Price Paid:
$499.00
at www.leaderbikeusa.co Favorite Ride:
Leader Bike 780TT Bike Setup:
I bought the frame and i806 forks from Leader, and built up the rest from the following components:
Hed Jet 60 front/rear wheels
Ultegra 10 speed with 11/23 rear cassette, integrated crankset, front/rear deraileurs.
Shimano 105 brake calipers
Dura-Ace bar end shifters
Cane Creek 200TT brake levers
VisionTech base bars and TT clipons
Ritchy adjustable angle stem
Performance Forte' carbon seatpost
San Marco SKN Pro saddle Summary:
I've had a slow progression from my mountain bike (a full suspension Giant Warp DS2) to road riding. It all culminated in training and competing in my first triathlon, which really got me hooked on road riding. Besides wanting a bike that would be competitive for triaths, I wanted a bike that suited my style of general training, which is hard, short, fast sprints of about an hour or so (I'm not into long tours). I found out about Leader Bikes from eBay stores, and subsequently read some reviews on their other frames. After seeing that their prices were considerably lower due to being a smaller company, I decided to use their 780TT for a road bike buildup. The 780TT is a brand new frame that consists of UAL aluminum with carbon seat stays. The frame geometry is perfect for aero riding, and I'll probably try my hand at some recreation TT's, as well as triathlons. The overall shape of the frame and tubing is really attractive and it just shouts of aerodynamic efficiency. The weight isn't bad at all, either (UAL U6 is lighter than 6061 or 7005 aluminum due to being stronger and subsequently thinner walled tubing). The geometry specs can be found on the Leader Bike website (www.leaderbikeusa.com). Leader also has a good warranty program that can also be found on their website. The forks don't specifically come with the frame, but Leader sells an aero fork (i806) at an excellent price to make a complete frameset. Both use the Cane Creek IS6 headset. Strengths:
For the price, you really can't go wrong. Horizontally slotted rear wheel dropouts allowed me to get the wheel tight into the aero cutout. Great teardrop aero shape on all three main tubes. Stays are contoured for aero and the carbon does decent dampening. Forks (i806) are the best value available for an all carbon aero fork ($149 from Leader's eBay store). All welds are clean and smooth. Paint job is clean and smooth. Weaknesses:
None so far. Similar Products Used:
It wasn't a TT frame, but I used a Trek OCLV 120 for 3-4 months when training and performing in my first triath. It's a great bike, but a lot of money for not much difference in performance (in my opinion). Obviously can't be in a comfortable aero position on it, but I'm making my comparison to being on the bull bars of the 780TT vs. up on the bars (not in the drops) of the OCLV 120
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