Quality
Comfort
Handling

Stock fork

A perfect balance between stiffness and comfort. It's quick-much more so than what I expected for a steel frame. The 853 is just flexy enough to make it enjoyable to ride on bad pavement. It's a little on the heavy side, but it's steel and what else would you expect? The stock carbon fork is a nice piece, but it's not as nice as Serotta's upgraded carbon fork or most aftermarket ones. It's not as nice as what I would have expected for the frame price. But the frame's quality certainly makes up for it. This bike is beautifully built with great paint.

Similar Products Used:

LeMond Zurich

I bought this bike 11 years ago and just replaced the groupo and wheels. The frame fits like no other bike I have ever ridden and combines the best compliance with great rigidity. I ride almost daily and the bike rolls on!

I occasionally feel like it might be a bit heavy, but then realize I can loose 10 pounds off my belly!

Steel feels like a dream, I want to ride this bike for the rest of my life! If you love to ride, and are not looking for the next and most expensive way to loose 1 pound from the bike, this bike will make you happy. I work in the south of France and flew the bike over, I have never regretted it for a moment.

Similar Products Used:

TREK 5500, Specialized Allez

Comfortable
Great paint
Great frame detail
Quick handling

Weight

I built up a 58cm Classique with icon air rail fork, Ultegra components, and Mavic open pro rims.
The bike carves the turns with great precision.
For a largish steel frame stiffness is excellent with little bottom bracket deflection under full mash. For the price I just could not find a better feeling steel frame. This bike actually feels alot like the Serotta CSI. I highly recommend this bike to any racer who wants a great price/performance ratio.

Similar Products Used:

Serotta CSi
Lemond Zurich
Litespeed Classic