Monday, October 19, 2009

Lynskey Pro Cross Review


Thought it was time to post a review of my new Lynskey Pro Cross. Lynskey is a name that some people may not be familiar with, but the Lynskey family founded Litespeed Titanium Bicycles in 1986. They sold Litespeed in 1999 and in 2006, formed the company that bears their name, Lynskey Performance Designs. These are the folks that are solely responsible for my titanium obsession. I remember the first time I laid eyes on the Litespeed Ultimate in 1998. To me that was the coolest looking frame of that era with its curved seat tube, bladed down tube and curved seat stays. I was hooked! I was able to scrape together enough money to get one, but when it was time to pull the trigger, the dealer I went to happened to also have a Vortex in my size on hand and when I picked it up, I couldn’t believe how light it was. That started me down the weight weenie path. I ended up getting the Vortex and I have had nothing but titanium road bikes ever since. So, when it came time to get a new cyclocross bike, I called up the people that started it all for me, Lynskey.

Enough about my history with titanium, let’s get on with the review. As soon as I pulled the frame out of the box, I knew this thing was going to be special. The welds, the tube shapes and the weight were everything I expected from Lynskey. With my build kit of Campagnolo Record 10-speed, Zipp 404 Tubular CX wheels, Crank Brothers 3TI Eggbeaters and a full compliment of Ritchey WCS parts along with the fact that I replaced every steel bolt on the bike with a titanium one; the bike came in at 16.4 pounds. So far, so good!

I didn’t even get a chance to do a test ride the bike before taking it out to race it at the Chris Cross Cyclocross Challenge. I knew from the looks of the massive bi-axial ovalized down tube that this thing was going to be stiff. What really surprised me was how smooth it was. From the get go, I was awed by the comfort of the Lynskey's ride. The frame seemed to absorb everything the course threw at it. I honestly don’t know if it was the Ritchey WCS fork, the Zipp 404 wheels or the Lynskey frame, but the vibrations that hit the wheels were absorbed and never made it as far as my body. The almost complete absence of flex in the top tube and down tube is proof of the superior knowledge that Lynskey possesses when designing and tuning a titanium frame. There's no twist or give in the frame and that enables you to concentrate all your power to the pedals and that power is mainlined right to the rear wheel. So, this bike is comfortable, yet stiff and you might think that compromises the handling performance, but you’d be wrong. The bike handles awesome when you dive into corners. It never once got sketchy on me and I found myself hammering through the corners with my only concern being that I did a good glue job on my tubulars and they weren’t going to roll off the rim. Wow, I am impressed.

Now, if I can only get the engine whipped into shape, I have the tools to get the job done.

4 comments:

  1. Great review. I'm impressed with how light your build was. I just ordered mine. I also recently bought a Pro 29er and have a 1990 version of their Vortex, all good stuff. Tx, Rick

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  2. Thanks for the review. I am currently waiting for my Procross frame. Also I am proud owner of a '99 Vortex und a '91 Litespeed MTB (name?) as well as a '98 Merlin Ti. Can´t wait to build this bike and get into it!

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  3. hi, just reding you review of the procross. Im just about to order a 2012 version but was wondering what frame size you went for?. I live in the UK in the highlands of scotland with no dealers nearby to try one out. Being 5ft 7 im torn between the small and med frame - did you opt to go with the lynskey recommendations for height size of something different?
    cheers

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