Class Act - Greg Lemond
 

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/lemond-humbled-after-being-awarded-the-congressional-gold-medal/

Anyone else miss 'the good old days' ?

Bill K

Great stuff... Back in the day he was like a living legend. One of the true gentlemen of the sport.

Very well deserved! --- And the latest LeMond E-bikes: https://lemond.com

I've always wanted to build a Rep like this but I never go around to it. Maybe one day...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1607711216.jpg

..guess I'm old school...:cool:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1607711912.jpg

For several years he and his family lived in a Minneapolis suburb. Someone I used to know was driving with someone when they encountered a bicyclist who she thought was acting a little aggressive for her taste. She turned to her companion and said, "Who does he think he is, Greg LeMond?". At that moment he changed position and she saw his face. It was indeed Greg LeMond.

I have that exact poster sign by him.

I tell ya, during those early days of racing in the US, info was very hard to come by and he, boyer and Eustice were the only American pros riding in Europe. Those were the only info we got from Velonews, which was just a two page new paper unlike today. LeMond will always be my Cycling hero. He went to Europe to win and not work as a domestique. One hell of a rider

here's my posterhttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1607714237.jpg

We - myself and my two sons (9 & 12) - meet him coming out of the Plaza in NYC when he was riding in the Tour Dupont back in the day.
I see your poster is signed - he signed a copy of Bicycling mag with him on the cover for my boys - good stuff.
Bill K

I worked at Palo Alto Bikes in the early 80s, not long after LeMond had ridden for them (and Avocet). I used to ride with a lot his former, yet more mortal, former amateur teammates. Everyone had nothing but great things to say about him.

Some people are just gifted and can take a lot of pain. He was riding with the senior I, II, pros when he was a JR. I too rode as a USCF Jr. Got to the senior 4s and had no problem finishing top ten in most of my races, but going up to the 3s, it was a huge change (I only mamaged to finish some of the races, forget about top three or ten for that matter). Everything was faster and more intense. Fun times. I still remember reading about his first year in Europe and how he needed to learn how to ride races and was not allow to ride the tour. Cyrill know they had someone very special.

Had a '99 LeMond Buenos Aires. Best bike I ever owned. Reynolds 853, relatively light weight but supple steel. Great geometry; longer top tube as LeMond preferred, opened up the chest. What a dude.

He really is a class act, I’ve always had a lot of respect for him

What a man to admire. I had a ADR jersey hanging in my bedroom growing up. He was a hero and from what I’ve read and saw a honest to goodness great man, nothing but respect for him.

Now he seems to be working on a lot of carbon tech and should be releasing a new LeMond carbon series bikes, at least last I read.


CTopher

I used to work in a fancy hotel/restaurant in the same street as his house in Belgium was, in Marke.
The pavement was permanently inscribed with slogans from supporters

Never seen him there tho.. always on the road

“Ride your bike, ride your bike, ride your bike.” -- Fausto Coppi.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1607781256.jpg

Lemond was my hero as a teenager. I spent my teen years as a competitive road cyclist and even was on the US Jr National Team for a year. I did a semester of high school from the Olympic training center. Never got to meet him.

Nowadays both increased road congestion and the whole Armstrong thing have basically killed road cycling in the USA. Personally I no longer ride on the road, only mountain bike, for the former reason above. Too many friends of mine have been runover on the road.

Lemond is/was the real deal.

Lemond and his wife took a lot of abuse in the Lance era when everybody thought Lance could do no wrong. Lemond stuck to his guns throughout and called it (doping) like he saw it. We all know who won that fight. :cool:

This is my since sold 1984 Gitane Team Pro - an exact, down to the water bottle cage bolts - copy of Lemond's bike. Not a race-ridden bike but an authentic Team Pro.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1607788875.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1607788942.jpg

Need to watch Slaying the Badger again!


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1607789030.jpg

If I remember correctly,
this was his house

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.8004155,3.2432396,3a,53.4y,302.66h,91.29t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sG6oxFiw_GSZj8AcOpPbxAQ!2e0!7i1 3312!8i6656?hl=en


https://beeldbank.kortrijk.be/KORTRI...ff7/browse.jpg


I worked at the far end in the Hostellerie, I was 17 doing an internship..

Oh, and anybody riding a POS Trek? Sell it or throw in a dumpster. They screwed over Lemond big time to support known doper Armstrong.

They did and that's regrettable but was Armstrong a know doper when all of this happened?

There were always rumours flying about but that's normal in professional cycling.

(I own a Trek. It's about 15 years old and it's been a great bike.)

Which one? I had a 5500 OCLV. They thing rode well, stiff and not too alive like modern day carbon frames. For what it is, its a solid bike. It tool a lot of abuse from me.

It's one of my many bikes... A Trek SU300 "Pavement Bicycle".

I bought it on a whim about 15 years ago. From memory it was about $1,500 AUD and it's preformed very well.
I use it when I feel like cruising the beach path near my house. :D

Here's one but this isn't my photo. I'm think about repainting and rebuilding it into something special.
I've started to collect some NOS Campagnolo OR* and Paul parts for it. (*Campagnolo Off Road from 94-95)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1607830178.jpg

Have an E500 that Greg was purportedly the original owner of, PO said the family used the car for their Ski trips and it had the factory roof rack installed when he bought it.

I got a chance to meet him back in the 80s, when he was recovering from that shooting accident. Very polite, quiet guy.

I read about his accident in "*Bicycle Guide". There was a picture of him sitting on a hospital bed and his back was pock marked. The story never really made the MSM news down here.

(*This one but no this issue)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1607846001.jpg

I don't think it made it to mainstream news here neither. I only read about it through Winning Mag or Velonews.

Just look at how things changed over the years. Bike shoot out were DeRosa, Sannino and such. Now, its Specalized, Cannondale, or Trek.

I love to read about the Pogliaghi. I have only seen one at a race back in the mid 80s. Never seen another since but all others listed there have been seen through the years. Those will always be real racing bikes to me. I still have to wipe my drool off when I think about them.

Here's something to drool over.

NOS Campagnolo Record OR hubs (8 speed Exadrive). I bought them from a German Fleebay seller. I plan to build them using 700c rims for the Trek. (There's plenty of room for the bigger wheels) I intend to build a modern Gravel Bike using mostly Campagnolo Off Road plus some choice Paul and Thomson components.

Note: The rear axle is 135mm spacing.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1607853028.jpg

Standard 100mm spacing for the front.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1607853068.jpg

Those are pretty hubs. Campy always has all the nice shiny, polished parts, much better then Shimano or Suntour or other Italian co. Too bad that was about the time, I switched over to Shimano due to their index shifting not working. Shinamo 8 speed was flawless but not the prettiest that's for sure.

All true and I've had all the brands over the years but my Campy builds always get the best returns.

I picked up another frame the other day. It's a Giant Cadex CFR3 from around 1994. It has carbon tubes for the main triangle glued into alloy lugs. The BB is titanium. The rear triangle is all alloy. (Not bad for a give away) I'm thinking I may strip it back to raw carbon, paint the alloy parts matt grey to match the Titanium BB. Then clearcoat the whole thing after applying new decals... Then finally equip it with a full SRAM RED ETAP group. (wireless electric shifting)

American frame + American components ;)

(I'll update my "Italian Tools" thread with some photos)

https://www.sram.com/en/sram/road/series/sram-red-etap?filters=&sort=Relevancy&page=1

Back in the day, waaaay back I guess when Greg was a Junior Worlds Champion he came along to race in the two day classic put on by the San Diego Bicycle Club, the Willows Road Race and the UCSD Criterium which was in early March if I remember? Greg just road along out at Willows (before the casino was put in) but in the UCSD race he jumped off the front even though the pack was flying it seems! He ended up lapping the whole field then sat on the back of the field and shot the bull. At the finish the rider threw up his hands and thought he had won until Greg walked up to the podium and said i should be in 1st place!!!! Some really hurt feelings that day.

I have these track wheels if anyone is interested, the glue is still on the rims!!??
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1607887048.jpg

Sounds like you are going to ride that bike? Those are very soft and nice riding bikes, that's if they don't come apart. One of my fav. is the Look KC171 of course. Similar, but a few years newer then the Cadex. All carbon but lugs. I always ended up grabbing that bike for rides. Its if good enough to Jalabert, good enough for me. Its long gone now.

Haven't seen those in some time. Soldered and wires spokes.

How would you 'true' the wheel if the spokes are soldered?

The wheels are trued and let sit and even rode on a bit then trued again then soldered. Those spokes are stainless, stainless wire to bind them and a special alloy solder to fasten them together. They are for track use only as they have NO flex, about as stiff as some of the carbon fiber wheels made today. If you wreck then all joints are unsoldered, bad spokes replaced and all done over again. With these wheels I won my first track sprint race in 1984 against Bob Zumwalt JR won was veteran national champion at the time. I nearly flipped the bike end over end as I started to try and coast which you can NOT do on a track bicycle! Those Campy hubs were made in 1979 and still have original bearing, smooth as silk in them with Campy grease!

84, good old Gorski days down there. Rode the track for two years with the urge of Rick Denman. I was 17 then and discovered I was too small, too skinny. Some of the San Deigo guys would come up to the Encino track. Good times. I never had a pair of soldered wheels. Too damn poor without a real job.

I was a nuclear chief in the US Navy still!

I've checked all of the lugs, joints and tubes. Everything looks good. The old Alan/Vitus glued frames failed regularly but by the time Giant introduced the Cadex series they had solved most of the problems. The Titanium BB is interesting. There's just a tinge of gold corrosion on the inside between the threads.

I still ride about 175 km every week but my legs (and arse :D) aren't what they used to be and I still have some belly fat. Maybe I need to lose a little weight? I was considering an E Bike purchase but I've shelved that idea for now. Maybe in 10 to 15 years... I'm "only" 55 :cool:

Well, you have a year on me, old man. Old bike racers never die. If we get passed or see another rider up the road, its on. Up until COVID, I was still hanging out with the hammer heads every Saturday morning doing our 50 mile ride. We participate in the no wait policy. Get dropped? See ya, better luck next time. Ride when possible during the week to keep what form I have left hoping to hang on come Saturday. My ass is ok, callused from 30 years of sitting on that damn saddle. I find after 52 to about 53, there's no power coming out of them. Say a 1/4 mile hill. Everyone is on the saddle until the last half, off the saddle, gone. There are times I just can't hang (Riding during the week helps tremendously on that section),put my head down and chase. Its a horrible chase for two or three miles until the hills starts again. A couple lights helps shorten the pain if they get caught.

Where I come from, having that pot belly means wealth.:D You should keep it. Since Covid 19 lbs, that exactly what I got. 10 freaking lbs from eating crap and lack of riding. I haven't touch the bike since February (rode three times).

Bought my younger kid an e-bike. He couldn't keep up with the speed or distance but want to come along. With him on that e bike, I have work my ass off. They are fun.

How does that work? You were stationed in SD for those times? Are you allow to get off base to race in the velodrome, crits or ...?

BTW: My friend Darrell in Queensland still builds wheels the old fashioned way. :)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1607916835.jpg

That is a work of art!