What's wrong with a Litespeed Tuscany?

Triathlon Forum
1

I have been watching eBay for a while now looking for a Ti bike, and it seems the the going rate for a '01-'03 Lite speed Tuscany is about $1,300. What is up with that? These are mostly Ultegrea equipped bikes, and some with Dura Ace. Why are they so cheap?

Is it like the '02 LS and QR Tiphoons where they are just too heavy or have I missed something?

Or have i missed several great deals?

Don’t get me wrong $1,300 seems like a steal for a Ti frame alone, but having watched this for some time I have to be a little suspicious.

Any thoughts?

2

Sounds about right for a 3-5 year old bike. Plus older used 9-speed stuff.

3

Everyone wants carbon, ti is out of fashion. I bought an 04 Merlin Extralight frame for $800, I like being out of fashion.

4

nothing
.

5

If you buy one, you won’t want a new bike for a long, long time. Makes it sort of boring, really.

6

Great bike - see Tom Ds. review on his website. Nothing wrong with one at ALL.

7

My Litespeed Ulitmate is now 8 years old, and I haven’t seen a bike since that is worth trading it for. I have 2 carbon fiber TT bikes, and an aluminum road rig, but my Litespeed is my baby. Nicest bike I’ve ever owned.

Honestly, I haven’t seriously looked at another road bike since buying it. I guess that’s boring as an earlier poster said (although I’ve upgraded it from 8 to 9 to 10 speed through the years), but you’ll have a hard time convincing me there is a BETTER road frame out there. If you even mention an aluminum one, I’ll personally shoot you.

8

I saw a guy on roadbike review.com selling an '01 Ultimate (complete DA bike) for $1200. If I had the cash to spare, I’d pick it up just to keep my current '01 Ultimate company. If you take a 57 and it’s still available, I’d say go for it - you won’t regret it.

9

I bought an '05 Tuscany last year. It is a great all around road bike. I think it is Litespeed’s top seller over the last few years so that may drive prices down (ie, large production runs). I know Colorado Cyclist had 05 models on close out a few months ago for dirt cheap as the new '06 went back to standard headset design and they modified geometry a bit along with some tube redesign. I like the 06 better than the 05 but the prices went up too.

I actually sold my carbon Kestrel to buy this but but I have always been a contrarian. I like the feel and durability of ti.