Mark Adams The Cooper was drawn from the bloodlines of our top level road race frames. By starting with an oversized cold-worked tubeset, the Cooper has the stiffness, handling and excellent ride quality youexpect from a Lynskey frame. The Cooper’s pexpect from a Lynskey frame.
The Cooper’s performance far exceeds many similarly priced roadframes no matter what material they are made from. All of the great features you expect from a Lynskey Performance road frame, but at a value that will make others jealous. And as always, each frame is hand-made in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Lynskey Cooper Titanium Frame Features:
- Competition Semi-Compact geometry offers comfortable fit, excellent stability and precise handling
- Performance-tuned tubeset for increased stiffness and power transfer
- Over-sized force specific shaped downtube boosts bottom bracket stiffness
- Cold-worked toptube guarantees stable front end, no high speed wobbles
- Symmetric chainstays and straight seatstays resist vertical forces
- Wright style drop-outs with replaceable aluminum hanger
- Oversize chainstays increase lateral rigidity
- Downtube Shifter Cable Routing with Adjusters on Headtube for easy access
- 34.9mm clamp-on front derailleur
Lynskey Cooper Ti Road Frame 2014 Review:
The frame
Our RRP price is £3,500. So to put a value on what you are paying for your first Lynskey bicycle; it’s now a whopping £3,000! The Cooper could be a practical choice for the budget conscious rider who wants a good quality and proven race frame.
Hand assembled in both the USA and Europe, the Lynskey Cooper Titanium will be the ‘flagship’ of line of Lynskey Cooper bikes.
Why has Lynskey launched such a dedicated race frame when they create a more mainstream road bike?
Their line of Lynskey bicycles is built around their race-proven race frame, and Lynskey says that the Cooper Titanium is the third such frame on the Lynskey line. The Cooper has replaceable seatstays, specific rack-reach and a more focused geometry than the other Lynskey road frame varieties.
The top tube angle of the Cooper is steeper than its road sibling the Swift (27 degrees), and the seat stem angle is about 30 degrees shorter than the standard Lynskey road bike frame offering greater pedal reach. Resistance to twisting is maintained via the Shimano derailleurs, although the derailleur hanger is a bit short to clear the cumbersome thru-axle drop.
For those who already ride a standard road bicycle and want some extra pedaling power on the way to their next ride along the local recreational trail; the Lynskey Cooper Titanium will suit you fine.
Lynskey Cooper Frame Review:
9) The Lynskey Cooper is engineered for racing, that’s a given. But this is a bike for doing just about any sport and anything from a classic road ride to sprint-oriented trails.
Because of it’s focus on the road riding experience the Lynskey Cooper doesn’t have the brute force ride characteristics of it’s race-proven race frame.
The Lynskey Cooper uses a frame that’s designed to be ridden fast and with precision. That ‘precise’ riding position is defined by the steeper top tube and the 72 degree seat-tube angle. Although the Cooper is technically a semi-compact with a shorter top tube (29.8” length), it’s still riding position is a little more upright than a full-compact. When I ride into a headwind it’s up to me to keep track in the timings of the turn, but the Lynskey leverages it’s wider pedal reach greater than other bikes (52mm spacing) to help to keep me on the inside line.
I know if I’m racing I’m usually out at the front and that’s a big advantage because I want to keep the crowd behind me entertained and I want to show them I can keep up. It’s a lot better to hold a strong position at the front while being able to minimize my pedal movements, but there’s a limit to what you can do with that strong position. When I’m the back of a bunch, it’s not as easy to stay ahead of the pack because you start thinking about the bikes ahead of you. In the same way, the Lynskey Cooper has an advantage over most other bikes because it knows you’re going to hit the front-end soon. If you can keep your weight comfortable on the back of the bike, it is easier to make the front breaks go fast because you have more weight on the front. That applies to the Cooper pretty well as well.
I definitely don’t want to just ‘wing’ the front of the Cooper, I want to stay out of the wind and I’d rather not be spun around. And it has a good amount of seat height adjustment. With the top tube in the sweet spot, the bike is forgiving because you can reach the top of the tubular frame easily if you’re at your limit. I’ve tried to crash-check it with front-end but on cross-country sections the Lynskey works just fine.
The Cooper shares the same seat-tube angle as the Lynskey Swift, but the lower front row is proportionally short at 46.3mm (1.7”) which helps keep your weight close to the wheel. Based on the Shimano front derailleur, the Cooper can reach 11 speeds, even at the lower gear. The derailleur then uses the contact lengths to skip over the chainring to the next gear on the chain. I’ve tested it at 8-speed and was able to get 5/31.6 mpg, which is about average efficiency.
Anything you’d do on a road bike, you’d be able to do on a Lynskey Cooper. That’s the beauty of the Lynskey design philosophy. Because the Cooper is a race frame, it’s engineered to perform in a real race setting – and you’d be hard-pressed to do much more than check out your time in a KOM event.
As we’ll see in a second, the Cooper is an ideal frame for the competition rider who wants to save weight and need a budget-conscious frame. The Cooper hits a price point where a bunch of frames from Swiss companies come together to meet the needs of the individual rider.
That’s fine, but it’s equally important to note that the Cooper isn’t an all-in-one solution for the modern middle-distance racer. In a way, the Cooper and the Swift are actually in opposition to each other. While the Cooper is the opposite of the Swift’s standard road geometry, it still has enough of a steeper top tube to be capable of racing fast in a race setting. Many of the outer shapes of the Lynskey bikes are based on racing geometry, but the Cooper is built on the foundation of a race frame – and for this reason, it’s a great choice for those who want to use it for light recreational rides as well.
