Serotta vs Litespeed?

NICE!!! Wishing you many, many happy miles.

Being a Litespeed owner I must say that I really like my old Ti bike for its comfort and smoothness.

But my 7 or 8 year old Litespeed is flexy...robbing me of my power when climbing or accelerating. That being said I test rode a Catalyst several months ago and didn't notice any difference in the new Litespeed in terms of stiffness, maybe a longer test ride would confirm otherwise.

The point is...with either bike, the serrota or the litespeed, I would pick the one that is stiffer. These Ti bikes will surely give you that smooth/comfort quality anyway...what Ti frames don't do as well as others such as carbon, aluminum.... is in the stiffness department.

GL let us know what you decided ...and show us some pics.

Ti can be plenty stiff these days. In the litespeed line, try a vortex or ultimate. Moots' vamoots does pretty well I hear, haven't ridden one. And I've heard nary a negative word on the Legend Ti. Sibex, seven, etc...good, light, stiff stuff can be found...maybe not as stiff/light as the stiffest Al or CF but who cares if you like the ride?

Rudy said:

The point is...with either bike, the serrota or the litespeed, I would pick the one that is stiffer. These Ti bikes will surely give you that smooth/comfort quality anyway...what Ti frames don't do as well as others such as carbon, aluminum.... is in the stiffness department.

I also have Ti noodle, but I must point out it is the design of the bike, not the material that will determine the majority of the ride charachteristics such as stiffness.

RC2 said:

Ti can be plenty stiff these days. In the litespeed line, try a vortex or ultimate. Moots' vamoots does pretty well I hear, haven't ridden one. And I've heard nary a negative word on the Legend Ti. Sibex, seven, etc...good, light, stiff stuff can be found...maybe not as stiff/light as the stiffest Al or CF but who cares if you like the ride?

That's correct RC2...I heard that the Vortex is plenty stiff using the 6/4 Ti. However, the Vortext is also stiff on your wallet too as well. So is the Ultimate. I would like to try one of these....

If any of you have one of these, please give us some comparitive feedbacks with some other models.

wilmar13 said:

I also have Ti noodle, but I must point out it is the design of the bike, not the material that will determine the majority of the ride charachteristics such as stiffness.

I've hard of this but so far that doesn't seem to make enough of a huge difference .... just minute.

I guess at some point there's a fine balance between stiffness and compliance and you must find that for yourself. When a bike gets too stiff the ride becomes "deader"?? and stiffness is a personal subjective matter.

cycledupes said:

Well, i finally broke down and did it... the Serotta won the battle. Hopefully this attachment will work for those of yous who care to see the swank.😄

Awesome. Love the colors.

cycledupes said:

Well, i finally broke down and did it... the Serotta won the battle. Hopefully this attachment will work for those of yous who care to see the swank.😄

Beautiful bike. Nice job.

So . . . even though some people absolutely hate when people do this . . . give us some initial ride feedback after you clock a couple hundred miles on it, will ya?

Rudy said:

...also stiff on your wallet...

Want stiff Ti on a budget?, try Sibex. http://www.sibexsports.com/frames_road.htm#czar

Well, i don't know if you can call this INITIAL feedback anymore, but i've spent so much time on the bike i haven't been to the forums in weeks...my bad. Anyways, i can't describe the bike as being anything other than fantastic. It's really hard for me to pinpoint where the biggest differences are since just about every single component area changed between my 2 bikes (former steed was a 2002 Lemond Buenos Aires). Steel frame to Ti, Bontrager Race wheels to Ksy Elites, generic aluminum bars to Stella Azurra Profi Ala's, Selle to Fizik Arione saddle, standard geometry to compact, and Ult-9 to Ult-10. The whole package is stiffer, faster, smoother shifting, more comfortable, and WAAAAY sweeter looking all at the same time. Average ride times have gone up, partially due to the new gear, and partially due to an increase in training time brought about by having a new bike.

So is the difference big enough to justify a $2500 increase over the old bike? Some people may not think so, but having a ride like that strapped between your legs sure gives you a lot of motivation to ride, and ride HARD. Making the miles fly by must count for something. Finally, you can't overlook the drool factor. Met more people in the last 6 weeks due to the new ride than in the past 3 years. So take from that what you will.

Anyhoo, thanks a lot to all of you that provided feedback. LOVE my ride.

Dupes