Litespeed Firenze - Has anyone tried?

Mike <[email hidden]> wrote:
: I was reading the review of the Litespeed Firenze in the March - it's the first sub $2000 titanium
: bike. Sounds intriguing..... Has anyone tried one out? Any thoughts?

mark .. any thoughts?

habcycles.com
--
david reuteler [email hidden]

David Reuteler said:

Mike <[email hidden]> wrote:
: I was reading the review of the Litespeed Firenze in the March - it's the first sub $2000
: titanium bike. Sounds intriguing..... Has anyone tried one out? Any thoughts?

mark .. any thoughts?

habcycles.com

I'm just shocked that I apparently haven't ever sold a sub-$2000 ti bike. I guess a lot of my
previous customers owe me a lot of money!!!

Coooooool.

Mark Hickey Habanero Cycles habcycles.comhabcycles.comOpen ↗ Home of the $695 ti frame

Quoted message said:

I was reading the review of the Litespeed Firenze in the March - it's the first sub $2000 titanium
bike. Sounds intriguing..... Has anyone tried one out? Any thoughts?

Litespeed obviously doesn't have much in the way of late-40s employees. The name "Firenze" was given
to the junkiest of all junk 10-speeds, a "free" bike given away by Matthew's TV & Stereo (Top of the
Hill, Daly City) near San Francisco. There were also some places in the midwest doing the same or
similar promotion. You purchased a $100 car stereo etc., and you got a free bike.

These bikes were worse than bad. Various components carried the brand name "DNB" which we all
understood to mean Damn Nasty [censored]. Nothing was straight, the brakes didn't work, the tires blew
off the rim at low pressures... what more could you ask for?

The Firenze definitely set back the Taiwan bike industry a good many years. We associated anything
coming out of Taiwan as absolute junk, and the earliest KHS bikes tended to confirm this (KHS was
one of the first manufacturers to push Taiwanese-made bikes into the US market, first through the
low-end Miyatas, called Mikados I think). A whole lot better than the Firenze, but nowhere near the
quality of what was coming out of Japan at the time (from Shogun, Panasonic, etc).

Things have most certainly changed since then; Taiwan is now seen as an indication of quality
manufacturing, trying to stay as far ahead of mainland China as they can. It's difficult though, as
Taiwan production is considerably more expensive than the mainland, and the quality gap is
narrowing.

But getting back to the thread, no way could I ever associate a bike with the name "Firenze" as
being anything I'd want to own. Or... maybe it would be a cool joke, like the people who would put
Schwinn Varsity decals on their lugless Jack Taylors!

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles www.ChainReaction.com

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I was reading the review of the Litespeed Firenze in the March - it's the first sub $2000
titanium bike. Sounds intriguing..... Has anyone tried one out? Any thoughts?

Litespeed obviously doesn't have much in the way of late-40s employees. The name "Firenze" was
given to the junkiest of all junk 10-speeds, a "free" bike given away by Matthew's TV & Stereo
(Top of the Hill, Daly City) near San Francisco. There were also some places in the midwest doing
the same or similar promotion. You purchased a $100 car stereo etc., and you got a free bike.

These bikes were worse than bad. Various components carried the brand name "DNB" which we all
understood to mean Damn Nasty [censored]. Nothing was

How about Damn Near Broken, or Do Not Bicycle <GGG>?

--
Dave Kerber Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Mike said:

I was reading the review of the Litespeed Firenze in the March - it's the first sub $2000 titanium
bike. Sounds intriguing..... Has anyone tried one out? Any thoughts?

First sub-$2000 ti bike... this sounds like the kind of erroneous hype only found in bicycle
magazines. There are several sub-$2000 ti bike options out there, and have been for years.

But it looks like an OK bike, could be improved with some normal wheels.

Mike J.'s point about the Firenze name is well taken but when Trek comes out with a Roadmaster model
I'll buy it. :-)

--Paul

"Mike Jacoubowsky/Chain Reaction Bicycles" <[email hidden]> wrote
in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Litespeed obviously doesn't have much in the way of late-40s employees. The name "Firenze" was
given to the junkiest of all junk 10-speeds, a "free" bike given away by Matthew's TV & Stereo

On the other hand, Firenze (aka Florence, Italy) is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I
think most people will think of the city before they think of some freebie bike that noone has seen
in 20 years.

My LBS has one of these on the shelf. It looked decent. Unfortuantely, it wasn't my size so I
couldn't test ride it. That's definately a nice price for a US-made Ti bike that is sold through
bike shops.

"Ken" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Mike Jacoubowsky/Chain Reaction Bicycles" <[email hidden]> wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Litespeed obviously doesn't have much in the way of late-40s employees. The name "Firenze" was
given to the junkiest of all junk 10-speeds, a "free" bike given away by Matthew's TV & Stereo

On the other hand, Firenze (aka Florence, Italy) is one of the most

beautiful

Quoted message said:

cities in the world. I think most people will think of the city before

they

Quoted message said:

think of some freebie bike that noone has seen in 20 years.

My first thought was "is this a joke?!" Could you _have_ a worse name? Litespeed "Huffy"
maybe? There are a LOT of people in the Bay Area who heard those commercials and saw those
horrendous bikes.

Philip

Quoted message said:

Mike J.'s point about the Firenze name is well taken but
when Trek comes out with a Roadmaster model I'll buy it. :-)

Hey, don't go dissin Roadmaster! remember this line-

"Gentlemen, mount your Roadmaster bicycles!"

No, that wasn't from American Flyers. It was in Breaking Away, the greatest US cycling movie ever
(ok, you're right, not a whole lot to choose from. But still a great movie!)

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles www.ChainReaction.com

Mike said:

I was reading the review of the Litespeed Firenze in the March - it's the first sub $2000
titanium bike.

My friend's riding a 2003 Lemond titanium (full Ultegra) that went for $1999, and was recently
marked down to ~ 1699 (or maybe even less; didn't look that closely).

Do you mean it's the first sub 2K /LITESPEED/ titanium bike?!?

Bill "almost bought the Lemond myself but opted for a Klein Q-carbon Team for $400 less" S.

Mike Jacoubowsky/Chain Reaction Bicycles <[email hidden]> wrote:
: No, that wasn't from American Flyers. It was in Breaking Away, the greatest US cycling movie ever
: (ok, you're right, not a whole lot to choose from. But still a great movie!)

it's true, American Flyers really was that bad.
--
david reuteler [email hidden]

"S o r n i" <[email hidden]> wrote in news:qztZb.6737$_g.4706
@twister.socal.rr.com:

Quoted message said:

My friend's riding a 2003 Lemond titanium (full Ultegra) that went for $1999, and was recently
marked down to ~ 1699 (or maybe even less; didn't look that closely).

Is that list price or a closeout price? I thought the cheapest LeMond Ti bike was over $2500.

On Fri, 20 Feb 2004 21:49:27 GMT, "Mike Jacoubowsky/Chain Reaction

Bicycles said:

But getting back to the thread, no way could I ever associate a bike with the name "Firenze" as
being anything I'd want to own. Or... maybe it would be a cool joke, like the people who would put
Schwinn Varsity decals on their lugless Jack Taylors!

Or Eddy Merckx sticking Windsor decals on his Colnago

-Luigi

Mike said:

I was reading the review of the Litespeed Firenze in the March - it's the first sub $2000 titanium
bike. Sounds intriguing..... Has anyone tried one out? Any thoughts?

Just than the fact that it's insulting to Mark Hickey, who has been selling fine titanium frames for
$695 for several years now. There are others as well, but since I bought a bike from Mark, it irks a
bit. The real story is that Buycycling has not a clue about what is really available, except from
companies that have more marketing budget than engineering.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win you're _`\(,_ | still a rat. --Lilly
Tomlin (_)/ (_) |

Ken said:

"S o r n i" <[email hidden]> wrote in news:qztZb.6737$_g.4706 @twister.socal.rr.com:

Quoted message said:

My friend's riding a 2003 Lemond titanium (full Ultegra) that went for $1999, and was recently
marked down to ~ 1699 (or maybe even less; didn't look that closely).

Is that list price or a closeout price? I thought the cheapest LeMond Ti bike was over $2500.

I think it (the $1999) was a special running last summer. Not sure model name (Arrive'? Tourmalet?)
It's the pretty yellow/red/black one... Probable full list is closer to $2500 (billed as "entry
level ti"😉...

Trek Store had it clearance priced at ~1699; add a nice set of wheels and it's a pretty damned sweet
ride for the money!

Bill "stock aluminum bum" S.

Quoted message said:

Just than the fact that it's insulting to Mark Hickey, who has been selling fine titanium frames
for $695 for several years now. There are others as well, but since I bought a bike from Mark, it
irks a bit. The real story is that Buycycling has not a clue about what is really available,
except from companies that have more marketing budget than engineering.

David: If this is actually a domestic Ti bike, it's a significant milestone. It's not easy producing
a high-quality Ti frame at a reasonable price in the US. It doesn't make it any less significant
that Mark has been selling high-quality Ti frames at low prices for a number of years, but it could
be (if it's domestic) an interesting, if temporary, reversal of the trend of producing lower-priced
goods overseas.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles chainreactionbicycles.comchainreactionbicycles.comOpen ↗

"David L. Johnson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Mike said:

I was reading the review of the Litespeed Firenze in the March - it's the first sub $2000
titanium bike. Sounds intriguing..... Has anyone tried one out? Any thoughts?

Just than the fact that it's insulting to Mark Hickey, who has been selling fine titanium frames
for $695 for several years now. There are others as well, but since I bought a bike from Mark, it
irks a bit. The real story is that Buycycling has not a clue about what is really available,
except from companies that have more marketing budget than engineering.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win you're _`\(,_ | still a rat. --
Lilly Tomlin (_)/ (_) |

In article <[email hidden]>,

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

David: If this is actually a domestic Ti bike, it's a significant milestone. It's not easy
producing a high-quality Ti frame at a reasonable price in the US.

Titanium Sports makes Ti frames in Washington you can buy for $630 factory direct. Those are
rebranded and sold as Mongoose, or Colorado Cyclist, etc. They have sold quite a lot of them and
they have been out there for years. It would be interesting to compare to the cheap Litespeed.

"David Reuteler" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Mike <[email hidden]> wrote:
: I was reading the review of the Litespeed Firenze in the March - it's the first sub $2000
: titanium bike. Sounds intriguing..... Has anyone tried one out? Any thoughts?

mark .. any thoughts?

habcycles.com
--
david reuteler [email hidden]

I suspect the OP meant sub $2000 titanium made in the *U.S.* bike. This site has some info on this
topic: nlcnet.orghuffybikesdoc.shtmlOpen ↗

"Mike" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I was reading the review of the Litespeed Firenze in the March - it's the first sub $2000 titanium
bike. Sounds intriguing..... Has anyone tried one out? Any thoughts?

I was intrigued by this bike too but haven't seen one. Here's a link to the pic and specs on
Litespeed website litespeed.comfirenze.aspxOpen ↗

Another new model this year is the Solano which also looks intriguing but again, I haven't seen
except on the web. litespeed.comsolano.aspxOpen ↗

STP

"Frank Knox" <[email hidden]> wrote in news:Y9JZb.13435
[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I suspect the OP meant sub $2000 titanium made in the *U.S.* bike. This site has some info on this
topic: nlcnet.orghuffybikesdoc.shtmlOpen ↗

There are other US-made Ti bikes for under $2000 (complete with Ultegra), such as TST, Zion, etc.
These are sold mostly via mail order, though. The Litespeed Firenze is the only one I know of that
is widely available in bike shops.

Airborne, Habanero, and some others are made in Communist China.