LeMond Bicycles Tete de Course

Price Paid:  $4900.00 at Bikes 4 Life Antioch

Favorite Ride:
Is there a bad ride ???

Bike Setup:
Full DA 10 speed, Bontrager XXX Race Lite Wheels, Forgie Stem/Bars, Tompson Post.

Summary:
Awesome...... It is truely something to behold. I bought this bike to upgrade from my first roadie...a Jamis Eclipse. One ride on the Tete and I was blown away. As a mountain rider first and roadie second my primary reason for road riding is fitness, but the more time I spend on this bike the more I am falling in love. I have completed several centuries and 1 double on this bike and I cannot begin to describe the diffrence this bike makes on those long days in the saddle. Smooth, quick, precise, predictable are just a few words to descibe this bike. I can go farther, faster and longer wothout feeling beat up at the end of the ride !!

Strengths:
Fast, Responsive and....SMOOTH..... an all day ride !

Weaknesses:
I haven't found one yet !

Similar Products Used:
Litespeed Classic, Litespeed Hyperion, Specialized Allez Pro M5, Jamis Eclipse

Price Paid:  $1799.00 at International Bicycl

Favorite Ride:
crack o dawn loop

Bike Setup:
DA, Coombe pedals, Race X lights, Easton Carbon seat post and bars.

Summary:
To follow up on my previous post now that I've logged some quality saddle time - this bike far exceeds my expectations! The bike has the magic of ti, is very stiff, snaps to accelerate, handeling on technical decents is very stable, climbs fantastic, is light weight, and the carbon takes the edge off of the road chatter. The geometry is better suited for raod/stage type races and less for crits, so if you are a crit rider, the slightly laid back seat and head tube angles, might not be the right fit for you. I could not be more pleased and feel fortunate that I got a good close out deal on a 2003 as the price jumped up about a grand in 2004.

To the reveiwer below griping about a non repairable frame - Find me any bike besides a steel frame, that is repairable in the event of a crash - if you crash a ti, carbon, aluminum bike and your frame is bent or broken there is little that can be done to repair the frame other than replace it - that's not LeMond/Trek's fault - it's just bad luck.

Strengths:
Great ride feel, light weight, everything!

Weaknesses:
Not crit geometry if that is your thing - otherwise none.

Similar Products Used:
Lemond Zurich, Old Canondale Aluminum

Price Paid:  $3000.00 at ebay

Favorite Ride:
Hills

Summary:
This is a follow up to my last review on January 2004. I had a training accident and broke my rear derailler hanger drop out. Took the bike to my local Trek dealer( Trek Bicycle Store, La Mesa, CA) to have them check out the bike. As it turn out Trek could not fix the drop out because of the way it was made. I have the email response from Trek. They wanted $2200 to replace the frame. I don't think that is right and they should put a disclaimer on the Lemond catalog/website that the ti/carbon frame is not repairable. I wouldn't mind paying for the repair but for $2200, come on. Trek is deceiving and cheating its customers by making expensive product that they could not fix when it breaks. If I knew that a ti/carbon frame could not be fixed, I would have bought an OCLV bike instead.

Strengths:
It's a sweet bike if you don't break it.

Weaknesses:
NOT REPAIRABLE! NOT REPAIRABLE! CONSIDER THIS AS A WARNING. THINK BEFORE YOU BUY A TI/CARBON MIX FRAME. IT'LL COST YOU A LOT OF $$$ TO REPLACE IT.

Price Paid:  $4900.00 at North Shore Cycle

Favorite Ride:
Lemond Tete de Course

Bike Setup:
Dura-Ace 9spd, flight deck, polar power unit with s710, Zip Clinchers

Summary:
If it's possible for a bike to make you a better rider, this one is it. The perfect combination of compliance, stiffness, dampening...this bike does everything well. I never want my rides to end!

Strengths:
handling, responsiveness, road feel, geometry, power to the pedal, climbing

Weaknesses:
none

Similar Products Used:
Trek Y-Foil, Lemond Bueno Vista

Price Paid:  $3000.00 at ebay.com

Favorite Ride:
Hills

Bike Setup:
Campagnolo Record 10sp carbon components, Mavic Ksyrium SL wheels, Easton EC90 Sl fork, Easton EC90 seatpost, Deda Newton bars and stem, Speedplay X2 pedals.

Summary:
I finally found the Holy Grail. I had and rode all of them and this is the best. Very complient but stiff. Lemond geometry is just right for me.

Strengths:
OCLV carbon, Reynolds titanium, light, very complient

Weaknesses:
$$$$$ Pricy.

Similar Products Used:
Trek 5900, Litespeed Ultimate, Cannondale CAAD 7, Specialized E5, Airborne Zeppelin, Bianchi EV2, Litespeed Sirius, Giant TCR, Giant TCR carbon, you name it I had it.