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Pages: 1 Kahuna Forum Admin Reged: 12/11/03 Posts: 162 Loc: Maui, Hawaii 2004 Ghisallo Obvservations #345 - 12/29/03 03:53 AM (206.126.9.159) Edit Reply Quote What no Litespeed owners out there? My guess is they haven't discovered "their" forum yet! Anyway I'm a big fan of Litespeed bikes and the other day I was able to eyeball a brand new 2004 Ghisallo built with 2004 Campy Record. Really nice would be an understatement. The thing that struck me were the TIG welds. Really clean would be another understatement. In fact I'd say the welding was fabulous. Easily comparable to the best custom frames I've seen with the possible exception of Spectrum. This might make sense considering that ABG (the parent company) plays a key role with each brand. Anyway I was impressed with how this bike looked from a quality and finish point of view. My friend who's been riding it for the past 3 days has done about 120 miles with some 6,000 feet of climbing and has nothing but good things to say about it. Unfortunately it's not his bike! It belongs to his brother's friend who's on tour-of-duty with the Navy. -K Post Extras: TheMightySkunk journeyman Reged: 12/26/03 Posts: 82 Re: 2004 Ghisallo Obvservations [Re: Kahuna] #397 - 12/30/03 05:06 AM (63.175.96.1) Edit Reply Quote I agree with Kahuna. When I first saw the 2004 Ghisallo, I had to pick my eyeballs up off the floor. I owned a 2002 Vortex, which I sold because it was too noodly (I weigh 210 lbs). I recently replaced the Vortex with a 2004 custom Vortex with the "Limited Edition" tubeset, which is EXTREMELY stiff, as stiff as my 2001 Ultimate. The Ghisallo, until now, was way too soft for a guy my size to ride, but the 2004 Ghisallo is a striking design update. Way cool to look at, and the beer-can-sized down tube looks like it's surely stiff enough for a guy like me. The down tube of the 2004 Ghisallo is, literally, about 3 x the diameter of the 2003, and it flares horizontally at the BB for additional stiffness. Unfortunately, the 2004 Ghisallo I saw was too small for me to test-ride. Litespeed is doing things with titanium tubes far beyond what any other bike company is doing. You pay for their R & D, however. Bikes like the Vortex and the Ghisallo are the most expensive ti bikes out there; an off-the-peg stock frame costs more than a Seven or a Serotta, which are built custom to order. -------------------- "I haven't failed. I've just managed to find 100,000 ways that don't work" --Albert Einstein Post Extras: Pages: 1

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