What to Expect in Litespeed Mountain Bikes

The litespeed mountain bikes came into being when a small Tennessee-based family running the Southeast Machine shop created its first model when the eldest son of the family found no bicycle model to his liking from the local shop and decided to assemble the titanium parts in an exotic design.

However, soon the newly designed litespeed mountain bike found more widespread recognition from many regional cyclists who were in need of custom made titanium bikes. Encouraged by the responses of international athletes, the family held an exhibition in 1986 displaying a few of their mountain bikes models in an industry trade show in Long Beach, California. After this, the company released a number of popular bicycle models like De Rosa, Eddy Merckx, Tommassini, Basso and Univega.

The successful journey

The unique range of light and fast titanium bikes is manufactured by its mother company founded by David Lynskey in Ooltewah, Tennessee, near Chattanooga. Presently it manufactures both mountain and road bicycles and that are made of exotic metals like titanium, aluminum and carbon fiber. Currently the company is owned by the American Bicycle Group although Merlin and Quintana Roo, the parent manufacturers are still in charge of the production of the components.

Since the Tour de France of 1999, litespeed bikes came into limelight with Lance Armstrong riding its titanium frame Litespeed Blade specially designed for the Trek trials. It was also used by The World Cup ITU Triathlon champion Vanessa Fernandes. Litespeed enjoys the pride of place as a contractor and consultant to NASA.

Besides that, litespeed was also contracted by European bicycle brands like Bianchi and Eddy Merckx, who later introduced the titanium frame design in their own line of bikes. Currently, Litespeed is one of the official sponsors of the DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed and Calyon/Litespeed Pro Cycling road teams and the Maxxis mountain bike team.

Various popular models of litespeed bikes

The Litespeed Mount Diablo is an exclusive design offered by BikeSmart that is characterized by a very strong top tube that is formed in accordance with the structural dynamics of the ultra light Ghisallo. You will find the tube at the head junction working in sync with each-other for providing you with a rigid front-end enhancing your performance and tracking. The down tube of a litespeed mountain bike is made from 3AL/2.5V titanium alloy and can be expanded for providing you the required stiffness for better handling. In addition to this, the big seat tube helps to hold down the bottom bracket in place while the seat itself provides you greater vibration damping, enhancing overall long-haul comfort. Most of the litespeed models are assembled with Shimano Dura-Ace derailleurs, Real Design Supershere wheels, Real Design carbon fork and weighs no more than 2.98 lbs.