Opinions on Lynskey frames

[betahprod]

Originally Posted by Cicli

They are good frames. My issue is that if you pay full boat and they decide to blow them out at the end of the year for half. Resale sucks on account of their deep discounts year end.

You think I could sell it back if I don't like it after riding it for a while @ $1000 for the frame set (frame, whiskey fork, and cane creek 40 hs)? An oddly specific question, but I never tracked resale on Lynskey's!

[Hilltopperny]

Originally Posted by betahprod

What fork do you recommend? I have was thinking about getting their suggested 45mm rake (Whiskey's No.9) or a little longer (ENVE) @ 47mm

Whisky makes nice stuff. I use their no.9 on my rigid 29er and have a no.7 seatpost that I like a lot. I have enve forks on quite few bikes as well and they are also top notch. Cannot go wrong with either imo.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[marciero]

Bought mine, an Urbano, for around $600+ used but never built up. Paired with a Rodeo Lab spork and built as 650b fat tire bike it has completely filled the bill as an all road bike. It's great for camping bike too as it handles great with low-rider front panniers. I see it as a non-bling bike, yet the welds and workmanship do not seem to be lacking in any way. As far as performance goes, it may give up a small bit of performance compared to my skinny tubed steel rando bike for improved handling over rough surfaces and general stability.

[whateveronfire]

I got their standard CF fork (bought the bike complete from them). Been happy with it. I’m assuming that’s the 45mm rake.

Originally Posted by betahprod

What fork do you recommend? I have was thinking about getting their suggested 45mm rake (Whiskey's No.9) or a little longer (ENVE) @ 47mm

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by 5oakterrace

I have no experience on any other titanium bike

Even worse, I have no experience with any titanium bikes (except for an old Merlin I rode once, a dozen years ago). So my impressions of any Ti bike is based entirely on 2nd-hand stories, anecdotes, commentary from people who ride them, both personal acquaintances and anonymous internet forum folk

...but from all of those stories (all of which should be taken with a huge grain of salt, admittedly) I've come away with the very distinct and consistent impression that Lynskey -- either as a framebuilder or a company -- is a "second tier" bicycle. I.e., the quality of their workmanship and/or their customer service isn't on par with "first tier" builders like Seven, Strong, Eriksen, Hampsten, Spectrum, or Firefly etc.

Which doesn't mean Lynskeys are bad frames, or that they're a bad company to do business with. Since they're generally much more affordable than any of those other frames, it may just be an example of You Get What You Pay For.

But that impression I've developed has rarely been challenged by anything I've heard or read about the brand. So fwiw if I ever do start looking seriously for a Ti frame I won't be looking at a Lynskey. Perhaps that's my loss.

[zap]

Seven hundred bucks..........if it fits and you want one go for it.

[572cv]

I had a Lynskey cross bike, which I bought new from a nearby LBS. They had the brand and thought highly of it, so I went with it, not knowing that much about it. When it came, it was very nicely done- clean, nice welds, nothing to object to, and a fair price. When I went to pick it up, they set it up carefully for me, which was, I think an important step. They faced the head tube, same with the BB. They chased all the threads on the bike. They even made sure the seat tube was fully clear and round and smooth. I realized that doing this made the installation of all the bearings and parts much easier, AND probably eliminated some potential areas of creaking, always a possiblel annoyance with a Ti frame. I got a lot of wonderful riding with that frame, and a pal is still using it happily.

[glepore]

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

Even worse, I have no experience with any titanium bikes (except for an old Merlin I rode once, a dozen years ago). So my impressions of any Ti bike is based entirely on 2nd-hand stories, anecdotes, commentary from people who ride them, both personal acquaintances and anonymous internet forum folk

...but from all of those stories (all of which should be taken with a huge grain of salt, admittedly) I've come away with the very distinct and consistent impression that Lynskey -- either as a framebuilder or a company -- is a "second tier" bicycle. I.e., the quality of their workmanship and/or their customer service isn't on par with "first tier" builders like Seven, Strong, Eriksen, Hampsten, Spectrum, or Firefly etc.

Which doesn't mean Lynskeys are bad frames, or that they're a bad company to do business with. Since they're generally much more affordable than any of those other frames, it may just be an example of You Get What You Pay For.

But that impression I've developed has rarely been challenged by anything I've heard or read about the brand. So fwiw if I ever do start looking seriously for a Ti frame I won't be looking at a Lynskey. Perhaps that's my loss.

Lynskey isn't in the same "tier" as those others in prestige because its primarily a production builder that will do custom, while the others mentioned are full custom builders for the most part. In theory that gets you custom selected butting lengths etc although in practice who knows how much of that goes on and how much of a difference it makes. Pricing reflects that. Lynskey's are fine production bikes, as I think you imply, but bespoke always carries more "prestige" whether there's a real world difference or not.

And just to clarify, Spectrum is not a ti builder. All of the actual bikebuilding in ti is/was done by now Seven and then Merlin. This isn't a secret, its all over Tom's webpage. What you get with Tom is his particular fit expertise and specification-which is well worth the premium IMHO, but no ti welding goes on at Spectrum.

[johnniecakes]

I would have to disagree with the assessment of Lynskey being a second tier frame or company. I currently have a Litespeed Ultimate, Dean E lDiente, and a Lynskey fixed gear. My past experience with Ti frames is mainly with Spectrums (popular in eastern Pennsylvania) a few Sevens and a Moots. In my mind what would qualify a frame company to relegated to second tier would be poor alignment, poor construction, or poor customer service. Lynskey is none of these. Their frames are well made and the customer service has always been quick and accommodating, at least in purchasing, as I have never had a problem to test their responsiveness to a problem. Their perception as being second tier may be due to their lower costs and prices. They are in an industrial building and are made in a production environment which from cost stand point is more efficient. If you build bikes in low volume in a space that includes a showroom, museum, photo studio etc.. in an expensive location it all adds cost but not value. The quality of a product is not determined solely by the cost. There is also a factor that allows a producer to charge a very high markup for the name. People are quite willing to pay for an impressive name on the product if they believe it will add some undefined characteristic to the product.

Just my 2 cents.

[DfCas]

Does Lynskey use Asian sourced ti to cut costs?

[glepore]

They use ti from sources "around the globe" according to various internet chatter, meaning yeah, some is asian. Almost all raw manufacturing materials are now, I wouldn't be concerned about that from a quality perspective. Politics aside.

[alancw3]

many of you may not know but the lynskey family actually sold litespeed to a large conglomerate way back when in like the early 90's. if i remember correctly one of the sons had to stay at litespeed as president for five years to fiful the terms of the contract. after that is when litespeed went to s***. i think the management instituted a policy for the frame welders of getting compensated per frame build instead of hourly.

anyway the point of this reponse is that the lynskey family has a great deal of knowledge and experience when building bike frames. don't sell them short as frame builders.

[pcxmbfj]

I have Lynskey, Litespeed, Dean and Moots and the only quality difference that is obvious to me is the welded bottle cage bolt holes on Dean and Moots.

[Tony]

I liked my Ridgeline, however, didn't care for their costumer service. Reason I wont buy another bike from them again.
https://goo.gl/photos/4JJy9wwzn2hy2RUq7

The problem was I needed a der. hanger so ordered this over priced one, was $45.00 at the time. The nut off my bent hanger would not interface with the new hanger. So called to get a nut that would, didn't want to send one, said the old should fit, had to talk to several people and send pictures of my old hanger and nut. Wanted to charge me shipping twice. All this over a small nut.
https://lynskeyperformance.com/produ...th-hanger.html

[SlowPokePete]

My one Ti bike is a Kona Raijin which is made by Lynskey, and I have no complaints about it at all.

SPP