Litespeed Ultimate Gravel Review
Ahhhhh Litespeed. Before I begin this review of my Litespeed Ultimate Gravel I am going to go ahead and say that I am an official fanboy of the brand. If you look at the “About Me” section of this website you will see there are 7 models of Litespeed bikes on display….and one that I can’t find a picture of. The first picture is a 1999 Litespeed Tuscany that I bought in the year 2000 from the now defunct River City Bicycles, when I moved to Chattanooga for a new job and life. I consider it my first official road bike, but technically it was the second road bike that I had owned. In 1999 I bought my first road bike for $450. It was a Trek with a carbon top tube and down tube lugged to Aluminum with down tube shifters. Keep in mind at that time STI shifting was not on every bike available. Going from that Trek to the Tuscany with STI shifting was were it all began for me.
Let’s dive into the details.
ORDERING PROCESS:
They are a patient crew at Litespeed. With every order being custom it makes it harder on them, but great for the consumer. Once you settle on your particular model the fun part begins. How am I going to spec it out? You can pick brushed titanium which is my personal preference, but you can also have it painted if that is your cup of tea. I do have to say that their paint schemes are pretty sharp and will still showcase the brushed titanium finish. Just speak to the customer service and they will help you out with whatever you need. Electronic only, Add Cable stops, T47 upgrade are just a few of the options you have.
I chose the Ultimate Gravel for it’s all around versatility. With a few days of pondering I ended up buying the frame, adventure fork and Cane Creek Headset. I had them add cable stops just in case. Once the order was finalized they gave me a timeline for the build which turned out to be spot on. This was at the beginning of the pandemic so the wait time was not as long then.
Grade: A+
ARRIVAL:
After preparing my wife for the impending arrival of the frame and knowing that I would be absent for a good part of the night it was time to assess the situation.
Grade: B+ (Minor grade reduction because of the packaging. It arrived safely, but the packaging was nothing special. It was wrapped and protected, but pretty much just put in box with lots of kraft paper. I work in the packaging industry so I look at things a little differently than most on this front). On the other side of the coin my brother-in-law ordered a complete Ultimate bike and the packaging was an A+. See Below. I put his together for him and it went together flawlessly. The disc didn’t even rub when it was done.
INITIAL QUALITY:
Not much to say here except that you can not appreciate the tube shaping and welding until you see it in person. I love the fact that their tubing is not just round.
Grade: A+
ADVERTISED FRAME WEIGHT: ARE THEY HONEST?
Right on the money. My size medium with headset cups installed, rear derailleur hanger attached and water bottle bolts weighed 1373 grams. Advertised weight for a size medium is 1340 WITHOUT the items I mentioned so that is a win. Very nice to see an accurate weight.
Grade: A+
ASSEMBLY:
Straightforward and easy is how I would describe it. I personally run ETAP so I didn’t have worry about shifter cables, but the brake cables run internally and the way their frame is made you don’t need any specialty tools to run the cables. They put a small internal tube inside of the main tubes so you simply run your cables in the frame and they magically pop out in the right place with no wizardry necessary.
Grade: A
ACTUAL BUILD WEIGHT: 18.69 lbs all in.
I am not going to give you weights that don’t matter in the real world. I hate when sites review bikes and say it weighs 16 lbs…….no it doesn’t. Most of the time there are no pedals and no water bottle cages. I realize that those are personal choices, but come on.
My build weight includes Shimano 105 pedals, 2 aluminum cages, Wahoo computer mount and Wahoo Elemnt Bolt.
Frame: Litespeed Ultimate Gravel – Size medium with cable stops welded onFork: Litespeed Gravel Fork (non-adventure for now)Headset: Cane Creek 40Bottom Bracket: Wheels ManufacturingGroup: SRAM 11 speed ETAPCrank: 52/36Cassette: 11/30Brakes: TRP Hy/Rd mechanical brakes – Used these because I already had the rim ETAP group. These are actually super simple and work great.Wheels: Hunt 50 (set up tubeless)Tires: Challenge Gravel Grinder (tubeless)Seat: Fizik Antares (braided rails)Seatpost: Carbon Post (116 grams)Handlebar: Syncros RR1.0 Integrated (current bar, I did have an Argon integrated bar/stem)Bar Tape: Fizik
RIDE:
I also have a Cervelo R5 disc and if I had to get rid of one of them….the Cervelo would be gone in a heartbeat. The Cervelo is 2 pounds lighter and more aggressive, but at the same time I set my personal best on one of the 3 big climbs just outside of Winston….Hanging Rock State Park. And I have been riding that climb for 13 years. That just goes to show that this bike will not hold you back.
The Ultimate Gravel is such a versatile bike. I can swap out my gravel wheelset for my road wheelset in just a couple of minutes and be ready to go take on a fast group ride without feeling like I’m leaving anything on the table. The Litespeed fork has extra mounts so during the height of the pandemic when stores were closed I would have 4 water bottles on my bike for extended rides.
I am not a large rider, but I can really appreciate when a bike is laterally stiff so when I put down what power that I have it just feels really solid underneath you. Honestly, I can not tell that much, if any, difference in the Cervelo and the Litespeed when it comes to responsiveness. The Litespeed is super stable on the road or on the trails which is what you want out of a gravel bike.
I suppose I could go on about ride quality of titanium, but a lot nowadays is really subjective because of wider rims and low air pressure. What I love about the overall ride of the Litespeed Titanium is that it is a really complete unit. It just feels planted and solid at all times. As an added bonus I don’t have to worry about pebbles hitting the tubes.
Simply get out and enjoy the ride. You won’t regret it if you are on the fence about getting one.
Ocoee, TN
Chilhowee Mountain - Ocoee, TN - Same day as the gravel ride above. Simply changed out the wheels and I was good to go.
WOULD I BUY IT AGAIN:
Absolutely. The only thing that I would change is to have the BB upgraded to T47. The PF30 has not been problematic. It just would have made home maintenance easier.
Hope you enjoyed. If you have any questions or want specific pictures just let me know. I realize that this review was really favorable in the “grading”, but it’s just that good.
