Mark Adams With the R360 frame, your blank canvas awaits to be formed into your perfect road machine. The R360 is a race-inspired frame for the weekend racer or aggressive club rider, and this model sports over-sized, square-shaped down tube to resist flexing, resulting in a stable ride feel.
By now adding the new super stiff 6/4 triangular top tube, the R360 becomes a traditional looking but high performing racing steed. At the rear of the frame, we’ve incorporated Helix-shaped seat stays for an added performance boost. Lynskey pioneered Helix shaping over four years ago to resist vertical flexing without adding weight.
To further enhance the R360’s pedigree, it has been designed with their proven Race geometry providing an aggressive feel and more responsive handling. The R360 possesses the stiffness, lightweight and durability to withstand the rigours of competition and aggressive club riding on any road.
Features:
- Material: Titanium
- Headtube Design: Tapered/Integrated
- Bottom Bracket Type: 68mm Pressfit 30
- Seatpost Diameter: 27.2mm
- Seat Tube Diameter: 34.9mm
- Wheel Size: 700c
- Max Tyre Width: 25c
- Dropouts: Ti Plate Style Non Replaceable Hanger
- Rear Spacing: 130mm
- Brake Type: Caliper
Lynskey R360 Frame Review:
This is an amazing competitive bike. Replacing my Specialized that was cracked I purchased this bike at a steal of a price with only a few minor nicks!
When get it seemed pretty underwhelming. The frame is aluminum with the silver paint on top. The detail in welds is not as striking as the Ultegra 6800 or the carbon fiber frame by Tommaso that I initially wanted.
The bike rides awesome. The cockpit feels great. The Lynskey is much stiffer than the Felt like one I compared it to. This bike has very little flex. The large frame is much larger than my Specialized and is much more comfortable for long rides.
I am 6′ and ride the large sized Lynskey. I weigh 190 pounds and while I am sure a medium would be tight, it is not unbearable.
Another thing I noticed right away is that the Lynskey is much stiffer than other Ti frame bikes I have ridden. This probably has to do with the oversized carbon fiber down tube and oversized Helix shaped titanium seatstays.
The Lynskey tiagra and 105 groupset is reasonably good for an Ultegra like groupset comparable to anything Campagnolo has to offer at a whopping $1000 less!
The shifters look nice and perform flawlessly. The cranks are strong and do not flex. The derailleurs are buttery smooth, a vast improvement over the SRAM Rival which were terrible.
The brakes are strong. I don’t use the parking brakes so I cannot comment on them. The hoods are color matched with the bike. They are flat and comfortable to the hand. They do not put the rider in an ergonomic position that other hoods do.
If you decide to go with an Ultegra/Sora style groupset, BBB makes a nice power meter BB with spacers to raise the power meter.
I would recommend this bike for anyone who wants a Ti bike and wants to race. It is a solid bike (10 out of 10). However if you want a touring bike or something that is primarily to ride to the shop/work on then this is not the bike you want.
If someone is looking for a bike that will satisfy all of the more aggressive training and racing needs but you don’t want to break the bank on a high end carbon bike, then the Lynskey bike is a great alternative at a great price.
The build:
The bike build for a little more than I wanted to spend. Almost $400 for the saddle. But at this price they are passing a good value.
My frame came with Lynskey decals on it. The bike is not shipped with decals on it. I don’t know if they were shipping early as the new bike, but I am used to getting a new bike with minimal road grime which I got on this bike. It came to me as if it were already ridden hard. I know from my my car. You wash it right?
It came with several scratches on the chain stays. The red is not showing well the scratches in the pictures, but I will post some close ups in the gallery section. I don’t know if they were shipping this bike or if this was a bike the owner was using for trade in. If this was a trade in bike, whoever owned it comes to bike hard! I am guessing the latter!
The bike came with two sets of brake pads. Carbon and aluminum. The two pad are marked L and R on the pads. I have no idea what these pads are made of. It isn’t carbon fiber or Kevlar. They are soft and do not have the long stopping power that I am used to from Campagnolo.
The front derailleur is nice and smooth, but it is silver. I don’t understand why they are putting a silver derailleur on a $4500 bike!
The seat post came with an aluminum scuff at the nose. Barely noticeable but when you know where to look you see it. Again, I wonder if this was a trade in. If so someone must have sat on it really hard!
The pedals are nice and solid, but they are black and ugly. Since the bike came with two sets of brake pads, I wonder if they also intend to ship the Lynskey with two sets of pedals.
The paint job is good, but I did notice one small flaw. This is where the frame is held near the seatpost. It was not rattle canned and ha an edge to it. However it seems to be around an inch that did not get painted from the factory.
I have friends that have had good results with a nitro blushing putty taking care of this.
The bike has Lynskey decals. However it has Lynskey printed on a small piece of carbon fiber and stuck to the lower part of the downtube with JB Weld. I wish Lynskey would get nicer decals made for their bikes.
