Any Ottrot owners here? How do they ride, compared to carbon, titanium, or cabon/ti splined bikes.

I've owned both. Both bough used as framesets only.

I now own neither.

I wish I could give the Tete de Course another shot.
I foolishly (for me) had the LeMond built up with a compact double instead of my usual triple. That and for whatever idiotic reason I tried to save some money on wheels and built it with Ksyrium Equipes. The outcome was a sluggish unimpressive mess that I didn't enjoy. I wish I could go back and set it up with handbuilts and a triple. I think it had great potential; I wasn't at a point in my cycling career where I could take full advantage of it. It's the one bike I've sold that I wish I could get back for another try.

The Ottrott was built for a bigger, stronger rider with a very aggressive geo. I"m a 145 pound spinner. Way too stiff. Didn't take long to move that one out. Built properly, for someone my size, I"m sure it would be a great bike.

[QUOTE=CNY rider]I've owned both. Both bough used as framesets only.

if you are a spinner, whats wrong with the compact crank?
also why no ksyrium equipes? (people like them) do you prefer handbuilt wheels?

The compact double wasn't a good match for my local terrain. We have very little flat terrain here; it ranges from rollers to fairly steep 1-2 mile climbs. I was constantly shifting the front derailleur with the compact. I just wasn't comfortable with it. Almost always felt like the gears I wanted were the ones that caused cross chaining.

And as for the Equipes... no contest. I have two sets of handbuilt clinchers, each in the $400 to $500 range. One by Mike Garcia, mix of DT/Nimble/Aerohead, and the other is all swiss DT 240/RR1.1. They are simply superior to the Equipes in every way. Maybe the next price point up in the Ksyrium line would stack up better (and be a more fair comparison, price wise).