Leader Bike LD-735TT

Price Paid:  $399.00 at Leader Bike Store

Favorite Ride:
Anything fast

Bike Setup:
Ultegra / Dura Ace on a Truvativ crank, profile bars and DA bar-end shifters.

Summary:
I initially made a mistake of buying a road-geometry bike aero'd up and marketed for triathlons, but quickly learned all about the geometry differences between time-trial frames and road-bike frames. To rectify my mistake, I stripped the old bike and put everything on the Leader 735TT frame, and am now very satisfied. The geometry is great for the aero position.

Strengths:
Horizontal dropouts for the rear wheel, zero-stack headset, fairly light weight, internal cable routing, good aerodynamics. Customer support responds fairly quickly via e-mail to various questions.

Weaknesses:
The frame came without any even basic documentation, it took a few hours to figure out the set-screws for the horizontal dropouts, and the internal cable routing. I believe that the cables are intended to be routed through the frame fully housed, but it's not indicated anywhere and there seem to be several way that could work using step-down cable ends. After trying several different schemes of running the cables I think they intend for the cables to be fully housed through the frame. Waiting on a confirmation from Leader on this.

Similar Products Used:
Various road geometry bikes

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Price Paid:  $199.00 at leader bike strore

Favorite Ride:
anywhere on the bike

Bike Setup:
Campy veloce and record derailers, campy barend shifters. Profile bars and stem,fsa cranks,speedplay pedals,fulcrum wheels

Summary:
Bought a blem frame(wheel cut out not perfect) from leader to try out quality. Welds look good and the frame ride great. Had problem with the seat binder bolt but lead immediately warrantied it and there hav been no other issues but the common seat post problem not staying in place(fixed with carbon post)Built with Campy veloce and record comp.

Strengths:
Price, weight isnt all that bad for the price range. The flat black is old school hot rod colors

Weaknesses:
Seat clamp not tightening down enough. Reccomend using a carbon post it fixed the problem.

Similar Products Used:
Giant ocr,cannondale caad8

Price Paid:  $0.00

Bike Setup:
735TT with Dura-Ace, Profile-Design Carbon-X bars, Bontrager x-lite race aero, Q-Rings.

Summary:
I'm very happy with my Leader bike and with the support I got before and after purchase. I decked out a bargain frame with Dura-Ace and other high-end equipment and it's pretty sweet. Are there better frames? Yes, but it would have cost another $1K just to go a small step up in frames. This is the one to get for most of us.
I had a little bit of a setup issue with the front derailleur which I attribute to a combination of factors. The front derailleur when adjusted for it's maximum inward travel won't clear the chain in the easiest gear. To rectify this I had to give it a slightly turned in angle which makes it a little pickier to adjust out chain rub in the other gears. This is probably a combination of the 10-speed gear spread, the very short chain stays, and the placement of the derailleur braze-on (it could be just a little bit better placed).

I also ordered Q-rings and can't use them both simultaneously. The chain ends up rubbing the buttom of the derailleur cage at the small chain ring's 'flat' spot in 6 of the ten cogs. I suspect if I use the stock small chainring I'll be fine. This could be rectified by using a front derailleur designed for a triple, or perhaps by clocking the front derailleur braze-on a little further counter clockwise.
Back to the support. Sal was very helpful pre-sale with all sorts of advice on which handlebar/stem size, frame size, crank arm size. He even looked over my order and recommended a better seat (for ease of positioning). I declined due to my budget and he threw it in free. (don't expect free stuff just because I got it! But it indicates a good customer service attitude).
After the sale, as I was setting up the bike and had questions, I got prompt attention via email...even got referred directly to a rep at Rotor Corp. for consultation regarding the Q-rings. Buying a bike mail-order will always leave you with less support, but you always have your LBS to fall back on.

Strengths:
Great bargain on the frame. Very impressively light UAL aluminum. Very good frame. You save $1K by settling for aluminum and visible welds. No big deal.

Good customer service.

Weaknesses:
The pitfalls of buying mailorder.
Not-quite-right placement of front derailleur hanger.

Similar Products Used:
None.

Price Paid:  $359.00 at eBay

Favorite Ride:
Burke-Gilman Trail, Seattle

Bike Setup:
All Shimano 105 9-speed black components, except for shifters (Dura Ace bar-end) and brake levers (Cane Creek 200TT). Vuelta XRP Comp wheels (awesome!), Forte handlebars, aero bars, stem, saddle and seatpost; and Look PP337 pedals.

Summary:
I was in the market for a good time trial bike, but I did not want to pay a lot of money. I found the Leader LD-735TT on eBay, and I was intrigued by it. I came onto this site to read the reviews, and I decided I needed to get myself one of these. What a great frame! It's light, stiff, and can withstand the weight of a larger rider. What I'm most proud of is the money I saved not only in the frame but also in the components. Just about every single component I put on this frame was on sale, and I paid a total of less than $1300. That's less than just about every single TT bike on the market today. No single component cost me more than $99.

While this is a review of the frame, I need to mention the wheels. I went with a set of Vuelta XRP Comp wheels that I got on eBay brand new for $99. These wheels are the real deal! Like I mentioned, I am a rather large rider (albeit shrinking rapidly following gastric bypass surgery). These wheels are able to stand up to my weight with no problem!

Strengths:
Awesome looks
Great geometry
Stiff

Weaknesses:
The only suggestion I would make to my new friend Sal at Leader Bike is to put the rear dropout set screws in a separate Ziploc baggie with detailed instructions on how to install them. Since most road bikes today do not come with horizontal dropouts, most riders (myself included) wouldn't know that the set screws are necessary.

Price Paid:  $560.00 at Ebay

Favorite Ride:
Any ride that has hills

Bike Setup:
Dura Ace 7700 upgraded to 10 speed
Felt Aero Carbon Seatpost
Profile Split second Aerobar
Axel 320 Wheeelset
FSA Carbon Crank ISIS
Dura Ace Pedals
Sella Italia Tri Saddle

Summary:
I wanted a new frame so I went online and found Leader Bike through a friend. I got the the frame and was really impressed by the workmanship. A couple of people have said that they were missing set screws. My frame did come with them but they were longer bolts kind of like cantilever bolts which worked great. My seatpost was kind of hard to get set up but it just took some time. I built it up with Dura Ace. When I first took out this bike I was in total amazement. This frame is straight as can be, nice and steady. I could not believe that only spent $560 on this frame and fork. It rode like a frame that would cost 3 to 4 times as much, very stiff but not harsh. And the fork was nice and plush with hardly any flex. The cockpit has great dimensions, very comfortable. On the first ride I rode 30 miles and expected it to take some to get use to but instead it felt like a bike that I've had for years. When I talked to Sal at Leader Bike he was great. He answered all my questions and was very professional on the phone. You can tell he really loves bikes and his business. He returned my voicemail on a Sunday, incredible!! Overall I am very happy with this frame and hopefully I will be riding it for years to come. And when I do buy another bike or frame it will be from Sal and Laeder Bikes. Great frame and fork at a great price!

Strengths:
Stiff and smooth very straight frame
Awesome paint job

Weaknesses:
Seat slid a litle at the beginning had to crank the seatbolt down without the post to get it to stay.

Similar Products Used:
Gaint CFR Pro
Felt S25