# Leader 722RS Steel



## mud390 (Sep 6, 2006)

Has anyone seen one of these in person? Had a chance to ride one? I'm intrigued by the frame and wonder how the fit, finish, and ride are.


























https://www.leaderbikestore.com/pd-722rs-2010-road-frame.cfm

Kris


----------



## holy cromoly (Nov 9, 2008)

I too am curious about them. Been looking for a nice affordable frame to hang some spare parts I have laying around.

the top and down tubes looked shaped instead of round, so has a modern look to it. The matching lugged fork comes in a chrome option too.


----------



## mud390 (Sep 6, 2006)

I agree with you. I think the frame would look great with a steel fork, or even a carbon fork for that matter. I've been emailing back and forth with Leader bike and so far I've found out the frame has room for 28c tires without fenders, the steel is from the same company that provides Reynolds with their tubes, but it isn't Reynolds. Other than that, does anyone else know anything about this frame or have they have a chance to ride it, or at least see it in person?

Kris


----------



## cmg (Oct 27, 2004)

curious as to what ultralight hydroformed steel tubing it's built out of. $250 for a steel frame falls under the too good to be true category. they need close ups of the joints.


----------



## holy cromoly (Nov 9, 2008)

Here are the larger photos.

Still hard to tell about the welds, but they look promising.

Shaped top and downtubes and appears to be Breezer style dropouts. Very nice so far.


----------



## holy cromoly (Nov 9, 2008)

Matching steel forks from Leader avail in chrome, white and black. Appears to be no matching green fork offered for now.

For price is $109.


----------



## bane (Aug 30, 2006)

I like Leader bikes, I had a LD736R. These look pretty nice and it's hard to miss at that price. Unfortunately the top tubes are too long and the head tubes are too short for me. I'd be interested in the weight once built up.


----------



## MR_GRUMPY (Aug 21, 2002)

They don't say..................

What kind of steel?

Frame weight??

Tube diameters?

Could be made from gas pipe, for all we know.


----------



## covenant (May 21, 2002)

Made by Founder Land of Taiwan.
http://www.allbusiness.com/retail-trade/miscellaneous-retail-miscellaneous/4143882-1.html

The track version is made of Kawasaki special heat treated 4130 cr-mo and has a frame weight of 4.9 pounds for a 57cm.

That's all I could find...Maybe Leaderbike will be along to set us straight.


----------



## MR_GRUMPY (Aug 21, 2002)

covenant said:


> Made by Founder Land of Taiwan.
> http://www.allbusiness.com/retail-trade/miscellaneous-retail-miscellaneous/4143882-1.html
> 
> The track version is made of Kawasaki special heat treated 4130 cr-mo and has a frame weight of 4.9 pounds for a 57cm.
> ...



Ouch........A good modern True Temper OX Plat frame goes 3.5 pounds, and a S-3 frame goes 3.0 pounds.


----------



## covenant (May 21, 2002)

......


----------



## Srexy (Oct 25, 2005)

LeaderBike said:


> 722RS 50cm frame is 4lb 2oz
> 
> LB Team


From the Lightish, fastish steel thread


----------



## covenant (May 21, 2002)

Thanks Srexy, I guess the weight I posted for a 57cm is on target.


----------



## LeaderBike (Nov 7, 2003)

Steel material on the 722RS is heat treated double butted 4130 made by founderland in Taiwan. All of you guys know who we are. We have been around for over ten years and have designed the finest road bikes. We always offer quality at a great price. We are using our old philosophy on these bikes. Offer these at a great price at first so more people get them and talk about them. Currently we are evolving more into a dealer oriented company. So some of you will be able to get a Leader at a bike shop near you..

We promise anyone here on the forum you will not be disappointed with the 722RS. It rides like a dream. Currently the frame is offered with both a steel fork and a carbon blade/steel steer tube fork. Frames are powdercoated to avoid rust. Welds on this frame are immaculate.

We only use Kawasaki steel on our trick fixed gear frames like out 729TRK.

We will post exact weights of our 722RS frames this week for every size.

LB Team
www.leaderbikeuisa.com

Mr Grumpy would you be interested in doing a review on this bike? We know you have been around for a long time and know you will be honest. If you are send us a PM


----------



## bane (Aug 30, 2006)

Do it Grumpy.

Inquiring minds would like to know.


----------



## holy cromoly (Nov 9, 2008)

Thx for replying with the additional info.


----------



## cmg (Oct 27, 2004)

the chrome fork is a nice touch.


----------



## PlatyPius (Feb 1, 2009)

I've built up a couple of Leaders for customers.... they aren't bad. A little heavy, but you can't expect light weight for $250. Fit and finish seemed to be pretty good. All in all, well worth what you're paying for it.


----------



## bikesdirect (Sep 9, 2006)

I am very happy to see an increase in the interest in Steel frames. I am not sure how long it will take for the general public to understand the advantages of high grade steel. 

Specialized adding a complete bike in 4130 helps; maybe if several other brands add high grade steel models it will start a trend. 

For lots of cyclists I feel high grade steel is a fantastic choice.


----------



## PatrickT (Nov 24, 2009)

I got this frame a few months ago when leader hooked me up because of a mistake with my order. I think the weight on my 57" road frame came out to 3 pounds four ounces. Great welds, well made ect...

I dig it.


----------



## mud390 (Sep 6, 2006)

Any built up pictures? How about a ride report?

Kris


----------



## PatrickT (Nov 24, 2009)

Its kind of a work in progress at the moment, but I can post some pictures of the frame itself if anyone is interested.

I meant that I have the the 56 not the 57 by the way.


----------



## mud390 (Sep 6, 2006)

Post away! Some close ups of the welds and such would be great!

Kris


----------



## PatrickT (Nov 24, 2009)

Couldnt find my camera but here are some from random angles I had sitting around.


----------



## lousylegs (Jul 15, 2005)

*Nice looking frame*

I think I would serious look at this frame the next time I am in the market for one. It would weight about the same as my current lugged 531 frame.


----------



## PatrickT (Nov 24, 2009)

If anyone has not dealt with leaders customer service, its is freaking awesome by the way.

After they messed up my order, they gave me this frame at a discount and threw in a headset and a t-shirt. Freakin awesome.


----------



## jwgd (Feb 28, 2005)

They may want to consider replacing those downtube cable stops with shifter bosses. I doubt anyone considering this frame would be worried about the extra weight. If it had them, I would consider it over a Pacer or Smoothie.


----------



## holy cromoly (Nov 9, 2008)

jwgd said:


> They may want to consider replacing those downtube cable stops with shifter bosses. I doubt anyone considering this frame would be worried about the extra weight. If it had them, I would consider it over a Pacer or Smoothie.


It would appear by the specs of this frame, that it's not aimed at the Pacer/Smoothie/Caseroll crowd. 

Appears to be more performance oriented, especially with the short headtubes on the geometry chart. But this is no surprise, as Leader's lineup is all performance related.


----------



## tgeen (Oct 2, 2009)

This is an old thread, but I finished building a 722RS today to use as a commuter bike, so I'll add a couple of things.

First, Leader was very prompt in shipping and I have no complaints at all about doing business with them. Everything arrived in good condition.

The $20 for the candy apple green metallic paint is worth it, by the way. Especially with the chromed fork.

The only thing that did not go well was threading the bottom bracket. According to Leader's website, the frame is ready to build and does not need facing, chasing, or reaming. In my case, that was not true. The right hand BB cup spun in easily by hand, but the left was a definite no-go. I had to take the frame to my LBS to have it chased and faced, after which everything was fine. This hurt the value part of the equation a little, but it's normal to chase the threads on a new frame anyway, so I wouldn't necessarily say it's a quality control issue. YMMV. The head tube was okay--headset pressed in without reaming. 

Overall I am happy with the frame and fork. I'm no welder, but the welds look better in person than in some of the pictures I've seen. Much, much neater than you see on a lot of cheap aluminum frames. It's hard to say what kind of steel it is, but I'm guessing it's equivalent to Reynolds 525. It's described as "heat treated," but no details.

As I built it up, the whole bike weighs about 21.5 lbs (54 cm), this is with pretty ordinary components and no carbon anywhere. I will try to write more of a review some day after I get some experience with it.


----------



## PJ352 (Dec 5, 2007)

I'd be interested to see pics of the bike. Specifically, the welds.


----------



## holy cromoly (Nov 9, 2008)

PJ352 said:


> I'd be interested to see pics of the bike. Specifically, the welds.


Same here. Post pics when you have a moment.


----------



## tgeen (Oct 2, 2009)

holy cromoly said:


> Same here. Post pics when you have a moment.


Sorry to take so long to get back to this. It's a little bit hot these days in Phoenix and I've only had this bike out for 20-30 minutes at a time so far for short trips, plus one longer 2 hour ride last weekend. So, very limited experience so far. But this is what I ended up with, using mostly parts I had around the house...









I was maybe too eager to start building back when I got the frame, so I didn't bother to weigh it first. Weight was not much of a priority for me with this bike, but comfort was, plus I decided I wanted polished alloy everywhere instead of carbon. It shouldn't be too hard to shave off a couple of pounds by using a carbon fork and seatpost, and lighter wheels.

The total weight with pedals is more like 22 lbs than what I said earlier,  using the following components:
Leader 722RS frame (54 cm)
Leader chrome steel fork (appears to be Tange or equivalent)
Shimano 6600 shifters
Shimano R700 compact crankset
Shimano cassette, probably 5600 but I don't remember
Sram 1070 chain
FSA Gossamer brakes
Nashbar/Microshift derailleurs
Fizik Pave Sport saddle/Kalloy Uno seatpost
Easton EA50SL wheels/Rubino Pros
3T Ergonova alloy bar/stem​
As for the welds, the frame is advertised as hand welded and that's all I know. Mostly the welds look pretty tidy and symmetrical, and my untrained eye can't see anything obvious like gaps or spatter. Some day, I will pay someone to make me a fillet brazed frame, but until then I can live with this.




































Just from an aesthetic viewpoint, I like welded steel more than welded aluminum because less metal is required and it looks neater. I was thinking of getting a Scattante XRL aluminum frame from Peformance for this project, which is roughly the same price when it's on sale. This image is from PB's own website...








I'm sure the welds are perfectly functional on the XRL and I wouldn't hesitate to ride it, but it just doesn't look as nice to me. 

It looks like the 722RS is more or less the same frame as Leader's steel track bike, but with a 130 mm rear dropout and derailleur hanger (nonreplaceable). I kind of wish it was available with polished lugs instead of welds, but I guess the odd/oversized tubes might make this impractical for the time being.

I can't find a lot of information about the tubing, but it's some kind of heat treated CrMo steel made by Eco Founderland. "Heat treated" could mean a lot of things, and I can't find much information on the web. The down tube in particular is oversized and has a somehwat complex-looking cross section with some flat surfaces that feels hexagonal or octagonal. Maybe this is where the hydroforming pays off. No word on how it's butted, or thickness, tensile strength, etc. 

Anyway, I'm really happy with how it turned out as a road bike. It's far more comfortable than the last couple of carbon bikes I've had. It soaks up road buzz beautifully, and mutes the harsher bumps too. The geometry seems pretty relaxed and it always feels stable and forgiving. Sort of plush, actually, but in a good way. It is certainly heavier than a carbon frame and doesn't accelerate as quickly, but a lighter set of wheels might help a lot with that. The Easton EA50SL's were original equipement on another bike, and are claimed to weigh 1697 gr. 

I haven't put a computer on it yet, but my eyes keep telling me I'm going a little faster than my butt says....that's a good sign. I did pass a police radar unit the other day that flashed me at 18-19 mph, and I would have guessed I was ambling along at more like 15-16 mph. Maybe my butt is calibrated better than the police equipment, or maybe the difference is within our mutual margins of error, I don't know for sure.

I haven't ridden any of the high-end modern steel road bikes, so my frame of reference is limited here. This has got me a lot more interested in getting something fancier some day out of steel, maybe a nice fillet brazed or lugged frame from an artisan builder. Or something Italian.


----------



## Richard (Feb 17, 2006)

You know, that's a pretty sweet looking bike. I'm generally a sucker for steel and shiny aluminum.


----------



## tgeen (Oct 2, 2009)

Richard said:


> You know, that's a pretty sweet looking bike. I'm generally a sucker for steel and shiny aluminum.


Yeah, me too. It's a little flashier than what I orginally had in mind, actually.


----------



## PJ352 (Dec 5, 2007)

Thanks for taking the time to post pics and provide a (very informative) writeup. I agree that the workmanship is very good, especially for the price. And your build looks good, IMO. 

All in all, a_ nice _bike! :thumbsup:


----------

