LeMond

Limited Edition 1989 Road Bike Frameset - 2014

After claiming the '86 Tour atop a custom carbon fiber frame, there was no going back for LeMond. He'd proven to the world that both he and carbon fiber bicycles were there to stay in professional bicycle racing. The man responsible for building the revolutionary carbon machines for LeMond and teammate Hinault was Jean Marc Gueugneaud. At the time, Gueugneaud had recently left Look to start a custom carbon fiber manufacturing label known as TVT, where he continued building frames for LeMond.

The relationship the two developed continues today, with Gueugneaud now the chief carbon engineer at French-based Time. This created the perfect partnership for LeMond's launch back into bicycle production with his Time-built, Limited Edition framesets. The series commemorates the Tours claimed by LeMond, with just 100 framesets being produced for each of the three tour-winning years. This is the "Tour '89" edition, and the graphics represent his bike and ADR team colors of the day.

LeMond chose to partner with Time, as much for his longstanding relationship with Mr. Gueugneaud as for the proven engineering delivered by the French manufacturer. Time's NXS received the nod for the limited edition frame's front triangle and head tube, with the rear triangle having been designed specifically to LeMond's specifications. Time applied its RTM (Resin Transfer Molding) technology to the frame, which is a "wet" molding technique integral to its top-end carbon frames. This is an exclusive manufacturing process done in Time's French facility, and it's fairly exclusive to the bicycle industry both in terms of in-house production and the actual techniques applied.

The majority of carbon frames are manufactured with a pre-preg technique, in which woven carbon fiber sheets have been pre-impregnated with a resin. The sheets are then cut, arranged, and layered in a mold, with an inflatable bladder serving to shape the carbon under the forces of heat and pressure. RTM, on the other hand, involves carbon threads arriving at Time on spools, which are then woven, along with Vectran fibers, into sock-like structures. This method gives Time's engineers the freedom to vary weave compositions as a means to tune the characteristics of the tube shapes they will become. These fiber "socks" are then placed around a wax structure that mimics the frame, and then the entire assembly is placed into an aluminum mold. From here, the mold is injected with resin under heat and pressure, which, combined with a solid core in place of an inflatable bladder, fully impregnates the fibers and creates a more consistent and uniform tube thickness throughout. Aside from being exceptionally strong, the frame and fork tubes resulting from this technique are more resistant to cracking due to their braided composition.

The NXS is Time's gran fondo-specific frame, and, combined with LeMond's specific rear triangle, results in a geometry that mirrors the three-time Tour winner's signature long and relatively low riding style. As the "Tour '89" edition, this frameset received a cosmetic treatment representing the fluorescent yellow and purple team jersey and bike LeMond used on his ADR team that year.

The LeMond Limited Edition 1989 Road Bike Frame is available in six sizes from XX-Small to X-Large. The frameset comes in the Black/Yellow colorway.