Litespeed Hyperion Ultegra

Price Paid:  $1200.00 at Preownedbikes.com

Favorite Ride:
35 miles of gentle rollers

Bike Setup:
Full Campy Centaur
Mavic Cosmos Wheelset
Time RXS pedals
Cateye HR2000

Summary:
I love this bike. I searched for a good 6 months before deciding on this bike. I bought it NEW from a division of Lightspeed, preownedbikes, and got a hell of a deal. Stiff, responsive, no flex, and the carbon rides great. I would recommend this bike to anyone looking for a sub $2500 ride.

Strengths:
Litespeed for under $1500, FAST, NOT a harsh ride for aluminum, sweet paint job, good geometry.

Weaknesses:
NONE so far except the Selle Nitrox saddle that they put on the thing. Numb the whole day after a ride.

Similar Products Used:
Old Steel Trek (Reynolds).

Price Paid:  $1200.00 at Preownedbikes.com

Favorite Ride:
35 miles of gentle rollers

Bike Setup:
Full Campy Centaur
Mavic Cosmos Wheelset
Time RXS pedals
Cateye HR2000

Summary:
I love this bike. I searched for a good 6 months before deciding on this bike. I bought it NEW from a division of Lightspeed, preownedbikes, and got a hell of a deal. Stiff, responsive, no flex, and the carbon rides great. I would recommend this bike to anyone looking for a sub $2500 ride.

Strengths:
Litespeed for under $1500, FAST, NOT a harsh ride for aluminum, sweet paint job, good geometry.

Weaknesses:
NONE so far except the Selle Nitrox saddle that they put on the thing. Numb the whole day after a ride.

Similar Products Used:
Old Steel Trek (Reynolds).

Price Paid:  $2300.00 at Century Cycles

Favorite Ride:
aubrey butte

Bike Setup:
Ultegra with D/A cranks,bb,pedals. Shimano 7701 D/A wheelset. Ec 70 post, slr gelflow saddle, deda stem.

Summary:
Well, I intended this to be the last bike I would ever buy. So I took considerable time and effort researching and riding every bike that I could. After riding this bike I came to the conclusion that this is the best bike for the money that I could buy. I was used to riding an 853 reynolds steel frame. I liked the feel of it and how it absorbed road shock, but I didn't like the way it climed, especially out of the saddle. The litespeed is incredibly stiff and transfers the power yet does a great job of absorbing road vibrations and bumps. I like the classic geometry and how litespeed uses different tube shapes throughout the frame. The bike didn't have all of the features that I wanted so I upgraded a few of the parts. The dura ace wheels made the biggest impact in ride quality. These are awesome wheels! light, stiff, and quiet. Over all this is a fabulous bike. I think anyone would be hard pressed to buy a better riding bike with this kind of quality considering the price.

Strengths:
Light and stiff yet compliant over bumps. Beautiful looking styling and design. Looks fast just sitting there. (too bad I'm not!)

Weaknesses:
The only weakness so far is the decals are slowly rubbing off.

Similar Products Used:
litespeed clasic, trek 5200, KHS flite 800.

Price Paid:  $1500.00 at LBS

Favorite Ride:
Steeper the better

Bike Setup:
Ultegra Groupo
Richey wheelset w/American classic hubs
Easton CF seatpost
3T Forgie Bars

Summary:
Great bike, solid, responsive and stiff. The guys I ride with are on rigs that cost twice as much and I don't see any vast leap in ability. I can climb with most of them cept for the Cat 1 guy who makes me feel like I am walking. Handles really well. I was upgrading from an old Centurian w/biopasce so anything is an improvement.
I did not buy top of the line, when I start scoring pro-class points then I will move up to D/A.

Strengths:
The CF seatstays are nice. Great climbing machine. No frame flexing, I feel a strong power transfer.

Weaknesses:
What the hell is up with the 105 front derailer and bottom bracket? Why is Litespeed being so cheap. Fortunately my LBS swapped the parts out, but I would not buy a bike that is 95% ultegra and has a swap on the BB just to save the manufacturer's money.

Similar Products Used:
Did not even try the Ti frames. I am not going to drop 5k on a bike.

Price Paid:  $2700.00 at Colorado Cyclist

Favorite Ride:
Cheyenne Canyon TT

Bike Setup:
Full Dura-Ace, Mavic Ksyrium SL wheels, Reynolds Ouzo Pro fork, Fizik alliante saddle, Easton ec-70 seat post, 3T bars and stem, Michelin Axial pro Race tires.

Summary:
I have ridden the bike several times now and it is light, stiff, and responsive. I am 6'4" and 195 lbs and I put out a ton of power. The carbon rear triangle handles me perfectly and there is no flex when you need to really hammer. I just sold my titanium Ultimate because of the flex in the rear. I spared no expense building this bike and it performs beautifully. I ride expert mtn. bike and this is a great training/racing bike.

Strengths:
Stiff, light weight, great color for '03.

Weaknesses:
Paint seems to chip easily. I was used to my titanium that was bomb proof. You need to love this frame more!

Similar Products Used:
Litespeed Ultimate, Litespeed Blade.