It’s by no means simple shedding a testcycle, and this morning I bid farewell to the LeMond, which is starting it journey westward to Bainbridge Island, WA the place it’s going to rejoin its siblings at Basic Cycle:
I obtained the bike again in March of final 12 months:
And I’ve very a lot loved what in some ways represents a excessive water mark within the evolution of the street racing bicycle. (Other than the relative paucity within the tire clearance division, in fact.) When this bike was model new, which was in 2003, I used to be nonetheless very a lot a Racing Fred, however a motorbike like this was past my meager means. So for Basic Cycle to make the dream bikes of the period out there to me for my delectation has been of a dream come true.
But alas, all desires should come to an finish. I had a tough time returning this fantastic bicycle, and on quite a few events I critically contemplated not returning it in any respect and formally buying it. However like an ice cream cone, the LeMond is one thing of a fair-weather confection, and it’s that a lot simpler to withstand such a temptation within the lifeless of winter. When the times are brief and the temperature is frigid, boxing up the bike lastly looks like an affordable different to using it.
This in fact will not be the primary time I’ve bid adieu to a fantastic early-aughts titanium bicycle:
It’s most likely silly to check two bicycles with completely different geometries and elements that I by no means even rode back-to-back. Nevertheless, my aesthetic desire for easy decals and all-metal frames however, my total impression is that the LeMond had a extra nice journey high quality even than the Litespeed. I attempt to keep away from princess-and-the-pea makes an attempt to parse the best way a motorbike feels, and I do know all the explanations body materials has little to do with it, however the LeMond is a kind of bikes that makes me suppose they’re actually is one thing to it, and that the best way they used the carbon and the titanium collectively actually labored. Is it the the magic mixture of body supplies coupled with the much-vaunted “LeMond geometry?” Or is it largely psychological?
Both method, in returning one other fantastic titanium bicycle, and one I most likely favored even higher than the primary, I can’t assist questioning if I’m making the identical mistake twice–although I additionally admit it’s simple to be cavalier once I know I’ve obtained this:
Little doubt when it’s shorts-and-jersey climate as soon as once more I’ll really feel the urge to journey a racy bike with skinny tires and miss the LeMond, however at the least I’ll have this:
I by no means thought I’d maintain the Y-Foil this lengthy. Nevertheless, in contrast to the LeMond, which makes itself obvious instantly, the Y-Foil is an enigma, and one which comprises multitudes, and so I have to proceed to plumb its depths. The suspension fork was solely the start, and one way or the other I believe that to actually perceive this bike is to unlock the secrets and techniques of the universe:
Or, in the event you choose, the bike business certain did some wacky stuff earlier than they discovered street bikes ought to be capable of match wider tires. It’s simple to confuse workarounds and profundity.
