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2019 Litespeed Ultimate Road adds disc brakes, wider tires to its aero road bike

2019 Litespeed Ultimate Road titanium disc brake aero road bike
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Earlier this autumn Litespeed brought back the Ultimate moniker on a new aero-optimized ti gravel bike. Now the Ultimate Road is back too, this time in a disc brake only road bike with aerodynamic tube shaping, premium American-welded 3Al-2.5V titanium, and room for 30mm road tires. Handmade and now hand painted in the US, the new Ultimate Disc High-Performance Road becomes Litespeed’s new top-end all-around road bike.

2019 Litespeed Ultimate Road titanium disc brake aero road bike

2019 Litespeed Ultimate Road titanium disc brake aero road bike

Litespeed calls the rebirth of their Ultimate Road bike the “ultimate combination of light weight, aerodynamics, stiffness and compliance.” The latest evolution of their original national & world championship winning 3Al-2.5V aero optimized ti road race bike, the new Ultimate becomes a thoroughly modern road bike. Gone are rim brake and any thought of super skinny tires.

Litespeed Ultimate Road ti disc brake aero road bike – Tech Details

2019 Litespeed Ultimate Road ti titanium disc brake performance aero road bike

Now the Ultimate Road is disc only with flat mount disc brake calipers and 12mm thru-axles, and it has plenty of room to fit modern comfortable & low rolling resistance tires up to 30mm wide on even most wide road rims.

2019 Litespeed Ultimate Road ti titanium disc brake performance aero road bike

Beyond big cushy tires, the new flagship Litespeed road bike also tailors its tube shaping to accentuate the comfort of titanium while eking out aero gains. The seatstays specifically get varied blading along their length to get both compliance and aerodynamic performance. Plus, both toptube & downtube get shaped for aero benefits and optimized stiffness for predictable handling.

2019 Litespeed Ultimate Road ti titanium disc brake performance aero road bike

The new premium ti all-around disc  brake road bike is said to tip the scales at 1323g (medium) shaving about 10g off their T2. The new bike features a full internal cable routing with Di2 & hydraulic line compatibility, a 31.6mm seatpost, and a PF30 bottom bracket.

Litespeed Ultimate Road ti disc aero road bike – Geometry & Sizing

2019 Litespeed Ultimate Road ti titanium disc brake performance aero road bike geometry

The Ultimate Road is available in six stock sizes from XS-XL (~51.5-59cm). Geometry for the new bike is the same performance road race geometry already refined on the disc brake versions of Litespeed’s T1SL Disc and T2 Disc, with the same Stack & Reach figures, head angles & wheelbases.

Litespeed Ultimate Road ti disc aero road bike – Pricing & Availability

2019 Litespeed Ultimate Road ti titanium disc brake performance aero road bike

The new titanium Litespeed Ultimate Road is available in either polished raw titanium or one of five painted options that still show polished ti in the rear end up to the seat cluster. Paint options include Oyster pearl white, metallic dark blue Mica, metallic dark cherry, metallic Sport red, and bright Nitrous blue. Raw ti frames start at $3450 on their own, or $3920 with the full carbon fork & a Cane Creek headset.

2019 Litespeed Ultimate Road ti titanium disc brake performance aero road bike

The painted options adds $650 whether you get the frame only or frameset with headset & fork, but with the frameset  they paint the Litespeed Carbon fork to match.

2019 Litespeed Ultimate Road ti titanium disc brake performance aero road bike

Several different complete bike builds are on offer, starting with the raw ti bike built up with Ultegra mechanical/hydraulic from $6300, up to painted Dura-Ace Di2 builds at $13,200 with a Reynolds Aero 46 Disc carbon wheelset. Complete bikes are fully built up in-house by Litespeed and ship to US consumers in a pretty massive box that does not require end-user assembly beyond bar & seatpost adjustment, and front wheel install.

Most frames & frameset options are in stock and ready to ship out to buyers immediately, while complete bike builds tend to take a week or two depending on spec. Litespeed sells the bikes consumer direct, and has an online chat that can help with either customization of final complete bike build or individual shipping estimates.

Litespeed.com

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record11
record11
5 years ago

Nothing at all really like the ‘original’ Ultimate that had a 6/4 downtube (flat stock, formed and welded at the seam). Seat tubes with a ‘swag’ in them to make the ride a bit more resilient and on and on. For ABG to call this bike “Ultimate” let alone their “flagship” you would think that even on their own site they could refer to the 6/4 roots (and 3/2.5) of the original “Ultimate”. I guess if you set your goals low enough they are easier to achieve. Simply, not impressed.

blahblahblah
blahblahblah
5 years ago
Reply to  record11

the 6/4 welded down tube ultimates were 2nd generation the original one looked like a ti version of Columbus max with a slight bend in the seat tube and straight chainstays, and yes still the best ti frame ever made ever!! anyone with one for sale!

Don
Don
5 years ago
Reply to  blahblahblah

I had one of the original Ultimate’s. Was my favorite till the Archon came along. I also cracked it. The 6.4 downtube was too brittle. Think this new one will kick ass. Meanwhile, I’m loving my LS Gravel!

Record11
Record11
5 years ago
Reply to  Don

The great news is – if you were the original owner you got the new bikes free when you cracked the down tubes! 🙂

Huck
Huck
5 years ago

Bad color on those welds!

Kovas
5 years ago

I spy a fair amount of blue and brown on those welds… IMHO, blue welds on titanium – definitely not a good sign – crispy welds… Where’s the argon purge, weldie?

Huck
Huck
5 years ago
Reply to  Kovas

Just think….if those are their best photos imagine what most frames look like!

Kovas
5 years ago

I spy… A whole lot of blue and brown on those welds. IMHO – blue welds never a good sign on Ti… Crispy welds. Where’s the argon purge, weldie?

Record11
Record11
5 years ago
Reply to  Kovas

I bet the ‘purge’ is down the road at Lynskey…..

adilosnave
adilosnave
5 years ago

OK, that’s pretty nice right there. Definitely have a soft spot for the Ultimate model and really like them bringing back the paint options. They look great! Remember almost purchasing a Palmares in Aston Martin green way back in 2001. Built up with Dura-Ace for $4500. My how things have changed!

record11
record11
5 years ago
Reply to  adilosnave

The thing about the paint on Ti….so, for an extra $650 they will add some weight and a place to show scratches on a Ti bike? No thanks….

JBikes
JBikes
5 years ago
Reply to  record11

The thing about options….they are optional.

Record11
Record11
5 years ago
Reply to  JBikes

Maybe the paint is to cover the ‘crispy’ welds? When building a fully polished frame Lynskey and ABG did not use the same tubeset as their brushed bikes.

Robin
Robin
5 years ago
Reply to  JBikes

So, you’re saying the option exists to have the frame painted or to not have it painted? So, it’s almost like if a guy doesn’t want paint on his Ti frame, he doesn’t have to get paint on that frame. Weird idea, that.

If you don’t get paint on the frame, how can you complain about the weight of the paint and all the scratched paint?

Bill
Bill
5 years ago

What is aero about that frame? It’s pretty, I dig titanium, but it’s not “aero” compared to any other modern bike in that category.

Jim E
Jim E
5 years ago
Reply to  Bill

But the downtube is ovalized a bit. That’s enough to qualify in the aero-is-everything craziness these days, isn’t it?

Robin
Robin
5 years ago

Why not use a T47 BB and let the customers decide which crankset/BB standard they want to use?

kimbo305
kimbo305
5 years ago
Reply to  Robin

Cuz it’s cheaper to not tap the shell.

Jeff
Jeff
5 years ago

When I see a bike like this I wonder why the manufacturer didn’t just go one small step further and put in mounts for fenders. It just seems like they are turning their backs on a potential market segment. It wouldn’t be much trouble, they wouldn’t need to change the basic bike they made at all, just have some way to add fenders. I’m not trying to single out this bike or this manufacturer, I see it from most manufacturers.

Cyclingengr
Cyclingengr
5 years ago

You lost me at PF30

Brad Comis (@BradComis)

Aero, well, I suppose those claims are maybe the ones made by the marketers and the designers/engineers. According to what I’ve heard in podcasts from Damon Rinard and Chris Yu the TT and DT don’t contribute much to the aero performance of the bike, so that’s mostly a waste of time. The HT and ST are the really critical tubes. Seat stays do a bit, but of course the marketeering claims come apart when its stated that they are now aero shaped for compliance and aero performance! Hahahah. Ridiculous claims aside it looks like it would ride pretty well. Nice teal colour in the photos too.

Czechmate
Czechmate
5 years ago

If this is destined to be the flagship frame/bike for Litespeed, what’ll happen with the current T1SL? Will it be re-branded as a revival of the Ghisallo moniker and marketed as the lightweight climbing bike?

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