Litespeed Firenze

Price Paid:  $1995.00 at Bike store,in CT

Model Year:
2005

Favorite Ride:
20 mile loop, lots of hills

Bike Setup:
full Ultegra 6500 FSA wheel set.

Summary:
I love this bike, put in around 6000 mile. The cosmos wheels are a little heavy, I only use them for fall and early spring training. I bought a new set of FSA that are great and were cheap,also updated to a Sram 11/23. I have a full Ultegra 9 speed and it's great, the bottom bracket was hard to remove the first time I tried, use a good tool to remove it not the junky park,the head set will need replacing this summer ,this is my fourth year with this bike and it's normal wear, the Cane Creek last pretty good.

Strengths:
strong, light and sturdy.Great bike for the money.Would buy one again.Easy to adjust.

Weaknesses:
the cosmos wheels were making a lot of noise when new, they needed adjustments often.I took me a while to figure that the noise came from the spokes, titanium exemplify noise and make it hard to diagnose.

Price Paid:  $1600.00 at Pacific Bikes

Model Year:
2005

Favorite Ride:
Sugar Bottom loop

Summary:
I rode several bikes, determined not to be "seduced" by titanium. However, after aluminum, carbon fiber, and steel, I couldn't shake the instant confidence that the titanium Litespeed gave me. I was lucky enough to find a '05 leftover equipped completely with Ultegra at Pacific Bikes in San Francisco (thanks Joe!). I swapped out the FSA-80s for a pair of Ultegra hubbed open Pros (I'm 6'2"- 190lbs.), the seatpost for a Thomson, and the seat for a Fizik Bobi. The bike has been so much fun for about 1,000 miles now, and I'm confident that it will be a trusty steed for many years to come.

Strengths:
Comfortable, quick, and suprisingly simple to keep clean (no paint - just naked titanium) Seems to be less noisy than the clicking, clunking carbon fiber bikes when we jump a hill on our group rides. Great brakes! The carbon fork also seems to be nicely done. It soaks up a lot of the little "jolts". The Rubino Slicks are wonderful tires, but started wearing thin at 800 miles. Replaced with Michelin Pro 2s.

Weaknesses:
I haven't really found any yet. Even though I'm riding a 61 cm frame and I'm pretty strong, the frame flex is a a minimum. I think the handlebars could be a little wider for a frame of this size. Stock wheels (FSA 80s) immediately went out of true and I had to buy a tool from FSA since the nipples are sunk into the aero rims. I'll save them for cheap racing wheels. Stock seat is junk.

Similar Products Used:
Late 80s Trek 1200 which was raced heavily.

Price Paid:  $963.00 at eBay

Model Year:
2005

Favorite Ride:
Pinellas Trail Florida

Bike Setup:
Shimano 105 and Ultegra front derailleur. FSA hollow aluminum crank set. Thomson elite seat post. fi-z:k Wing Flex saddle
FSA wheels with bladed spokes. Vittoria Rubino Pro Slick tires 700 x 23C Kevlar bead

Summary:
A titanium ride is like none other. It is very smooth even over mildly rippled pavement. Very good feel of the road, bike to rider. Ideal for long distance rides where you can arrive relaxed at your destination.
Its factory running gear configuration is ideal for sport riding, climbing trail bridges and speed on the open trail. It moves quickly with only modest pedal effort. Cruising at 18 mph on open stretches is relatively easy for me as a senior citizen (age 67) sport rider.
Superb braking power with Shimano’s newest design of 105 brakes.
Compared with my new 2007 Schwinn Peloton Pro, this bike is easier to handle and only slighty rougher ride over brick streets or rippled pavement. Much better road feel which I like at age 67.

Strengths:
Very stable. Bike gives the rider complete confidence in turns and quick changes in speed, direction or quick stops. Long distance rides with superb comfort & handling.

Weaknesses:
Relative high cost of titanium frames.

Similar Products Used:
LeMond steel road bike with Sora components. 2007 Schwinn Peloton Pro (reviewed also at this site.)

Price Paid:  $2500.00 at colorado cyclist

Model Year:
2005

Favorite Ride:
club training rides

Bike Setup:
Conventional top tup, curved seat stays. Campagnolo Chorus 10-speed geared 39 x 52 and 12 x 25. Odd Douglas 'BootyLuv' seat that despite the gay name, unusual design and being a bit on the heavy side is one heck of a comfortable saddle for training on. 42cm FSA Energy ergo bend bars, FSA 150 stem in 11cm length. 20mm spacers between stem and headset.

Set up with the right components it is plenty light enough for competition.

Summary:
I'm a 170-pound rider that has been racing/training since 1972.

This is a 2005 frame w/2006 components. I had this built with 10-speed Campy Chorus thru out, including hubs, pedals, seat post, bottom bracket, headset, chain, etc. The supplied fork is an Easton EC90SLX. The bar & stem are FSA. Rims are Mavic Open Pro, 32-spoke, 3-cross with Vredstein Fortezza clincher tires (I also have sew-up wheelset with Mavic Reflex rims for racing). I've put 5000+ miles on this bike and I have had no problems with it. The frame rides easily over our crappy roads. It's forte is soaking up harsh pavement and small bumps. It turns in and holds a line thru a turn well. The Colorado Cyclist build-up and wheel building were top notch. After all those miles on poor roads the wheels are perfectly true. This isn't the fastest feeling bike I've owned or ridden, but it is a good balance of ride and handling. I think a stiffer fork work would help its' response and stiffness. I would have also liked to see larger seat stays (even if some of the ride compliance were sacrificed).

I'm pretty happy with this frame overall. It's just plain 'comfortable' and the geometry is what I look for in a road bike. It made it easy for me to dial in my position and i felt 'at home' on this frame in a couple of short rides.

Strengths:
Smooth ride, all-day comfort. Good geometry for long rides and it's fast enough to race on. Easy to take care of...no rust, no paintwork to worry about, just wipe it down. Easy to inspect for cracks. Low frameset price. 'Should' be durable...we'll see how well it ages.

Weaknesses:
Easton fork is a bit 'flexy'. It's not as stiff as most of my old steel forks.
'Feels' like some flex in the bottom bracket under hard accellerations or climbing. I've expirienced no chain/derailleur rubbing, but it just 'feels' a bit flexy. Decals are plain and could have been easily improved on, but that's hardly worth mentioning.

Similar Products Used:
Paramount, several Pinarellos, DeRosa, Cinelli, several Colnagos, Battaglin, several Gardins, Raleigh, Peugeot, Bottechia, Masi road and track bikes owned over the years.

Price Paid:  $999.00 at Colorado Cyclist

Model Year:
2005

Favorite Ride:
Too many...

Bike Setup:
Ultegra

Summary:
I've logged about 800+ miles since I got this bike in July and have nothing but praise for it. This is the first titanium bike I've owned and I love it. The frame is solid and provides an incredible ride. The longest ride I've done so far is about 40 miles and I had no discomfort at all. I'll post more as I log more miles.

Strengths:
Great ride. Solid frame.

Weaknesses:
None yet.

Similar Products Used:
Trek, Bianchi