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Lynskey Helix Ti Now Spinning Disc Brakes

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What has two wheels, disc brakes, and a down tube and top tube twisted like a braided rope? That would be the new 2014 Lynskey Helix Disc. After toeing the waters of road disc with their Sportive Ti road bike, Lynskey has now added discs as an option for their flagship road bike. Dubbed the Helix for obvious reasons, Lynskey claims the twisted tubes resist vertical forces along with torsion and bendingand enhance the sprinting and climbing of the frame. That, and it looks cool. Now you can have that signature look and ride, but with the added stopping confidence provided by disc brakes.

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Like the standard Helix, the Helix Disc uses a tapered/integrated headset, along with a PF30 bottom bracket and 135mm rear spacing. In order to take advantage of the disc brakes, the frame ships with the Lynskey Pro Carbon tapered disc fork though the bike can be upgraded to take advantage of the ENVE Carbon Disc fork. Stock the frame is set up for mechanical drivetrains only, but can be upgraded to Di2 compatible with holes to run the wires internally.

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Tire clearance is shown with a Kenda Quick Roller Sport 700×28, which Lynskey says runs on the larger side for a 28 (more like 30). As such you should be ok with most 28s and all 25mm tires. Pricing is fully dependent on the number of upgrades and build, but expect somewhere around $6,500-7,000 for a SRAM Red 22 equipped bike with their current promotion.

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31 Comments
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Don Meredith
Don Meredith
10 years ago

Sweet. New brakes for over hyped bikes that break with horrible support from the boys in Tennessee. They even finance with crazy rates now… Want fries with that?

Derek
Derek
10 years ago

While having been a customer of Lynskey for over 3 years, I could not find a better, nicer group of professionals to deal with. Their frames are strong, reliable and fast!

Peter
Peter
10 years ago

what do you mean “break”?

ChrisC
ChrisC
10 years ago

They mean “break” in the sense that Lynskey’s welders are *NOT* anything like they were in the earliest days of Litespeed. And that there’s a track record of Lynskey’s bike cracking at the HT/DT going all the way back to the Vortex and Ghisallo.

If you want durability in a Ti frame, you’d be better off with Moots.

badbikemechanic
badbikemechanic
10 years ago

CrisC. I have been racing a lynskey pro 29 for the past three years. I train on the bike every weekend on rough rooty east coast single track and no problems. I have taken the bike off 6 ft drops and no problems. The welds are gorgeous, the best in the business, and definitely on par with moots seven etc. I have no idea why lynskey gets so much hate on bikerumor. Total bike weight is 21lbs.

yep
yep
10 years ago

Promo shots and chain not in the big ring? Have you no shame.

David
David
10 years ago

I’m still riding my Helix two years on, I won’t be buying any other bike, it’s flawless.

SomeFawkingguy
SomeFawkingguy
10 years ago

Shown with junk sram hydro brakes that got recalled because they suck. Stay tuned for recall 2.0 when the new stuff comes out.

Von Kruiser
Von Kruiser
10 years ago

Haters – Obviously this brand is not for you… but it should be. However Lynskey is the largest ti maker still in USA. People who have them, love them. They have American pride and are great people. They have the business sense and skill to be a large player and still in the USA at the same time. Nothing wrong w/ Chinese frames but feels good supporting American bicycle manufacturing. They are building hundreds of bikes a year for: Cove, Kona, serveral European brands; in the past: Salsa and a few others. Their failure rates are the lowest in the ti bus… Now, let’s talk about the past. Yes they had thin drop outs and they acknowledge the fact. They will replace old broken frames w/ new ones so how is that w/ customer service… oh and shame on them for having zero percent financing. Don’t be so quick to judge what you do not know and condemn brands for the past when they are kicking ass today. Yes I have a Lynskey and will ride it today… later hater.

Pete W
Pete W
10 years ago

I never owned/rode any of the older Litespeed or Lynskey bikes but I presently own/ride 2 Lynskeys and a Salsa made by Lynskey and can attest to their build quality. The Salsa (2012 Vaya Ti) and my 2013 Ridgeline-29 VF have beautiful (precise, even, clean) welds while my 2012 Ridgeline-29 SL looks like it was manufactured at 5pm on a Friday before an extended holiday weekend. The difference in welding looks like the scar you might have after being operated on by a plastic surgeon vs. a field medic in an active combat area. Aside from the cosmetics, everything was in alignment and came together without a hitch or snag at the time of assembly. All three bikes ride well with 2 on rigid (steel) forks and the other on a Fox F29 RL (100mm, tapered, 15TA) so, again, aesthetics aside, it hasn’t made a difference in ride quality.

I haven’t had any problems (much less catastrophic frame failure as I was expecting based on so many negative posts floating around the internet) but I’ve only been riding these bikes for a couple years so will see how it goes.

I don’t consider myself an apologist or hater when it comes to Lynskey but can only say from my personal experience(s) that they’ve provided a good product with good (sales) service at a great value. Fortunately, there’s more than one Ti builder out there and if you’re more comfortable getting a Moots, Seven, IF, Strong, 333fab, Black Sheep, or other, it’s your call and I hope regardless of who welds your frame, that you enjoy your ride.

ifbikes
ifbikes
10 years ago

Sweet brake track on your disc brake bike. Also, no fender mounts? A disc brake bike for short sunny summer time rides, save the caliper bike for the rainy touring days.

pmurf
pmurf
10 years ago

I though seatstay bridges were unnecessary on disk specific frames….is that a stiffness adding feature? Also, I 2nd the chain placement comment – I know it’s a petty thing to squabble about, but it really makes the bike look like a toy.

Dave
Dave
10 years ago

I got a Lynskey R330 in October 2009 that now has 23,800 + miles on the clock. I’m not a racer but enjoy fast 50 mile rides on the weekends and shorter loops daily after work, averaging well over 5,000 miles/year. I’ve had zero problems with the frame or with customer service. The only issue I’ve had with my Lynskey was the headtube badge became stained within the first year, but the boys in TN replaced it for free. I’d buy another Lynskey in a heartbeat.

ifbikes
ifbikes
10 years ago

Also, Rolf rims are notoriously narrow so I doubt a 28+ would fit on any normal, much less something wide.

Mike
Mike
10 years ago

@ifbikes….rim width is 22mm, while not a HED C2 it follows the general trend towards wider widths, and is wider then many offerings from Mavic/Easton/AC etc….

Von Kruiser
Von Kruiser
10 years ago

Rim width is not super wide at 22mm but better then ol’skool 19mm. 22mm should be fine for 28c tires. 25mm would better to modern standards but guessing Rolf will be on this next year. Best alloy clincher rim widths I’ve seen for the money are on the Volagi bikes. However 22mm again is acceptable performance by all means for curb hoping and urban assault.

D.
D.
10 years ago

Thank you for the “scientific” tube twisting with wood blocks and an industrial press. Also, please build my frame, flat on a table, instead of using a proper tube alignment jig.

Where do I signup?

pants and jacket
pants and jacket
10 years ago

D:

Haha, good call.

That and the OEM part dumping to online bottom feeders really make a compelling argument to go with this company.

cracked-frame
cracked-frame
10 years ago

“People who have them, love them.”

Not true.

I have gone through 2 frames (on third) in 5 years. They all crack. I am only holding on to what I have because of warranty.

If I knew then what I know now, I would have never spent my money on their poor quality and even worse customer service.

There are plenty od other USA made Ti manufacturers that are better than Lynskey. Moots, Firefly, and IF to name a few.

Topmounter
Topmounter
10 years ago

What is the point of the top and down tubes being bent like that?

greg
greg
10 years ago

topmounter-
legend has it that some drunk dude at the lynskey factory saw some twisted tubes on a custom chopper. he then bolted one end of the ti tube to a table, welded a bar across the other end, and gave it a big twist.
“hold my beer, watch this”
there is nothing a helix tube accomplishes that a properly designed/engineered round tube cant do better.
failure rates of helix tubed bikes are some of the HIGHEST in the industry. a little birdy told me that a very large percentage of helix tubes fail during twisting and have to be scrapped.
from personal experience, ive seen lynskeys with large misalignments and pf30 shells way, way out of tolerance, as in millimeters off.

mitch
10 years ago

These welds look large and rather generic. Nothing special there. I have only seen two of these frames belonging to friends and both were out of alignment and one appeared to have a cracked weld at the headtube. I applied some dye to this area and it immediately highlighted a large crack. Sad story.

Also, who offers 30% off of a 2014 product if you buy factory direct??? https://www.lynskeyperformance.com/store/road/bikes-and-frames/pro-series/helix-models.html

Even at the sale price it’s still about as much as other brands, and without being made of questionably sourced titanium…

While a few of the older Litespeed models were nice, that quality is long gone.

Tath
Tath
10 years ago

I’ve had one frame split (the chainstay split from the weld halfway up the tube). My buddy is on his 3rd repair on his mountain frame (head tube). Another friend sold his after a crack. I’m sure people have had luck and love them, but my (small) sample I’ve been exposed to haven’t been confidence inspiring.

Another with cracks
Another with cracks
10 years ago

Two Lynskeys (one road, one cross) and four warranty returns for cracks. R430 cracked at bottom bracket, welded, cracked again after a few hundred miles, repaired again, cracked for the third time right after. Hassles for warranty repairs, no records of my paint codes on a 2 year old custom bike. Ultimately they did replace it with a nicely painted bike that weighs 300 grams more, rides like a brick, and required a different seatpost size. My ProCross (helix DT) cracked at the head tube after 30 rides. It came back with a ‘repair’ that looked like a 5 year old had melted a silver Crayola in there along with a heavy seat tube insert requiring a new post. I didn’t even bother to rebuild it as it looked like it wouldn’t make it around the block let alone as a race bike. I’m one with them and just dumped this one for pennies on the dollar (with disclosure to buyer). They’re also rough on dealers, selling direct to customers who have already been to shop. I second everything about the helical DT said above. Ask around, look around at people who really KNOW cycling – no one rides or respects these. Plenty of good ti out there, both budget (eg Habanero) and luxe (Spectrum, Firefly, Moots, IF, Eriksen, Engin, Crisp, dozens more) so no reason for Lynskey at any price point.

John
John
10 years ago

Von Kruiser – what data do you have to support Lynskey has the lowest failure rate in the biz? I work directly with Lynskey, and with some other American and Taiwanese Ti builders, and my data seriously begs to differ.

Bill
Bill
10 years ago

@topmounter, story straight from the horse’s mouth was that one day they were making square tubing from round with a dual die roller, and the dies were not aligned properly. tube came out twisted, and they thought it looked cool, and welded it to a frame.

James
James
10 years ago

They’re are several interviews where mark lynskey admits that the helix tubes were a manufacturing mistake and they initially started selling them because they thought they looked cool. There is no evidence that they do anything other than make the bike heavier since they can’t butt them.

Mike
Mike
10 years ago

Machines brake tracks on the rims? Brake bridge on a bike that doesn’t need it? Chain innate small ring for photos? For a bike they’re saying is worth over $11,000 but will sell you half off if you buy today it doesn’t seem very well thought out.

badbikemechanic
badbikemechanic
10 years ago

I rescind my original post. I took a close look at my frame after reading through the comments on this forum. Sure enough I found a significant crack in the frame. I called lynskey hoping for a quick warranty. Based on my conversation with the slick southern sales dude getting my frame fixed is going to take awhile. Yay.

steve m
steve m
10 years ago

@badbikemechanic bet they tried to sell you an “upgraded” model that is “dayum fast” so you don’t have to wait so long. Also bet your repair comes back much heavier than it use to be.

Jayry
Jayry
8 years ago

Just ordered one of their completes, hope it is better than all I’m reading here…

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