Lemond bikes - hierarchy of frames

[weehastogopee]

Sorry if this has been asked before, but does anyone know the lineup of lemond bikes?

Like for Specialized the Tarmac is the road racing frame, roubaix is the endurace frame, tarmac is the aero bike, etc.

What are the main differences in the models?

Thanks!

-Wei

[oliver1850]

The Trek era Lemonds were mostly all road bikes (with the exception of Poprad and Wayzata) that shared a design philosophy of slacker than average seat tube angles and longer than normal top tubes for a given size frame. What distinguished one from another was frame material and components. For example, in 2002 there were 8 road bike models made of either steel or titanium. The geometry was the same for the whole line but you could get a 47 cm in steel but not in Ti. The model progression was:

Tete de Course (Ti DA)
Victoire (Ti Ultegra)
Maillot Jaune (853 DA)
Zurich (853 Ultegra)
Buenos Aires (853 Ultegra)
Alp D'Huez (853 105)
Tourmalet (853 Tiagra)
Nevada City (853 Sora)

Other years were similar, but frame materials varied. Some years the top models were Trek OCLV, later years had the mixed material "spine" frames. There's a bit more variation in geometry between the carbon/mixed material frames and the steel ones but they're still mostly all road racing bikes with pretty similar geometry. You can view the old catalogs here:

http://www.vintage-trek.com/trek-fisher-klein-lemond.htm

[gomango]

I was curious as well.

Thanks Mark.

Fwiw I've owned a Zurich and Poprad. Both of these were fantastic bicycles for me.

[oliver1850]

I think Zurich was pretty consistently the "value" bike in the line. Too bad Trek didn't continue the Poprad as a Trek or Fischer. The 520 touring bike may be the only thing they make in steel.

[metalheart]

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-OP4GXmYpmqk/TmPSQ-GQmmI/AAAAAAAAFL4/GntF7Zj5Eqc/s800/2011-09-04%25252015.18.22.jpg


Somewhere between 1986 and 1987 I bought a new Lemond "Team Pro" painted pearl white .... lovely bike I regret selling. Where does that one fit? Not mine in the link above, but the one I bought was just like it.

[fil]

I think Zurich was pretty consistently the "value" bike in the line. Too bad Trek didn't continue the Poprad as a Trek or Fischer. The 520 touring bike may be the only thing they make in steel.

wasnt the fisher presidio the continuation of the poprad

[DfCas]

The presidio was steel but they ruined the geometry. They raised the bottom bracket so they could say "more clearance", which was the strength of the Poprad for me.

[cash05458]

I love the Zurich....just a great frame and it stands up there with the Merck MXL, Mondonico, Serotta steel bikes I have...nothing fancy, but a good solid frame that is made well...imho anyhow...

[fourflys]

Somewhere between 1986 and 1987 I bought a new Lemond "Team Pro" painted pearl white .... lovely bike I regret selling. Where does that one fit? Not mine in the link above, but the one I bought was just like it.

I could be totally wrong, but I think that was before the Trek/Lemond era... I think that was when Greg still owned the company himself... not sure who was making his bikes them though...

[metalheart]

I could be totally wrong, but I think that was before the Trek/Lemond era... I think that was when Greg still owned the company himself... not sure who was making his bikes them though...

I know Della Santa made some of the early ones and I believe he made the one I owned based on a brief chat with him at NAHBS a few years ago about those he built. But, some of the early ones were also made in Italy (Billato?). I don't know the history that well......

[gomango]

I love the Zurich....just a great frame and it stands up there with the Merck MXL, Mondonico, Serotta steel bikes I have...nothing fancy, but a good solid frame that is made well...imho anyhow...

Agreed.

I would still have the Zurich if some dipstick hadn't stolen it from our garage.

[oldguy00]

The Trek era Lemonds were mostly all road bikes (with the exception of Poprad and Wayzata) that shared a design philosophy of slacker than average seat tube angles and longer than normal top tubes for a given size frame. What distinguished one from another was frame material and components. For example, in 2002 there were 8 road bike models made of either steel or titanium. The geometry was the same for the whole line but you could get a 47 cm in steel but not in Ti. The model progression was:

Tete de Course (Ti DA)
Victoire (Ti Ultegra)
Maillot Jaune (853 DA)
Zurich (853 Ultegra)
Buenos Aires (853 Ultegra)
Alp D'Huez (853 105)
Tourmalet (853 Tiagra)
Nevada City (853 Sora)

Other years were similar, but frame materials varied. Some years the top models were Trek OCLV, later years had the mixed material "spine" frames. There's a bit more variation in geometry between the carbon/mixed material frames and the steel ones but they're still mostly all road racing bikes with pretty similar geometry. You can view the old catalogs here:

http://www.vintage-trek.com/trek-fisher-klein-lemond.htm

I had a couple of buddies with the tete de course ti/carbon models a few years back. One of the nicest frames I've ever seen. Tried riding one, super smooth. I assume the Serotta Ottrott (sp?) would be similar?

[buldogge]

I had that exact Greg Lemond frame/bike…except an '88. It was originally red/white and the PO repainted it in '99 to look like a Lemond.

The were built by Della Santa (very few, will have the stars on it), Bilato Bros. (will have the engraved brake bridge, normally), and Silva (which I believe mine was)…they were imported by Ten Speed Drive and had no serial numbers, only serial# stickers on the DT.

I had to single speed mine and practically give it away…FWIW. (granted it had the unfortunate '99 Zurich paint).

-Mark in St. Louis

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-OP4GXmYpmqk/TmPSQ-GQmmI/AAAAAAAAFL4/GntF7Zj5Eqc/s800/2011-09-04%25252015.18.22.jpg


Somewhere between 1986 and 1987 I bought a new Lemond "Team Pro" painted pearl white .... lovely bike I regret selling. Where does that one fit? Not mine in the link above, but the one I bought was just like it.

I could be totally wrong, but I think that was before the Trek/Lemond era... I think that was when Greg still owned the company himself... not sure who was making his bikes them though...

[ultraman6970]

Yeah, there is a super obscure era in lemond bikes, before the trek era...

So far I know, at the begining dela santa was producing them, and I believe he made no more than 10 bikes, probably that white one is one of those... veloclasique has one like the white one built with full record C as it was spec back in the day. Then the brand went to Europe with the "whatever their lastname" brothers... those are hard to come by too because not many were made by them.

The other thing is that there was no consistency in the paint jobs and chrome job between the different manufacturers that actually built the bikes, even looks like at some point Scapin was producing frames for lemond aswell.

The only difference between the european ran and the trek ran of lemond bikes in steel is that probably the italian ones were using a full series of tubes, the Trek ones if you touch them you can tell that some models had some straight gauge tubes and like 2 or 3 tubes that were the real thing that is in the stickers, even the stickers if you look really good say.. main triangle, only rear... and stuff like that, since nobody pay attention they assume the bike was made 100% with whatever the sticker said, the only way to lower the costs, right?

[bcroslin]

One of my bike regrets is not buying a 04 Zurich for my first road bike. Bought a orbea instead which was a totally forgettable bike.

[GeorgeTSquirrel]

The presidio was steel but they ruined the geometry. They raised the bottom bracket so they could say "more clearance", which was the strength of the Poprad for me.

Yeah, it's an odd frame... I tried one out while they were still being sold, and honestly, it might as well have just been another 520 (which I already have). The Presidio definitely wasn't a cross bike, more of a commuter tourer. No clue what the geo numbers were, but based on my test ride...

[enr1co]

I had that exact Greg Lemond frame/bike…except an '88. It was originally red/white and the PO repainted it in '99 to look like a Lemond.

The were built by Della Santa (very few, will have the stars on it), Bilato Bros. (will have the engraved brake bridge, normally), and Silva (which I believe mine was)…they were imported by Ten Speed Drive and had no serial numbers, only serial# stickers on the DT.

I had to single speed mine and practically give it away…FWIW. (granted it had the unfortunate '99 Zurich paint).

-Mark in St. Louis

I purchased a red Tourmalet ~ 1990-91 made of Columbus SL and likely a Bilato with the engraved brake bridge. A riding buddy one upped me shortly after and ordered an flouro yellow Maillot Jaune made of SLX. Pretty sure it was a Bilato made also.

[weehastogopee]

thanks for all the replies! I was just wondering because of the small sized zurich for sale in the for sale thread.... seems tempting...

[oliver1850]

The Zurich is a nice frame if the geo works for you. Nothing fancy in the paint department, which I never understood as even mid range Treks had pretty nice paint.

[likebikes]

I really really like(d) the lemond buenos aires that I own. Same tubeset & geometry as the zurich, I think.

Also, room for 28s, even under the stock CF fork...

[bcroslin]

Has anyone owned/ ridden any of the titanium/ carbon Lemonds? Judging from the brochures they were produced for 5-6 years yet I never see any on the road or in the classifieds.

[thirdgenbird]

I heard a first hand account that they are fantastic but I too have never seen one in person.

The half carbon half alloy spec trams seems to be a rare bird as well. I bid one one a few years back but it got too high for an experiment. They had a carbon top tube, carbon seat tube, an aluminum down tube, aluminum chain stays, and the head tube and seat tube were split.

Edit: found a picture
http://static.specialized.com/media/2006/bikes/05SWorksTarmacE5DA_l.jpg

Lemond
http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/images/le/lemond-buenos-aires-double-2006-bike.jpg

[druptight]

Has anyone owned/ ridden any of the titanium/ carbon Lemonds? Judging from the brochures they were produced for 5-6 years yet I never see any on the road or in the classifieds.

I've got a buddy who rides one of these as his go-to road bike - the tete de course. I think it's this one:

http://www.mbkbike.com/private_folder/26_FRAME_A/IMG_2339.jpg

He loves it and it's his only "road" specific bike. I've seen them come around on CL, and they don't usually go for that much when they pop up.

There's a couple carbon/alu one on NH craigslist:

http://nh.craigslist.org/bik/4692445436.html

http://nh.craigslist.org/bik/4659415806.html

[batman1425]

My first road bike was one of the carbon/steel spine Zurich's. Really nice riding frame. Predictable handling and very comfortable. I ended up selling it for something with a bit more aggressive geometry when I started racing more seriously.

Was a great bike though and wouldn't mind having one again for a long distance, more comfort oriented, bike.

[bargainguy]

2006 Victoire. The carbon/ti version was made to save weight over the full ti version. Ride is sublime....

[ctbiker]

>Has anyone owned/ ridden any of the titanium/ carbon Lemonds? Judging from the brochures they were produced for 5-6 years yet I never see any on the road or in the classifieds.

I have one (someone painted over the cf with black paint and did a lousy job). I went to the dedication of the Major Taylor statue in MA and had Greg sign this frame. It's sitting contentedly in my basement but my memories of how it rode are all positive.

Ray

[ultraman6970]

BMC had those hybrid AL/Carbon frames too.

[pitonpat]

where's this model fit in? It's the lowly aluminum Etape. Low end Shimano Tiagra/Sora triple components. Now my go to winter & rain bike.

[MadRocketSci]

I really really like(d) the lemond buenos aires that I own. Same tubeset & geometry as the zurich, I think.

Also, room for 28s, even under the stock CF fork...

I believe the difference is in additional ovalization in the tubes used in the zurich....

[SuperColnago]

Hi what was last year of steel 853 Lemond Zurich?
Looking at one for sale here red paint (rough) as a classy beater bike...
Always wanted one....

[jamesdak]

Hi what was last year of steel 853 Lemond Zurich?
Looking at one for sale here red paint (rough) as a classy beater bike...
Always wanted one....

All the catalogs for the Trek Era Lemonds are here. You should be able to find your answer in them as well as what year your's is.

http://www.vintage-trek.com/trek-fisher-klein-lemond.htm