NEW BIKE! (aluminum/carbon frame content)

[ryanspeer]

After years of owning a Trek with Reynolds 531 tubing, I got the severe itch to upgrade the frame and components entirely. I managed to sell the Trek on Craigslist and bought the following to replace my trusty steel steed:

Leader 780R frame (aluminum frame with carbon seat stays)
Lightspeed carbon fork
Ultegra 9spd groupo
Vuelta wheels laced to shimano hubs (with aero spokes)
misc. other goodies

I took it out on Saturday for a 32-mile ride and could not believe the huge difference in every aspect of the bike! First off, the ride quality: it was one of those situations where you don't realize how bad you had it until you realize how good you've now got it. The steel frame behaved like a steel frame. You'd feel every little crevace of the road. You'd feel every bump, the frame felt too flexy, and also felt like a heavy beast that resisted quick accelleration, etc.

The NEW frame felt like I'd upgraded from a 15-year old American-made budget-minded SUV up to a European sports sedan or something! The frame was stiff at the bottom bracket so that when I stood up to sprint, it'd respond immediately and didn't feel like my energy was being absorbed by a flexy lower frame/bottom bracket area, the carbon seat stays made a HUGE difference (I wasn't sure if I'd be able to notice much) and the carbon fork was like a God-send! I felt better after 32 miles on the Leader than I did after 14 miles on the Trek. MUCH better, actually. Hands-down, no comparison.

The components themselves obviously speak for themselves, but the frame and fork combo made the biggest world of a difference that I could've ever imagined. I'd still love to have a day's ride on an OCLV or all-carbon equivalent, but I'm so rediculously pleased with the frame I've got now that I don't see myself ever "needing" to upgrade to anything else unless I have $1500+ to spend on some custom-fitted frame that I'd be a fool to pass up.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v626/ryanspeer/LeaderBike.jpg

/end honeymoon bicycle rant

 

[graphixgeek]

Looks nice ryanspeer! I have heard about the Leader frames. You'll have to keep me posted on how it goes as the miles pile on!

 

[ryanspeer]

Looks nice ryanspeer! I have heard about the Leader frames. You'll have to keep me posted on how it goes as the miles pile on!

Although I'm not positive of the weight of the frame (53cm) I suspect it's a little over 3lbs. That being said, it's the only thing that I dislike about it. Based on last weekend's ride, I have no reason to doubt its integrity, but only time will tell. Still though, for $220 (eBay), I think it's a bargain!

 

[graphixgeek]

I've been shopping around for an inexpensive frame for training and to put these old road parts on...I'll have to do a bit more research....

 

[ryanspeer]

I've been shopping around for an inexpensive frame for training and to put these old road parts on...I'll have to do a bit more research....

I was a bit hesitant to buy anything like a frame or wheelset sight-unseen. The bike came within one week, I think it was, was packed well, and was ready for buildup right out of the box. I'd read a bunch of reviews on Leader frames, many of which were dated 4+ years ago, and it seemed that they had some quality-control issues before in terms of cosmetics (poor painting, no clear coat over labels, excessive paint buildup near/in the bottom bracket and rear dropouts), but I haven't had even a single qualm about mine. It appears any and all of these issues were cleared up years ago. The frame is nice and stiff and the carbon stays are fantastic. I'm SOOOOOOOO glad I went with a frame with carbon stays. They're killer. The frame itself looks like many others I've seen (Lemond, some Trek's, and other brands that escape me right now), and so I'd almost venture a guess that when they're built overseas, they're probably done in the same factory as many other company's frames. Just a guess. The the seatstay design where it joins with the aluminum coming down from the seat tube looks nearly identical to other brands. Not saying I'm riding a LeMond, but just saying that it doesn't appear that this company is trying to reinvent the wheel and is probably doing the same design as many other tried'n'true companies, but just slapping their own decals on a mass-produced frame.

I bought a Cane Creek integrated headset from Leader when I purchased the frame and had no install problems with it either.

My plan is to keep it and make it a secondary/foul weater/training bike at the point in time when I can afford a second bike. I'd love to pick up an OCLV or Litespeed and use that as my main bike when that time comes. Until then though, I couldn't be more pleased with this purchase. Well worth the money.

 

[graphixgeek]

I attended a dealer show in '95 for Trek which was rolling out the '96's for it's family of bikes (Trek, Lemond, GF, Bontrager, and Klein). Talking to one of the reps, I found out that all of their $500 and less bikes were made overseas in Taiwan because in Taiwan, there are many bike manufacturers that have catalogs of different frame parts. Essentially, anyone can go over, pick out the different tubes for a frame, spec it, have the factory manufacture it to their specs, and have a bike company. The Giant rep for our shop said that for a long time, Giant built many of the low-end bikes for other manufacturers (Giant I believe is the largest Taiwanese bicycle manufacturer, well it was back then anyway). So it wouldn't suprise me if the factory that pumps out these Leaders makes other bicycles as well. After working in a bike shop, buying online isn't too scary for me as long as I have all the specs/measurements (accurate hopefully) and good feedback for a bike/frame. Thanks for the info!

 

[lks]

After years of owning a Trek with Reynolds 531 tubing, I got the severe itch to upgrade the frame and components entirely. I managed to sell the Trek on Craigslist and bought the following to replace my trusty steel steed:

Leader 780R frame (aluminum frame with carbon seat stays)
Lightspeed carbon fork
Ultegra 9spd groupo
Vuelta wheels laced to shimano hubs (with aero spokes)
misc. other goodies

I took it out on Saturday for a 32-mile ride and could not believe the huge difference in every aspect of the bike! First off, the ride quality: it was one of those situations where you don't realize how bad you had it until you realize how good you've now got it. The steel frame behaved like a steel frame. You'd feel every little crevace of the road. You'd feel every bump, the frame felt too flexy, and also felt like a heavy beast that resisted quick accelleration, etc.

The NEW frame felt like I'd upgraded from a 15-year old American-made budget-minded SUV up to a European sports sedan or something! The frame was stiff at the bottom bracket so that when I stood up to sprint, it'd respond immediately and didn't feel like my energy was being absorbed by a flexy lower frame/bottom bracket area, the carbon seat stays made a HUGE difference (I wasn't sure if I'd be able to notice much) and the carbon fork was like a God-send! I felt better after 32 miles on the Leader than I did after 14 miles on the Trek. MUCH better, actually. Hands-down, no comparison.

The components themselves obviously speak for themselves, but the frame and fork combo made the biggest world of a difference that I could've ever imagined. I'd still love to have a day's ride on an OCLV or all-carbon equivalent, but I'm so rediculously pleased with the frame I've got now that I don't see myself ever "needing" to upgrade to anything else unless I have $1500+ to spend on some custom-fitted frame that I'd be a fool to pass up.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v626/ryanspeer/LeaderBike.jpg

/end honeymoon bicycle rant

I have periodically explored, what low cost bike I could build up, for the best VALUE/PERFORMANCE, that was least likely to have a catastrophic failure that would put me in the hospital. I only did this, because new club members kept asking me this question and I was too stupid to say, "I don't know". Anyway, my last two choices were what you bought/built and Performance's, Scattante XRL frameset @ $200, which includes headset and carbon fork. I never thought much about the reliability of aluminun tubes, just the welds/brazes. But then I saw a picture of Hincapie's broken in half aluminum steerer tube. I have an identical piece, leftover from when I shortened the one on my 2004 Trek Project One frameset. With an 1 & 1/8" OD and a 2mm+ wall thickness, I can't imagine what force/stress and/or cycles could do this. I bet Trek's life test lab and lawyer's, know by now.