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FEATURES: LYNSKEY HELIX
Road Bike Action
August 3, 2009
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Titanium bike historians will know the Lynskey name. As the founders of Litespeed Bicycles back in the late ’80s, it’s safe to say that the family owned and operated company knows their way around a titanium bike. Now flying the family crest as their new head badge, with its novel frame design, the Helix represents the latest twist in titanium frame development for the Tennessee-based company.
THE STORY
It’s a safe bet that at least half of the most important technological advancements in life have been the result not of proven R&D and countless hours of lab testing, but rather, they’ve been the byproduct of a hunch, a notion, a guess, or in the case of the Lynskey Helix, longtime frame builder David Lynskey out in the shop having fun with an industrial machine he bought off eBay.
When asked about the development of their twisted tubes, company PR man Mark Lynskey unabashedly admits, “Oh, it was the typical Tennessee way—we stumbled upon it!” But in the same breath, he is quick to add, “But once we started working through it, we applied everything we know about producing frames to maximize its potential.”
The actual origins of the frame design are as alluded to previously. Mark’s brother, David, was retooling a used machine he’d bought off of eBay and one day came up with the spiral-shaped tube. “It wasn’t like some perfect ‘ah-ha!’ moment. David was working with a tool to come up with a diamond shape when the misaligned die made it happen by accident,” recalls Mark. “Just for grins, we decided to build a bike with the tube thinking it might be a fun bike to show off at Interbike. When a customer came in and saw they bike, they asked if we could make one for them, and we said sure! That was when we started to get serious with the testing and R&D.”
THE FRAME
Looking at tubing cross-sections in CAD drawings, it became apparent that the compound shape of the Helix tubes were best able to simultaneously deal with the torsion and bending forces normally exacted on the front triangle. Mark says their data showed that where diamond-shaped tubes are about 30 percent stiffer than standard round tubes, the Helix-shaped tubes provide close to an additional 30 percent increase in stiffness.
The Helix is also the first titanium bike we’ve tested that runs with such super small diameter seat stays. Twisted too as they are, Lynskey contends that along with the asymmetrical chainstays, the seat stays help resist vertical forces to enhance sprinting and climbing. Besides the seat tube, only the tapered chainstays aren’t twisted because Lynskey has yet to figure out a way to add twist and a taper to any tube.
The Lynskey Helix is available in six sizes, in standard “House Blend” geometry, or with anything and everything custom. The standard finish is brushed titanium with paint and polished options costing up to $500 extra. We chose the House Blend geometry to experience the Helix’s ride as its creators intended. The head and seat angles were 73 degrees, with a 56-centimeter head tube, and its compact frame sloped to a 52-centimeter seat tube. Lynskey states the weight of the medium-sized frame at a competitive 2.6 pounds.
THE PARTS
Lynskey doesn’t offer complete builds, but our Helix was handsomely appointed with black-anodized Fulcrum Racing 1 wheels, a Shimano Dura-Ace gruppo, a carbon fiber Zipp handlebar and stem, and a Fizik Arione saddle perched on a carbon Ritchey WCS seatpost. The complete Helix weighed a competitive 16.1 pounds without pedals.
THE RIDE
With just the first few pedal strokes, we’d say them Southern boys have done it right. Just as with carbon fiber, it’s never the material itself that defines a bike’s ride quality, but rather, its design and application. All the talk of a titanium “soft ride” notwithstanding, the Helix felt like a rigid racer with a definite tighter feeling in the front end than the Lynskey we tested last year. The rear end felt none stiffer or softer, but it was nothing more rigid feeling than any of the stiffer carbon frames. The handling felt spot-on for everyone who rode the bike, and the parallel 73-degree head and seat angles no doubt helped the performance ride feel.
THE VERDICT
In the bigger picture, what the Helix represents is a titanium stab at the performance (and shaping) market that has been so dominated by carbon fiber. The Helix hits the mark with its wild tube profiles and has the handling and performance to back it up—and comes within less than a pound of its carbon rivals. Where the Helix package steps ahead of its molded competitors is (like most titanium bikes) the promise of lifetime durability.
PRICE: $5010 (frame/fork with paint option—$4500 brushed finish)
WEIGHT: 16.1 pounds (frame/fork)
INFO: www.lynskeyperformance.com
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