LeMond Introduces New Steel Washoe Road Bike

Yeah buddy!

I bet there are a lot of Pot Bellied Cat 4 Pros who are going to be surprised or disappointed with the idea that a name like Lemond is doing steel but it really is a sign of the steel renaissance. Its funny to thing about all the hardcore cyclists out there who have never even heard of Ira Ryan, Rapha, Vanilla, Mosiac, Moots, GeekHouse, so on and so on… Discovering alternatives to Carbon Fiber every day. Yay!

@Slow Joe Crow — totally, with ya on that one

This is one of the most exciting bikes of the year to me. I grew up admiring LeMond bikes but they were always just out of reach. Recently I’ve been trying to find one made with Reynolds 853 used but they always seem to miss the mark with what I find. Here is a great bike with a great paint scheme, I can’t wait.

Nice bike and always great to see more **lightweight** steel offerings instead of the usual boat anchor steel offerings. Anyone riding a Surly or Reynolds 520 frame and saying “steel is real” doesn’t know what they’re talking about! Ride a Reynolds 753, Columbus SL, Reynolds 853, Tange Prestige (the original Prestige, not the stuff being used now) and you’ll really see why steel is real!

The one detail on this bike I really don’t like is the replaceable dropout. Replaceable alloy dropouts and 11 speed drive trains are a headache. A steel dropout will give better shifting performance and can easily be bent back in all but the most severe crashes. There’s a reason several pro teams replace the stock alloy replaceable dropouts on their bikes.

Yah buddy, that’s a bike I’d ride. Agree – throwback to his Zurich 853 models and darn near same geos with a few little twists like pressfit.

Good quality light steel, sensible performance geometry, and room for 30s makes this a great frame assuming competent build quality.

j

A year or so ago I upgraded my SL3 to 9000 put the Red on my 14 year old all 853 IF Crown Jewel “the last year they made an all 853 CJ”. After 4 months of mostly riding the Jewel the 9000 is on it and the SL3 is gone. I can’t see me on anything but steel from now on. When my wife is not looking I think a deposit will be going down on a Washow.

Good to see LeMond returning to steel bikes, but am I the only one who thinks the paint + graphics are pretty bad?

vectorbug, don’t bring Rapha into a classic steel forum discussion. Hate to break it to ya, but Rapha is an instagram-famous company t hat’s barely 10 years old, making over-rated and expensive apparel.

Very pretty and understated bike! I just rode my 853/carbon spine Lemond bike today. 10 years old and still a great bike.

OK, a bit of sarcasm here. This looks just like the Zurich bikes that Trek was making for Lemond 15 years ago. A Dura Ace equipped Lemond weighed around 16 pounds back then too. I agree with other uses, Reynolds 853 is a great way to make lightweight steel bikes, but really, this Lemond is old news.

Nice looking bike. I like the fact that the frame is less “compact” than Jamis’ and Kona’s offerings.

I wish it had rack/fender mounts.

And I wish Genesis would get a US distributor for their bikes.

I like, but you do custom for that price. Just saying…

Closer…http://fairdalebikes.com/2014/01/a-preview-of-the-goodship/

I saw the first pic and immediate thought of the Fairdale Goodship.

But of course the two bikes have very little in common (beside a colour scheme) and Greg LeMond has slightly more pedigree in road cycling than Taj Mihelic.

@Velo – Genesis make some great bikes and their inclusion of rack/fender mounts on the Equilibrium only improves it, in my eyes.

Ironic. Considering this a throw back steel bike, but LeMond was a pioneer in technology. Questioning authority and traditions he set the world on it’s collective ear when he chased down a virtual Fignon with “triathlon” bars. Still the closest Tour in history.

Well the PF BB kills it for me, looked great up until then.

Why more steel frame makers don’t use replaceable hangers I’ll never know, this is literally the first steel road frame I’ve seen with a replaceable hanger.

@Chris, you know hangers being part of the dropout only came into fashion in the late seventies, right?

And different “shifting performance” from the choice of hanger material? You’ve drunk deeply of the kool-aid.

We have a customer who insists on pronouncing it as the word ‘lemon’ with a D on the end, as opposed to the kind of Frenchy way. Very hard to keep a straight face.

@fullframe:NOPE. They are definitely pretty d*mn bad.

i’d rather have the Ritchey Logic if I was gonna get another of the rack steel bike. cheaper and has a 68 shell. and dont have to deal with annoying Lemond fan boys.

Full Disclosure – I have a Lemond Alp Dhuez 853.

Seeet bike, Sweet Color, Steel is Real. It’s good to see lemond getting back into the game.

@Skip I’m going with performance. Even a ‘really nice’ steel fork would be a noodly boat anchor compared to carbon. I’ve also never seen a steel fork for a tapered head tube. I think it’s good that many of these ‘steel renaissance’ frames don’t completely throw performance out the window. You can really feel a huge difference in the front end on a vintage bike vs. modern tapered head tube and carbon fork.

lol @ ‘hardcore cyclists who haven’t heard of Rapha’. They don’t even make bloody bikes FFS. They make overpriced clothes for posers.

I happened upon a bit of a rarity 11 years ago–A Lemond Victoire titanium road bike (built by Trek). It fit like a glove and I’ve been ever so grateful to have had it as my main squeeze all these years. I’ve tried a few others here and there, but can’t imagine a bike that I’ll ever like nearly as much. But glad to see LeMond getting back to his roots.