# New Litespeed frame advice



## kma (Mar 1, 2005)

I received a brand new Litespeed Ultimate frame with a small groove/gouge on the inside edge of the head tube. As a result, a small portion of the inside edge is missing. It's not sharp and smoothed out to the touch. I suspect the groove was made with a slip of a reaming or facing tool but I'm not an expert on frame building. Should I be worried about any issues when building up this bike like a loose headset cup becoming squeaky, etc ... Do you Litespeed users get your new frames inspected by local shops before building? Thank you!


----------



## Peter P. (Dec 30, 2006)

Most bike shops don't have the proper cutters to ream and face titanium so I wouldn't try going that route.

As long as there are no sharp edges, you should be fine. The cup should take more than hand pressure to install. If it does, you're good. I would probably use an anti-seize compound rather than grease due to titanium's reactivity with other metals.


----------



## kma (Mar 1, 2005)

Thank you Peter. Yes, I wouldn’t have a shop do any kind of reaming or facing as Litespeed told me they perform all that in house. I was just thinking maybe a shop would have tools to check the stuff you can’t see with the naked eye like alignment, ID dimensions, etc ...


----------



## Peter P. (Dec 30, 2006)

In today's world, only the largest bike shops, in the busiest bicycle enthusiast markets, would have frame alignment skills and tooling. Even if to just CHECK frame alignment, what with the proliferation of carbon frames, merely verifying alignment is a good skill to have.


----------



## kma (Mar 1, 2005)

With some positive back and forth communication and minor delays due to the holidays, Litespeed is swapping out the frame. My initial consumer fears have been extinguished. Excited to build this bike up and post some pictures. :thumbsup:


----------



## kma (Mar 1, 2005)




----------

