"Courtesy Bicyclist Magazine, Petersen Publishing Company" and feaured in the February 1997 issue.
By Joe Lindsey
If there were a recipe for a great road frame, it might go something like this: Take three pounds of metal, stir in a sprinter's worth of lateral stiffness, and add vertical compliance to taste. Mix well, welding precisely and thoroughly until the frame is perfectly aligned. Allow it to cool, and apply a killer polished finish for presentation. Garnish with a stem and seatpost; serve. If that's a recipe for a great road frame, Litespeed should be calling Betty Crocker.
As the top-of-the-line frame in Litespeed's four-frame road line, the Ultimate had remained roughly the same set of tubes for the last three years. Litespeed's Mark Lynskey felt it was time for a face-lift for the family company's showpiece, and they went about a nearly total redesign in a remarkable way. "We had made gradual improvements such as a slightly better tubeset, but it remained cosmetically the same," Lynskey said. Incorporating technology from Litespeed's high-tech Blade project, listening to observations gleaned from sponsored riders and racing and riding themselves, the Lynskey family has taken the Ultimate from a bike that was visually similar to their others (though different where it counted) and turned it into a jewel of a ride, both inside and out.
What you'll notice first is the lustrous polished finish-it's not exactly a new concept, but the polish is somehow that much more appealing on this frame. Nearly hidden by the bright, shiny metal is the fact that the conventional round down tube has disappeared, replaced with an airfoil tube made of the same exotic 6 percent aluminum and 4 percent vanadium titanium alloy as the Blade time-trial frame. The 6Al/4V Ti has achieved some level of mythical status in the bike world. A stiffer alloy than conventional 3Al/2.5V, 6/4 is also renowned for its temperamental nature. Since it is practically impossible to produce 6/4 tubes the conventional way (drawing tubes over a mandrel), the Ultimate's airfoil tube is made by folding and shaping sheets of 6/4 Ti, then welding the seam. While seamed tubing, whether steel or Ti, gets a bad rap, Lynskey claims it's actually nicer to work with. "There's so much more leeway in design with sheet titanium," Lynksey said. "I'm not handcuffed to round 3/2.5 tubes. There are many different sets within that medium, but sheet Ti gives us more directions to move in," he explained.
The other tubes on the bike remain 3/2.5 alloy, but "every tube on that bike is shaped or butted somehow-even the stays," Lynskey said. "This bike is the ultimate example of what cold working can do for a titanium frame. Many people have this notion that all Ti frames are alike, but there is so much difference between them, it's unfair to group them all together. It's like any material-there are so many different applications, it's impossible to say they're all alike." The beefy down tube adds a measurable amount of stiffness-both vertical and lateral-to the bike, so Litespeed compensates by bending the seatstays into a gentle curve. "It keeps the shock from going straight up your back," he said.
On the Road
All this technical mumbo jumbo disappears on the road, as I found myself thinking not about how the addition of a 6Al/4V airfoil down tube would help my sprinting or 40-kilometer time-trial splits, but rather about the ride of the bike. Let's just say Lynskey isn't pulling your leg with the Ultimate moniker. When I stood to accelerate to a good cruising speed, the Ultimate responded instantly, rocketing forward. Expecting the silky compliance (and sometimes flexy demeanor) of titanium, I was surprised by the immediacy of the response. But unlike most bikes with that lead-foot acceleration, the Ultimate didn't jar me out of the saddle on every crack in the pavement. Even on the notoriously bumpy, obstacle-strewn Pacific Coast Highway in Southern California, the Ultimate complacently soaked up grooved concrete, tar splatters, a discarded hubcap (I was admiring the polished finish of the frame) and countless other hurdles without any harsh feel. The tight rear triangle also lent that rocket-sled feel on climbs and hard, out-of-the-saddle efforts.I only have a few complaints about the Ultimate. The polished finish is going to make you cry the first time you lay this bike down in a crit (a less expensive, lower-maintenance brushed finish is also available for about $250 less). A minor problem with having all curved tubes on the bike is there's no place to stick the frame pump. My biggest complaint, though, is that not everyone will be able to afford this one. At a hefty $2400 (frame only), some serious green must be parted with here. That's not unreasonable considering there are more conventional titanium bikes that are just as expensive, and with this bike, those coins are purchasing valuable extras not found on most bikes. Litespeed has been building titanium frames since 1986, and the Ultimate represents the culmination of their knowledge of the gray metal. That's the kind of thing you can't really put a price on.
Litespeed, P.O. Box 22666, Chattanooga, TN 37422-2666; (423)238-5530