'98/99 Litespeed OBED With Look Fournales

bwhsh8r

Retro Guru
So, I bought a 1998 Klein Mantra for $120. Drove all the way to Michigan to pick it up (from the buckeye state) Jealous? Don't be I got rid of it. Trade it it after less than a month for a 1999 Litespeed Obed, gave him my Mantra and $275 cash. Here's my new Litespeed & a picture of the Mantra too, since I'm not going to bother starting another post for that p.o.s. I love Klein and all, but the Mantra was cheep (component wise.) and weighed a ton. I don't think anyone can beat my bike deals, I've been very fortunate to be able to afford such nice bikes with such a limited budget.

SPECS:

XTR shifters & Brake levers, XT everything else.

Chris King headset (blue)

Chris King hubs (silver) laced to mavic x517 ceramic

Look Fournales VTT (originally rockshox sid)

Easton EC70 bars

Look carbon fiber stem


Happy birthday to me ;)












 
Cool buy, thats one of the last Lynskey build Litespeeds I think as he sold the company in 1999 to ABG. Has it got his signature on it? My Litespeed is a 1998.
 

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shaun":2ujvwukg said:
Cool buy, thats one of the last Lynskey build Litespeeds I think as he sold the company in 1999 to ABG. Has it got his signature on it? My Litespeed is a 1998.

Yep, it has got his signature, left seat stay. I really like your build, nice component choices. Must be pretty light fully rigid! I had a 1993 Litespeed Ocoee for about a week with those forks and it looked awesome, not sure how it rode though. Is yours an obed too?

P.s. the previous owner was running ceramic rims with regular v-brake pads... I hope he didn't knacker the braking surface.
 
Yes, mine is the Obed which I bought new 14 years ago as a lightweight project. All bits were bought brand new at the time and have done no more than 300 dry miles since new! Built with XTR, top end Raceface, Mavic, Hope, Pace carbon RC31 forks, Flite Ti, NOS Ringle cage and matching skewers, blue nipples on DT revolution spokes and NOS 1999 Raceface Forged Turbine cranks which are just beautiful. Complete bike weighs 20.3lb.

Yours must be one of the very last Linskey ones to be built, very collectable as I would not want an ABG Litespeed as they relied on the Litespeed name and reduced the quality.

Have you checked out Lynskeys latest 'twisted' tubed frames? They are just awesome, have a look at this build thread:
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=172697
 
shaun":3pi7m8lj said:
Yes, mine is the Obed which I bought new 14 years ago as a lightweight project. All bits were bought brand new at the time and have done no more than 300 dry miles since new! Built with XTR, top end Raceface, Mavic, Hope, Pace carbon RC31 forks, Flite Ti, NOS Ringle cage and matching skewers, blue nipples on DT revolution spokes and NOS 1999 Raceface Forged Turbine cranks which are just beautiful. Complete bike weighs 20.3lb.

Yours must be one of the very last Linskey ones to be built, very collectable as I would not want an ABG Litespeed as they relied on the Litespeed name and reduced the quality.

Have you checked out Lynskeys latest 'twisted' tubed frames? They are just awesome, have a look at this build thread:
link



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That right? Yours is stunning, I don't know how you could have put so few miles on it so far!!! I wouldn't be able to stay off it. I'm having trouble deciding if I want to ride my attitude anymore. Glad to hear mine is a pre-ABG, the welds on this frame are IMMACULATE. I mean absolutely BEAUTIFUL. I can't believe them. They look a lot better than I recall them being on the 1993, too. Are the Lynskey titanium frames really collectable? Is this like the pre trek post trek klein issue all over again?

The Twisted Tube frames are awesome too. I wish I could afford one.
 
The question: is a 1999 Lynskey Litespeed Collectable?

Answer:

1. Titanium is considered the ultimate material for a hartail mountain bike.

2. It needs no paint and never rusts, so is perfect for the harsh conditions of mountain biking.

3. Mid to late 90's hardtails seem to be the most sought after retro mountain bikes by collectors - they just seem to have got it right then.

4. Lynskey is considered one of the best builders of titanium bikes and builds desirable bikes that are built for function.

5. Lynskey is passionate about his bikes and this is reflected in the high quality of welds and finish, they are almost perfect - which is almost unheard of these days.

6. If you want a 'proper' Litespeed it simply has to be a 1999 or earlier one before it was sold to ABG as they then only produced average frames and thus went on to have many craking problems due to poor quality.

7. In the 1999 Tour de France, Lance Armstrong rode a titanium Litespeed Blade painted and labeled as a Trek during time trials.

8. Litespeed has been a contractor and consultant to NASA for projects that require titanium-intensive subassemblies - COOL!

9. Litespeed sponsored the DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed and Calyon/Litespeed Pro Cycling road teams and the Maxxis mountain bike team. The World Cup ITU Triathlon champion Vanessa Fernandes (Portugal) also raced on a Litespeed.

10. Because of the high quality control at Litespeed during the late 90's as many as half the frames were rejected (far higher than any other frame builder) in the name of durability and perfection - thats why they look so beautiful and last so well.

11. Only the finest grades of Titanium were used unlike some other Ti bikes that used lesser grades of tubing to keep to a budget. Lynskey put quality first and the price second - that's why they were so expensive at the time.

So put all that provenance together and I think its one of the best made, finest riding, understated mountain bikes ever made. OK, some say Kleins are the best, but they are harsh and flash. I would not swop mine for any new bike made today as I don't think a better mountain bike has been built since. I do like the new Linskey stuff, but its just not classic enough looking for my tastes.

I am fortunate to have the original receipt, original 1998 Litespeed Catalogue and a genuine full set of spare decals, but if you need a copy of the Litespeed 1999 catalogue, just download the following 32mb pdf to print out:

http://mombat.org/MOMBAT/BikeHistoryPag ... d-1999.pdf

In summary, I have attached a marketing advert from 1992 which states that Litespeed had one aim and that was simply to build 'THE ULTIMATE' and I think personally they did!
 

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shaun":2jfcj02v said:
The question: is a 1999 Lynskey Litespeed Collectable?

Answer:

So put all that provenance together and I think its one of the best made, finest riding, understated mountain bikes ever made. OK, some say Kleins are the best, but they are harsh and flash. I would not swop mine for any new bike made today as I don't think a better mountain bike has been built since. I do like the new Linskey stuff, but its just not classic enough looking for my tastes.

Thanks alot for all the info, I was really interested in learning more about this bike. I'm really glad to have it (since I sold my last one..) I've been looking for a titanium bike for a long time. I know plenty about kleins, I have 2 right now. A few more have been in the house for short stays as well. I love my attitude, but now I have to really debate which bike to ride. My attitude is xtr with chris king hubs and everything exactly how I wanted it, I'm not sure how i feel about the dual control yet on the litespeed. I don't think I'm going to change much component wise, and I can't wait for the local trail to freeze up so I can seriously ride it.

P.s. I wish I had that e-stay bike in that ad :oops:
 
now my Litespeed has a Look Fournales fork and my chris king wheelset... yep :D

LOVE IT



What do you guys think?
 
Ok dude, I have to admit that I love how the bike looks right now. It grows onto me every single time i see a photo of the bike. Well done.

Btw, I am going to build up my Litespeed again. If someone does offer me something, i will let it go. Just wait and I'll get it done real soon!
 
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