Bikes
Bike Guy Reviews the Litespeed Icon
The bike arrived just two days before my long planned Raleigh
Boys Reunion, and I was psyched to say the least, when I took
this demo model Icon out of the box.
If you have read any of my previous reports from last years
OutDoor Expo in Providence, RI, and the other reviews of the
Specialized Roubaix’s from Wheat Ridge Cyclery and Napa Cyclery,
you know my review’s are just a little different than Marcel
Wust or Frankie Andreau’s.
Not so much with the high tech terminology, is one of my strong points, but I will throw in a few details so the modern day reader/rider can get some idea of what I am talking about.
Other than those brief sojourns into the world of carbon fiber
mentioned above, the Bike Guy has been riding nothing but TI on
the road for the last 10 years, and Litespeed TI at that.
This Icon is a size large demo bike right off the trailer but
in good shape, and easy to assemble with some nice eye candy,
Reynolds Assault wheels with Michelin Pro Race Service Course
tires, and an Ultegra SL Group.
The first test was the old bathroom scale combined weight test
against my current 2004 Litespeed Ultimate with DA group and wheel
set. The Icon was lighter by just the weight of my Ultegra pedals,
and I am sure Marcel would agree with the accuracy of this time
proven test.
This Icon model is the affordable version of the Archon which
was the surprise winner of the Best Bike in Show award at the
Cologne Germany Show last year, and it has an incredibly quick
feel to it as I take it down my dirt driveway to the neighborhood
streets for a quick spin before darkness.
Right away, I am thinking how can this be quicker or feel more
responsive than my Ultimate, which has shorter wheelbase, & rear
stays? I don’t want to get too tech here but I actually got out
a tape measure, and found that the Icon is a one-inch longer
in overall length and a ½ inch longer in the rear stay length.
Getting carried away with my tape measure, I also found the bottom
bracket of the Icon to be approximately ¼ inch lower than that
of the Ultimate, which was never a problem in scraping a pedal
in turns. I say approximately, because I did not have on my white
lab coat at the time, and I know somewhere that Leonard Zinn
was feeling a twitching in his left earlobe.
The seat tube on the Ultimate is cut out to move the rear wheel
under the rider for quicker acceleration but now I am getting
out of my area of expertise because I’ve won maybe two sprints
in my 39 years on the bike, not exactly the fastest twitch guy
on your local group ride, and then there was that classic show
of speed in the Tour of Ireland back in 1973 when I totally blew
a chance for a stage win. But I digress.
What I found, and hopefully this is the end of this jargon,
is that the Bi-planner chain stays are different on each side,
thanks to Brad’s research, and this bike does nothing but go
straight ahead, no matter how hard you lean it over and stomp
on the pedals going up hill or for a town line sprint.
One thing I know from my days, as a Litespeed Rep is that Brad
DeVaney is a genius when it comes to geometry designs and tube
shaping to handle the stresses involved in making a bike fast.
If this guy ever decides to design a (God forbid) carbon fiber
frame, then I will be the first in line, and the rest of the
industry will be instantly obsolete.
The Reynolds Assault Wheels definitely contribute to the stiffness
and acceleration, and at first, I did notice the ride was not
quite as smooth as the Ultimate which has carbon fiber rear stays,
but I got over this in a couple of days and never felt like the
Icon was beating me up on 3 & 4 hour rides by any stretch.
Never a great climber, actually “good” would be questioned by my Reunion Team, I had managed to drop 20 pounds since January 1st and have been able to sit in with my junior team on their long easier days, which makes a big difference in how well I can feel the performance of a bike under different situations like descending, turning, and pace line work.
As my Raleigh Boys Team took a lap on the road course at Fitchburg between the men’s and women’s pro races I had good legs yes, but also knowing I had a great climbing bike with no wasted movement was a confidence builder as these old farts began to put the hammer down on the climb.
The Easton EA 90 SL fork made descending at 50mph with some
crosswind that much more stable, even with the Assault Wheels
catching the wind and moving things sideways at times.
During some serious pace line work on bumpy rolling roads with
six of my Raleigh Boys, the bike performed better than I did,
if you get my drift here. One of the reason’s I dropped 20 pounds
was for this very moment, when once again these old guys would
square off once for old times sake just to see who was still
fit. I soon recognized that this was it, and I wished I had lost
another 5 pounds and had imbibed less the night before, as the
tempo increased and my heart rate got pegged at 168 to 172 and
stayed there for way too long on this pace line from the past.
We were all way too fit for guys over 60, and it hurt just like
it did 30 years ago, and I was glad to have the latest from Litespeed
under me as there was no slacking off and no pointing out the
bumps as we all turned back the clock for something that is very
hard to explain but incredibly fun to joke about over dinner
and drinks in the evening once every 10 years.
My annual ride my age birthday ride this year was almost broken
up into a two-day event but by bribing some local masters and
juniors with water sports (juniors) and cold beverages (masters),
I was able to assemble a solid group that could escort me in
good tempo for the duration of this 65 mile “Medicare” ride.
(See, group shot)
This would be my last serious ride on the Icon and I needed
every bit of its lightness, quickness, to get through this ride
in style, as the boys cut me no slack as we finished up in 3
hours 12 minutes, and Oh Yeah! I won the sprint!
The Icon has been a pleasure to ride for this cowboy of many
years on the bike. It performs to the level of any carbon fiber
bike out there on a comparative model level, and it will last
a lifetime, no dings, chips, rust or fatigue to worry about.
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