Lemond tsx or tvt?

[Mercianbloke]

Hello all, first post. In the early 1990s, when I was a poor student, only two things caused me to salivate. One was the sight of a pair of Campag Delta calipers in a display case in Harry Halls Cycles, Manchester. The old HH shop, beneath the Corn Exchange. The other was a small advert that appeared each month in the back of my cycling magazine, for a Lemond bicycle. Both were completely unaffordable but utterly beautiful. So I stuck with my second hand Mercian Olympic with its mix of 600 and 105 components. I still own that bike (currently in bits being resprayed).

Now I can't recall which model the Lemond was but I'm certain that it was dark blue on top, dayglo yellow in the middle, and pink or purple at the base. Searches of the Internet bring me to either a columbus steel txf frame, or a French tvt carbon frame with aluminium lugs. And I want one, with the Campag groupset.

Which is easier to find? I know they come up occasionally, but would I be better with a steel frame? Is the glue OK on a 25-year-old carbon/ali frame?

Btw, here's my current summer steed, a Mercian Vincitore Special with Di2. Not a retro frame but I like it.

 

[Lemond75]

You're not the only one as my dream bike has always been the 1990 Z Team TVT. There's still a fair few TVT's around, especially on EBay or on French sites such as Trocvelo although you're unlikely to find many in the Z Team livery you're describing so you might need to consider respraying one. The steel frames are even harder to find in that colourscheme in the UK; I can't be certain but I suspect that Lemond frames were only imported into the UK from 1991 by which time the team had switched to the red, yellow and blue design.

Good luck with your search.

 

[Chapeau! Velo]

Re:

Agree that getting one repainted might be the way to go owing to the rarity of that colour way. On the plus side, the TSX Lemond's are nice and good value compared with others so you should be able to pick one up relatively cheap.

 

[Lemond75]

The other option if you're happy to consider the need to respray, is the more readily available 1993-4 Gan team Lemonds. I had one of the 94 models with Excel GLX tubing and it was fantastic. Apart from the slightly garish paint job it's the one frame as regret selling after replacing it with a stunning, but extremely uncomfortable, Colnago Dream.

The advantage of the steel frames vs the Carbon TVT's is that a respray will be far cheaper and there's no chance of the frame de-bonding.

 

[Mercianbloke]

Re:

Thanks, I've seen the red/yellow/blue scheme but it isn't quite to my taste. I'd definitely prefer steel but if I can't find one, would I be able to rely on the tvt frame glue still being sound? Or would it be best to strip it and have someone rebuild it with either new tubes, or fresh glue? I don't mind a respray job, I don't smoke or drink so as far as I'm concerned the money isn't an issue.

 

[Lemond75]

Re:

You might have to ask around a few frame builders about rebonding the frame. I contacted Argos about having a TVT resprayed and one of the tubes being rebonded and they said they weren't able to do it.

 

[Chapeau! Velo]

Re:

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=348298 Just popped up on here?

 

[Mercianbloke]

Re:

Damn I'm a 57.5, I'd possibly go to 56 but I think 54/55 is probably slightly too small given that I want to spend some money doing this right. Thanks for the heads up though.

 

[rusty bodie]

Re:

I am having my NOS TvT sprayed at Brian Rourkes for a very reasonable fee. I just saw a nice Z Lemond TvT sell on ebay for $499 in VGC, so there are still around. I currently own another TvT and have had no issues with the bonding. I haven't heard of TvTs suffering with joint failures, but at this age anything is possible.

I would FAR rather take my chances on a TvT than a TSX - like night and day to ride, weigh far less annnnd look so much cooler .. .

Best of luck.

 

[Mike Muz]

Re: Re:

.

I would FAR rather take my chances on a TvT than a TSX - like night and day to ride, weigh far less annnnd look so much cooler .. .

Best of luck.

[/quote]

Never ridden a tvt framed bike, but my Bianchi is TSX and is lovely to ride, has nice lugs and is steel!
A friend of mine has two TSX Lemonds, but in the red, yellow and blue.

I had a TIGed 853 Lemond once, but that's another story!

Why are tvt framed bikes so fantastic to ride in comparison?

Mike