# Le Champion Ti Team Review



## chk (Aug 5, 2011)

I was involved in a bike accident that totaled my bike (my insurance covered the accident – I was rear ended by another biker while I was stopped at a stop light hard enough to crack the frame). I went to the LBS to start shopping. I knew I wanted a plush bike. I wanted an upright position and a frame that would absorb bumps. I was going for comfort over speed. With about $2700 to spend, I hit the local bike shops. 

With an opportunity to start over, I looked at Ti bikes but they were way out of my price range. I looked at steel but it is tough to find a steel bike. The frame I had was carbon and the more I read about carbon, the more I was thinking against it. Being a bigger guy (6’2” and weighing in at 235), I was concerned about carbon. I’m sure that carbon would be fine for someone my size, but Ti and steel give me peace of mind. 

At the LBS, the Ti bikes were way outside my price range. The only Ti bikes I could find were Seven and Serrotta starting around $4000 – way outside my price range. As for steel, I had a hard time finding anything in stock and going custom and building it up would put me in the $4000 range for what I wanted. 

I test rode a Specialized Roubaix, Giant Defy Advanced, Trek Madone 5.2, Scott CR1 Team , Felt Z5, and the Cervelo a RS. I did not like the Cervelo. The Scott, Felt and Specialized were nice. I really liked the Giant and the Trek. 

I went to BD and started looking at what they had. I was surprised I could get a full DA Ti bike for $2799, shipped and no sales tax. By this time, I was pretty much sold on the Trek (came really close to buying it), even though it was $3000 before adding the 9.6% sales tax where I live (about 15 miles east of Seattle). 

I spent a lot of late nights reading every review I could find on the Trek and the Moto and comparing the bike geometry and specs. I was really apprehensive about buying a bike without riding it first. I wanted to make sure that I was spending wisely.

At the end, the Le Champion was too good of a deal to pass up. The Trek would have cost me almost $3300 with tax. For the $500 dollar difference, I decided to go with BD and the Le Champion Team Ti. The geometry of the Le Champion and the Madone were close enough for me to know what the fit would be (I got the 59 and it fits really well). 

Shipping took about a week and the box arrived undamaged. While this is my first bike I have unpacked, I thought it was well packed and the bike looked like it was nicely protected. Out of the box with no pedals, it weighed in at 16.4 pounds. 

It took me about 30 minutes to unpack and put the bike together. All in all, it went pretty smoothly. However, I did go to a friend’s after work that knows much more about bikes than I do and he helped with making sure that everything was right. Other than some minor derailleur adjustment, the only issue was a loose head set. All in all, putting it together was really easy.

After my first ride, any apprehension I had about buying the bike went away. The bike is comfortable (put on my old Brook B17). It smoothes out the bumps but is still stiff enough to where I do not notice any flex in the frame, even with pushing hard. When I accelerate, the bike goes, it climbs like a mountain goat and descends faster that I like to go. As for handling, it was a bit squirrelly at first, but the more I ride it, the more I get used to the way it handles and is becoming less squirrelly with every ride. 

The more I ride, the more I like this bike. It is really fun to ride. It is a great balance between comfort and stiffness. I’m sad that the summer is over and that I will not be able to ride this bike much for the next 6 months as this bike is too nice to ride in the rain (yes it does rain a lot in the fall, winter, and spring in Seattle). 

Overall, I would by this bike again and recommended the bike to friends that are looking for bikes. I got a great bike for a great price.


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## newsman787 (Mar 11, 2011)

Glad it worked for you. Totally pleased with my MB Ti Heat I bought earlier this year. Main thing is fit. If you've got that dialed in, then you're set.


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