# Lynskey Ti



## Howard3 (Mar 30, 2004)

I'm thinking about purchasing a Lynskey Ti bike - quite possibly the R330. Lynskey bikes, as many of you know, are well made, ride quite well, and are backed by good customer service. But there might be a possible problem. 

From what country do they get their titanium from? America, Russia, China, where?

According to posts #2 and #9 of

http://forums.mtbr.com/29er-bikes/lynskey-ridgeline-vs-pro29-durability-748383.html

the answer doesn't seem to be America. (I'm assuming here that American ti is superior to ti from China.)

Assuming that they do get their ti from China and assuming that such ti is inferior to ti from other countries, would this be a reason to buy a ti bike from some other company?

Just wondering.


----------



## jorgy (Oct 21, 2005)

Call and get it straight from the horse's mouth. I've heard Lynskey has great customer service, so I am sure you will get someone willing to help you. And then post back here.


----------



## Apexrider (Oct 10, 2011)

I've asked Lynskey where their tubing are sourced from, this is the answer I received:



> all our tubing Paul, is grade 1, aerospace grade, 3/2.5 seamless tubing. Probably .034 - .035 in wall thickness. We have several suppliers around the world and here domestically that we deal with, depending on the tube specs. So there is no "one place" that our tubing is sourced from. All tubing is 100% first quality aerospace grade certified, and we also have several quality control testing that we do once the tubing is received.
> 
> Our butting process is external butting, and we may take wall thicknesses down from .035 to potentially .028, again, depending on the model and which tube within the design.


edit:
forgot to mention that I'm very happy with my Helix.


----------



## danl1 (Jul 23, 2005)

Those seem to be interesting assumptions.

I don't know if Ti is granted a passport. And I'll assume that in other big industrial countries, just like the US, there are quality producers and lesser producers for just about everything. And assuming that some of Lynskey's stock comes from a country on your personal "most avoided" list (for whatever reason), there's no way to know if they are dealing with 'the good guys" or "the scammers."

Except for David's signature on the seatstay. If you trust that, you trust them to make the right decisions in sourcing, no matter the country of origin. If you don't trust that, then the entire conversation has no point.

If your question is based on geopolitical rather than quality concerns, I encourage you to not walk that road very far. A truly 'made in the USA' bike is quite impossible, no matter the material. A few carbon frames probably get there, but as soon as you start bolting on components, you're done. 

Somewhere along the way, there was a thread where they tried to collectively make as purely a US bike as possible. It didn't have a chain. Or tires. It might have had spokes, but I'm not sure it had nipples. It had a drivetrain, but essentially in name only - very little (if any) was actually make here.


----------



## SteveV0983 (Dec 9, 2008)

You should look at a Moots. 100% US Ti tubing and 100% hand crafted in Colorado. Oh yeah, and they ride like dream and have phenomenal customer service also. I'm sure the Lynskey is also fantastic, but if you want it in writing that it is US Ti, here you go:

Moots » Our Craft


----------



## vincemacmillan (Dec 1, 2009)

SteveV0983 said:


> You should look at a Moots. 100% US Ti tubing and 100% hand crafted in Colorado. Oh yeah, and they ride like dream and have phenomenal customer service also. I'm sure the Lynskey is also fantastic, but if you want it in writing that it is US Ti, here you go:
> 
> Moots » Our Craft


Dude, you really have to read between the lines when perusing those those policy statements in the back of those websites. Moots says their frames are Polish-ed by hand. How can they say that with a clear conscience? The people of Steamboat have been exploiting those poor Polish people for far too long! Down with Moots! Up with Lynkey and obfuscation.


----------



## darwinosx (Oct 12, 2010)

SteveV0983 said:


> You should look at a Moots. 100% US Ti tubing and 100% hand crafted in Colorado. Oh yeah, and they ride like dream and have phenomenal customer service also. I'm sure the Lynskey is also fantastic, but if you want it in writing that it is US Ti, here you go:
> 
> Moots » Our Craft


Very different price points which may be an issue. I would get a Moots long before a Lynskey based on welds alone though. But the reality is there probably isn't a significant difference as long as they make a straight frame.


----------



## nspace (Jun 5, 2008)

> But the reality is there probably isn't a significant difference as long as they make a straight frame.


Correct.

Love my R330. I love the way this bike rides, and the build quality is fantastic. Right amount of comfort/stiffness.


----------



## Howard3 (Mar 30, 2004)

Thanks for doing this research!


----------



## low drag (Oct 25, 2009)

Apexrider said:


> I've asked Lynskey where their tubing are sourced from, this is the answer I received:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Would you mind giving me your particulars? Height, weight etc? I'm a large rider and have some real challenges with road bikes. I can't tell you how many shops I've been to with all the new carbon bikes that "don't have lateral flex" only to have me put my toe on the crank, not a peddle and flex the BB with a little pressure. 

Not to mention my old steel bike flexing at speed and on technical descents. 

How stiff is the Helix? I currently ride a Focus Culebro - an AL frame. The guys at the LBS remember me as a the guy with the big stiff bike.

I've looked at the Helix, the geo looks like it'll work for me.


----------



## Apexrider (Oct 10, 2011)

low drag said:


> Would you mind giving me your particulars? Height, weight etc? I'm a large rider and have some real challenges with road bikes. I can't tell you how many shops I've been to with all the new carbon bikes that "don't have lateral flex" only to have me put my toe on the crank, not a peddle and flex the BB with a little pressure.
> 
> Not to mention my old steel bike flexing at speed and on technical descents.
> 
> ...


My length is 5'9" and weigh 165lbs, I chose a M/L sized Helix. I haven't noticed any flex while sprinting or climbing, but I'm not a pro just a recreational rider. If stiffness is an issue then you also might consider the Helix OS which comes with an oversized BB and head tube. The OS's geometry is more racy than the regular Helix, longer top tube, shorter head tube. It's also more expensive.


----------



## darwinosx (Oct 12, 2010)

low drag said:


> Would you mind giving me your particulars? Height, weight etc? I'm a large rider and have some real challenges with road bikes. I can't tell you how many shops I've been to with all the new carbon bikes that "don't have lateral flex" only to have me put my toe on the crank, not a peddle and flex the BB with a little pressure.
> 
> Not to mention my old steel bike flexing at speed and on technical descents.
> 
> ...


I'm a big boy, 6'3" and 260 these days. I've been riding titanium for the last 20 years or so and before that aluminum and high end steel bikes. My Moots is surprisingly stiff for titanium but nothing like the Giant carbon fiber bike I just bought. The Giant is very stiff yet comfortable but not the magic carpet ride of a good titanium frame. What I didn't realize about the stiffness is how good it is for handling. Since there is little deflection you know right away what the bike is going to do so steering and handling in general are noticeably improved.


----------



## Special Eyes (Feb 2, 2011)

Both builders are truly excellent. A choice eventually comes down to a matter of style. I'l bet both builders have the same Ti tubing sources. There aren't many choices. I own a Lynskey and am very happy with it. Would feel the same if it were a Moots.


----------



## darwinosx (Oct 12, 2010)

It's easy to see the difference in welds. Pretty hard to buy a Moots for anything less than retail while you can get great deals on Lynskeys. I know when I went from Litespeed to Moots I felt like it was a noticeable upgrade in geometry and overall handling.


----------



## nspace (Jun 5, 2008)

This has been debated to death (Moots vs Lynskey), but the difference in welds for the most part is coming down to aesthetics (yes, Moots wins). Functionally I think anyone would be just as satisfied with either. Hard to compare geometries since it really depends on your riding style and models in question. Moots make a fantastic bike, and arguably are visually nicer, but bang for your buck in Ti, I think Lynskey is tough to beat for a domestically fabricated frame.

I still think their welds are quite nice though:










Where they source their material from doesn't bug me as long as what they are sourcing is high quality and to spec. I trust the folks at Lynskey to make that call. I put greater emphasis on who is building it. People love the marketing over the american materials, but personally I think I'd need to see some sort of standardized test between both tubesets to be convinced that one tubeset is better than the other just because of where its sourced.


----------



## darwinosx (Oct 12, 2010)

Agree completely. I was a little surprised Lynskey went mass market though. i thought he sold Litespeed to make smaller batches of more custom frames instead of founding another Litespeed. I wonder how Litespeed is doing under American Bicycle Group. They seem to make popular brands die at that company.


----------



## Ramjm_2000 (Jan 29, 2005)

Well said nspace.


----------



## paul y. (Apr 7, 2008)

nspace said:


> This has been debated to death (Moots vs Lynskey), but the difference in welds for the most part is coming down to aesthetics (yes, Moots wins). Functionally I think anyone would be just as satisfied with either. Hard to compare geometries since it really depends on your riding style and models in question. Moots make a fantastic bike, and arguably are visually nicer, but bang for your buck in Ti, I think Lynskey is tough to beat for a domestically fabricated frame.
> 
> I still think their welds are quite nice though:
> 
> ...


Beautiful!


----------



## darwinosx (Oct 12, 2010)

I would also want to know if there is any difference in frame alignment. When I switched from a Litespeed Vortex to a Moots the difference in handling was apparent.
However Moots have gotten so expensive that if I were buying a Ti frame today I would be looking at other options and would be tempted to go with something cheaper rather than paying $3,5000 for a MootsMy VaMoots frame was $2500 however many years ago that I bought it and they are what..$1,000 more than that now? Maybe I would still go Moots but I would be checking my options.


----------



## champamoore (Jul 30, 2012)

darwinosx said:


> Agree completely. I was a little surprised Lynskey went mass market though. i thought he sold Litespeed to make smaller batches of more custom frames instead of founding another Litespeed. I wonder how Litespeed is doing under American Bicycle Group. They seem to make popular brands die at that company.


I have recently seen Litespeed bikes show up on the Clymb ( a web clearance/good deal online discounter). Doesn't seem to be the best statement about their current status, but who knows?

I remember the days of Merlin and Litespeed's glory well, though. The unattainable jewel tools I lusted after. Still kind of do. ;] But Merlin was always at the top of my list.


----------



## skepticman (Dec 25, 2005)

The custom painted fork is bundled with the frame price now, so that is about $400 of the price. But I think they did increase the frame-only price to $2,950 around 2009.


----------



## tigoat (Jun 6, 2006)

Lynskey does not weld water bottle mounts like Moots does by default. It is sad to have a top-notch Ti frame with those cheesy 10c soft aluminum rivetted water bottle mounts.


----------



## Ramjm_2000 (Jan 29, 2005)

Pfft...the same could be said for $3500 frames with cheap white decals that yellow and crack after less than a year (Moots, Seven, etc...). It is what it is, don't buy it if it bugs you.


----------



## nspace (Jun 5, 2008)

Yup, I agree. Those "10 cent rivets" have worked fine for me for years in lots of frames. I guess its a feature tigoat really likes as I've read a few posts from him in other threads about this. Its a nice detail to weld them, but wouldn't be the first feature I'd be looking for before I dropped an extra grand on a Ti frame.


----------

