LYNSKEY PRO GR 6/4 versus 3/2 ti or another model ? Trek Carbon gravel? For offroad and fast commute

mtnbikerva1

Lynskey PRO GR bike? Tell me what the pluses and minuses are. What would you do differently?
What did you compare it to?
Other test rides or bikes you ride, or have ridden?
What is the difference in weight and ride quality vs the 3.2 Ti version? Or even a not fragile carbon gravel bike?
Vertical and lateral stiffness?
Acceleration and braking?
I watched the Lynskey video on finish choices, anything to add?
Would it be better or worse with the Chris King t47 BB? Too stiff?
I am 6’1” 168 pounds.
I hate aluminum for its ride quality: too stiff, wears too easy, denting…
I do not like feeling like I am riding a jack hammer.
I have a Litespeed Vortex from about 25 yrs ago also have a too small for me Obed.
Maybe trade in the Obed, for a gravel 6/4 or 2/3.
Or just buy a Trek with their proprietary front and rear in frame suspension like their Domane? Not crazy about the press fit B.B. though.
What tires do you guys really use and how easy is it to get them and cost?
Any clear winner or looser in tires?
Thank you

mamil314

I will just say, hating aluminium for harsh ride is like hating all americans just because you don't like Bieber. It's been pointed out in these forums, again and again, that the same ride quality can be reproduced with aluminium, carbon fibre, steel, titanium or scandium - it depends on design decisions and will result in varying weight and stiffness/compliance.
Titanium is picked because of looks and bragging rights, first, and superb resistance to corrosion, second.

6/4 bikes are likely to be made more stiff. Better tyres are likely to have more impact on comfort than tiny road bike suspension.

mtnbikerva1

mamil314 wrote:

I will just say, hating aluminium for harsh ride is like hating all americans just because you don't like Bieber. It's been pointed out in these forums, again and again, that the same ride quality can be reproduced with aluminium, carbon fibre, steel, titanium or scandium - it depends on design decisions and will result in varying weight and stiffness/compliance.
Titanium is picked because of looks and bragging rights, first, and superb resistance to corrosion, second.

6/4 bikes are likely to be made more stiff. Better tyres are likely to have more impact on comfort than tiny road bike suspension.

You did not address the quickness of fatigue and stress risers/fractures or that it dents easily and that just transporting it with another frame on top of it rubs the aluminum thin.
You seem to never have had a Ti or beer can/aluminum frame to experience the multiple strengths of Ti and the multiple weaknesses of aluminum. I have owned and ridden many many miles and years different bikes/materials along with test riding many also.
The only thing aluminum has on Ti is that it is cheap in quality and initial purchase price. Long term the Ti is possibly cheaper due to not having to buy multiple aluminum frames when they snap in two, etc.

mamil314

I have ridden my Lynskeys and CAADs since 2008 and both types endured use and transportation well. Granted, If you grind several bikes against each other, you might as well look for chrome-vanadium frames as chainsets will gauge and score anything else.

froze

In the case of this particular Lynskey model they are using the highest grade of titanium available for bikes. Lynskey is the original and former owner of Litespeed so he knows his stuff. Titanium pound for pound is the most durable material currently being used for bikes, see the following videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvk63bmVpck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0eP-6j8d6s

The titanium tested in both of those videos is the lower grade stuff that is most commonly used in TI bikes due to cost savings, not the higher grade titanium used in the Pro GR gravel bike.

Having either owned or test rode several types of materials I can say that TI bikes do offer a bit more comfortable ride regardless of all the design into material balony you read about, I've ridden all sorts of different designs and still TI came out slightly ahead of steel; now CF is a bit different ride then either Ti, ST, or AL, it's a ride I don't really care for, not sure why, I just didn't like it though I did like it better than my old Scandium bike I use to have or any other AL bike I've either ridden or owned, but I hated riding long distances on SC or AL bikes. I haven't rode the high grade TI so not sure how that would ride but my feeling is it may be a bit stiffer. Now of course I am an older person (64), so that comfort issue is more important to me now then when I was a lot younger when I wanted a stiffer sports car type of bike when I use to race and that stiffness didn't bother me the least bit; so age does play a role in how you perceive how a bike should feel like. There use to be a greater deal of differences especially in AL bikes, they rode like bricks as my Scandium did, but the problem with AL bikes is that there is a bike fatigue limit unlike ST or AL, I've seen a lot of AL bikes develope cracks in various areas, even my SC bike that was suppose to be a lot more durable then AL developed a crack at the top of the head tube that totaled the bike after only about 8,000 miles...this is not typical by the way, not sure why that happened, the bike was never in a wreck, or hit a pot hole or a curb, and Orbea refused to warranty it saying it was due to fatigue which they do not cover nor does any bike warranty; so that bike frame made it's way to the recycling yard; and getting an attorney to fight it would have cost me more then the frame was worth.

After much self debate, reading, and test riding bikes in stores and friends bikes I decide in 2013 to buy a Lynskey Peloton (no longer made), and I'm glad I did, it's the most comfortable bike out of all my other 9 bikes I own with the exception of my 1985 Schwinn Le Tour Luxe but only when it's loaded for touring. When the Schwinn is loaded for touring the frame flexes a bit more due to longer wheel base and rides more like a Cadillac, but when not loaded it doesn't ride like that and the Lynskey actually rides better even though the Lynskey has a shorter wheel base and stiffer wheels. The Peloton has a longer wheel base then their racing models but shorter then their touring model and maybe some other models, it was called a sport frame at the time. I have ridden racing geometry TI bikes and though they were stiffer then mine but only by a very small degree. Ti is closest to the ride quality of steel but less flex when you hammer on it compared to steel, is the best way to describe it. Litespeed use to make a TI bike called the Classic which had smaller diameter tubes and that bike was quite flexy but it rode like you were sitting on a down pillow!

I think after researching a bunch of TI bikes that Lynskey offers the best deal for money, and they're made by the foremost TI builder in the US! I know some will argue that but Mr Lynskey has been doing this for a very long time and pioneered a lot of the techniques during his Litespeed operation that the johnny come latelys duplicated, so his experience speaks volumns.

Sooo, in my opinion I would go with the Lynskey hands down without any reservations.

Oh, just in case someone wants to argue with me about ride quality, remember this, it's just my opinion based on my experiences over 40 years plus of riding, your's may be completely different so I won't argue against whatever anyone else says about that because after all...it's just an opinion.