Lynskey Performance Designs Cooper BB30 Frameset

Price Paid:  $1595.00 at lynskey

Favorite Ride:
lake WA loop

Bike Setup:
fizik aliante seat,
speedplay zeros,
SRAM Force shifter, crank, deraileur's, Control Tech USA handlebar,
thomson stem,
FSA Seat Post,
Easton EA90 SL fork
Cane Creek 110 headset
Mavic Aksium Rims
rear tire=coni gator skins
fr tire= coni 4000 race

Summary:
great welds,craftsmanship, made in the USA! my frame came with Helix seat stays. i don't know what a cooper without helix seat stays feels like, but this frame feels great. Smoother than riding an aluminum frame. Rear triangle is stiff for putting down the Massive Watts. Ride is not harsh. I could definitely do a century on this.
Hammering it on the Flats feels freaking awesome.

Strengths:
Lively Magic Ti ride! stiff on climbs, feels great out of the saddle. BB30 is nice and stiff. Helix seat stays.
stable on 40mph+ decents.

Weaknesses:
none

Similar Products Used:
my other bike is a Fuji Team Pro, 2009, 52cm

Price Paid:  $0.00

Favorite Ride:
Hilly, over 100 mi.

Bike Setup:
* SRAM Force group
* Cannondale Hollowgram SL cranks
* Topolino CTR 2.0 wheels
* Bontrager X Lite stem and post
* FSA K-Force Light handlebars

Summary:
I've been a big fan of Cannondale's Hollowgram cranks since 2003, and when I saw that Lynskey was doing a BB30 version of their least expensive road frame, the Cooper, the light bulb went on: Maybe a $1595 frame would allow me to splurge on components, and come up with a good racing/long-distance bike.

The fact that the Cooper BB30 uses straight gauge tubing instead of butted didn't bother me, because I had some good experiences on straight gauge titanium frames in the '90s -- but I definitely did *not* want a '90s-style ride.

I also own a Lynskey Helix, and I wanted to see how close the Cooper BB30 would come in terms of performance.

I wasn't disappointed. The combination of the Cooper BB30, Cannondale's new Hollowgram SL cranks, and an Edge 2.0 fork felt as stiff as anything I've ridden. It didn't have the Cadillac feel of the Helix when cruising, but it was more comfortable than any aluminum frame except maybe a Cannondale CAAD9, and more comfortable than many carbon race bikes.

The bike weighs in at a little over 16 pounds with Topolino's new CTR 2.0 wheels. With a set of sub-1000gm carbon tubulars, I know I can get the weight down around 15 -- and that's with everything, including pedals and water bottle cages.

I like to haul on descents, because they're the one place I can still go as fast as ever, and the Cooper was incredibly stable at high speeds and nimble in switchbacks.

And when I'm climbing? No effort wasted -- this frame/crank combo is awesome!

Strengths:
* Nimble, stable, and stiff
* Rugged -- dinged the top tube with a dumb fall, and buffed it back to like-new with Scotchbrite.
* Light enough so I don't find myself craving carbon
* Low enough price so I could justify an $800 crankset and a $1400 wheelset.

Weaknesses:
None yet

Similar Products Used:
Dean El Diente, Lynskey Helix