853' which is trek built somewhere and tig welded.
a few of these frames are written to have cracked at the welds and also at the bottle bosses.
the harsh ride you speak of doesnt sound good, but then someone else will write in and say
'mine isnt' i would say now. its unlikely for a good frame builder to build a 853 lugged frame and have it crack at the welds because there wont be any . and if a good frame builder would recommend an 853 frame with my weight/riding style and indeed true application, considered .also guarantee ing a smooth ride on rough tarmac as well as excel can with no road buzz i want that man!

 

[Wold Ranger]

Re:

Don't really understand the references to 853 cracking, plenty of the top MTB builders did and still use 853, with no problems despite the higher stresses of off road abuse. I've owned many different incarnations in 853 and hammered them over the North Yorkshire Moors tough and rocky trails, without a blip.

 

[Spear45]

I'm sure it's a bit of bad luck if a frame cracks. I had a Cinelli advantage pro in the early 90's and the forks cracked,that was Columbus SLX,lovely frame but not well brazed at the forks. My Lemond is a Bilato built one and top quality. I won't ever get rid of it.

 

[oonaff]

853 953 951 are the flagships of reynolds tubing at the mo and lots of firms have built with them with great
success.
fact;some of the lemond zurich frames have failed.lugged joints are stronger than tig welded ones.
maybe trek,didnt silver solder the bottle bosses.or didnt anti corrode the internals or use the correct welding
materials on these particular bikes, who knows ?

 

[Spear45]

Lemond update, my last ride highlighted an annoying creak coming from the chainset/BB area. I stripped it down,cleaned and re installed the bottom bracket,still running smooth after 20 years. I also took off the chain rings,cleaned and re fitted. Bike now in good health and ready for it's next outing. I recently purchased a Brooks Cambium saddle which I'm undecided about but will use it for the next few weeks.

 

[oonaff]

Re:

looking good. chuffed i got the right [gan] bar tape .

 

[Spear45]

Very snazzy..

 

[oonaff]

yeah,i must admit when i saw the pink bits i did kind of grimace a bit.ive looked at so many gan lemonds now thats the only tape thet looks normal.a local vinyl printers is messing me about with the decals but ive decided i want proper decent tough sticker's made.just them and bang !i have all the bits now even the proper centre of crank dust covers for mavic starfish and 1st generation ergo's.but not before my trek 2300,ive just noticed the b,calliper fittings are a bit too rusty worse on the rear and one of the cable adjuster/s is wrong.there is a mint pair on the bay.that will give me 3 bikes from the 90/s one from '82 so im thinking mid to late 80/s - 753 next.