Alchemy Bicycle Company has put its Helios on a major diet, bringing the weight of a 54cm frame down to just over 700g - James Huang/Future Publishing
Alchemy's new Aiolos titanium road frame was designed by Ben Serotta - James Huang/Future Publishing
Alchemy builds the Aiolos titanium frame with an oversized front end to deliver a stiff and responsive feel - James Huang/Future Publishing
Custom dropouts for Alchemy's new Aiolos titanium frame - James Huang/Future Publishing
Alchemy says the swaged stays on its new Aiolos gives the titanium frame a smooth and comfortable ride - James Huang/Future Publishing
Titanium frame fans will easily recognize this signature on the new Alchemy Aiolos - James Huang/Future Publishing
The Alchemy Aiolos titanium road frame uses large-diameter chain stays and a PF86 (or PF30) bottom bracket shell - James Huang/Future Publishing
Electronic drivetrain wires are fed into the head tube on the new Alchemy Aiolos - James Huang/Future Publishing
Appleman Bicycles offers metal logos in both stainless steel (shown) or titanium - James Huang/Future Publishing
Appleman Bicycles showed off this full-carbon road bike with hand-wrapped joints and its trademark angled seat stay bridge - James Huang/Future Publishing
Why run the seatstay bridge straight across when you can build it at an angle? - James Huang/Future Publishing
Boo Bicycles continues to champion the merits of its hybrid carbon fiber and bamboo frames. According to Boo, the bamboo tubes lend an ultra-smooth ride quality that carbon fiber supposedly can't match - James Huang/Future Publishing
This Boo Bicycles disc road frame uses an unusually big reinforcement for the non-driveside stays - James Huang/Future Publishing
Boo Bicycles' Aluboo range offers customers a lower-priced option for getting into a bamboo frame. Instead of hand-wrapped carbon fiber joints, Aluboo frames use aluminum ends on the bamboo tubes which are then TIG-welded together - James Huang/Future Publishing
This Boo Bicycles Aluboo frame features tidy removable housing stops - James Huang/Future Publishing
Sliding dropouts on this Aluboo allow for geared or singlespeed use. The split dropout can also be used with a Gates belt drive, too - James Huang/Future Publishing
Breadwinner Cycles offers its Lolo steel road racer with either rim or disc brakes - James Huang/Future Publishing
Breadwinner Cycles builds the Lolo road racer with Columbus Life tubing and a 44mm head tube that can be used with straight or tapered steerer tubes - James Huang/Future Publishing
The Lolo is technically a 'production' bike from Breadwinner Cycles - a joint project between Portland builder Ira Ryan and Tony Pereira - but the paint job is still stunning - James Huang/Future Publishing
Calfee's Manta Pro uses enormous tube profiles for what we would expect to be an unyielding stiff chassis - except that it cleverly integrates a rear suspension design to take the edge off of the road - James Huang/Future Publishing
Calfee's webbed carbon fiber lugs are impossible to miss - James Huang/Future Publishing
Calfee tucks a spring into the seat stay wishbone of its top-end Manta Pro. Different springs are available to accommodate different rider weights and ride preferences - James Huang/Future Publishing
Suspended Calfee Manta Pros feature additional titanium struts on the chainstays to give the rear end more torsional stability and strength - James Huang/Future Publishing
All Calfee Manta Pro frames are compatible with internally routed electronic drivetrains only. Campagnolo EPS-equipped models get internal batteries with dedicated charging ports. Calfee's 65mm-diameter bottom bracket shells can accommodate Look's ZED 2 crankset, too - James Huang/Future Publishing
This Calfee Manta Pro was built in cooperation with Fairwheel Bicycles, featuring a drool-worthy array of high-end kit - James Huang/Future Publishing
Calfee built this Manta Pro with dual disc brakes and thru-axles front and rear - James Huang/Future Publishing
Calfee also has a long history building innovative carbon fiber tandems. This one is actually a modular design that can be easily converted into a single bike - James Huang/Future Publishing
Calfee did some clever engineering so that this single bike could transform into the front end of a tandem - James Huang/Future Publishing
The seatstays bolt in place - and can therefore also be unbolted and transferred to the rear end of the stoker position when the bike is converted into a tandem - James Huang/Future Publishing
New from Cielo this year is the Road Racer, built with ovalized steel tubing, a PF30 bottom bracket shell, 44mm-diameter head tube, and a semi-compact geometry. Stems painted to match are now available as an add-on option, too - James Huang/Future Publishing
Cielo's sparse badging actually seems to make a bigger impact as compared to some production machines that are plastered with manufacturer logos - James Huang/Future Publishing
Cielo will offer the new Road Racer in either mechanical or electronic drivetrain-compatible configurations - James Huang/Future Publishing
Crumpton Cycles' newest and most advanced carbon chassis is the Type 5, built completely in-house including the molded carbon fiber tubes and the hand-wrapped joints - James Huang/Future Publishing
While some Crumpton Cycles frames are built with wishbone-style seatstays, the Type 5 uses twin tapered seat stays. The naked finish leaves no room for error with the exposed carbon fiber - James Huang/Future Publishing
This is how a Crumpton Cycles bottom bracket looks immediately after curing. There's very little finish work required - James Huang/Future Publishing
Crumpton Cycles is molding its own Type 5 frame tubes in-house. The company will eventually mold all of its frame tubing for the SL model, too - James Huang/Future Publishing
Holland Cycles' latest creation is this all-carbon masterpiece called the HC. Tubes and lugs are custom molded in California by renowned carbon master Mike Lopez, formerly of Serotta - James Huang/Future Publishing
Like the now-defunct Serotta Meivici, the Holland Cycles HC's lugs are molded in several different configurations that can then be machined to accommodate a huge range of custom angles - James Huang/Future Publishing
Holland Cycles will eventually use its own fork for the HC, including these gorgeous titanium dropouts - James Huang/Future Publishing
The wishbone-style carbon chainstays on Holland Cycles' upcoming HC model morph in profile from rectangular just behind the monostay to more of a trapezoid back by the dropout - James Huang/Future Publishing
Ultra-clean internal routing on the new Holland Cycles HC - James Huang/Future Publishing
The rear end of Holland Cycles' all-carbon HC looks impressively burly - James Huang/Future Publishing
Holland Cycles manages to neatly integrate its logo into the seatstay wishbone. Note the weave pattern on the logo as compared to the unidirectional surface of the surrounding material - James Huang/Future Publishing
Holland Cycles principal Bill Holland says that his most popular model is the Jet travel bike - James Huang/Future Publishing
Holland Cycles uses a modified version of Ritchey's Break-Away system for its Jet travel bike - James Huang/Future Publishing
Gorgeous titanium dropouts on the Holland Cycles HC - James Huang/Future Publishing
The tube-and-lug system on the new Holland Cycles HC was developed by carbon guru Mike Lopez, who was also the brains behind the Serotta Meivici - James Huang/Future Publishing
If you want a more traditional welded titanium road bike, Holland Cycles can do that, too - James Huang/Future Publishing
Remember Delta 7's outrageous IsoTruss carbon fiber 'tubes'? The concept is back, only this time the patents have been purchased from the now-defunct company by Utah-based company Razik. The new Vortex uses the same technology but in a package that looks far better finished and more complete than the Delta 7 ever did - James Huang/Future Publishing
Razik says its refined IsoTruss process yields far better reliability than before. Cable routing is much more cleanly executed now, too - James Huang/Future Publishing
Bottle mounts are a modular design on the Razik Vortex. As a bonus, they can also be repositioned as needed - James Huang/Future Publishing
Razik says its IsoTruss structures are "lighter, stronger, more rigid and more compliant" than any traditional carbon fiber tube - James Huang/Future Publishing
Razik says it's molding the stays, lugs and even the fork for the Vortex in-house in Utah - James Huang/Future Publishing
Rich Adams is an alumnus of Lehigh University and built these special-edition bikes as a way to raise money for his former Materials Science and Engineering department - James Huang/Future Publishing
Detail work is exquisite on Rich Adams' special Lehigh University bikes - James Huang/Future Publishing
Ritchey will soon make available a new carbon fiber Break-Away travel bike frame. Retail price will be US$3,199 for the frameset when it goes on sale in August - James Huang/Future Publishing
Ritchey has modified its long-running Break-Away design for the new carbon model. Interestingly, the seatpost will only be clamped using one half of the frame - James Huang/Future Publishing
The new Ritchey carbon Break-Away uses the company's biggest down tube yet, which required a bigger down tube clamp to match - James Huang/Future Publishing
Shamrock Cycles principal Tim O'Donnell built this Fluid Druid road racer for his painter, Mike Corby, using oversized steel tubes, Llewellyn lugs, a Richard Sachs bottom bracket shell, and an Enve Composites 2.0 fork - James Huang/Future Publishing
Challenge Strada open tubulars were a very common sight at this year's NAHBS - James Huang/Future Publishing
Check out the detail work on this Shamrock Cycles Fluid Druid - James Huang/Future Publishing
Shamrock Cycles reinforced the rear disc mount with this gracefully curved strut - James Huang/Future Publishing
Check out the rear fender mount and remote charge port on this Shamrock Cycles Fluid Druid - James Huang/Future Publishing
Shamrock Cycles routed the Campagnolo EPS wire inside the handlebar and stem on this Fluid Druid - James Huang/Future Publishing
Fat bikes and gravel grinders may be the hot new categories at this year's North American Handmade Bicycle Show, but in terms of numbers, the show floor is still dominated by traditional road bikes. Check out the first round of some of the ones that caught our eye in the image gallery at right, plus details on a few select models below.
Alchemy put its Helios model on a major diet to create the Helios SL. While it uses the same mold as the standard model, changes to the underlying materials and lay-up have brought the claimed weight down to just over 700g for a 54cm frame – a decrease of more than 25 percent from the original Helios.
Even more exciting, though, is the all-new Aiolos titanium road frame, which was designed for Alchemy by Ben Serotta. Alchemy builds the Aiolos with an oversized main frame for a responsive feel and tapered stays for a comfortable ride. Other features include a 44mm-diameter head tube, a PF86 or PF30 bottom bracket shell, custom titanium dropouts.
Alchemy's new aiolos titanium road frame was designed by ben serotta: - James Huang/Future Publishing
Calfee's latest Manta Pro carbon road frame is easily the company's highest-performance model – and perhaps its most radical. While the main tubes' huge cross-sections and ovalized shapes scream stiffness, they're coupled with a suspended rear end that provides comfort and traction.
Calfee's manta pro uses enormous tube profiles for what we would expect to be an unyielding stiff chassis - except that it cleverly integrates a rear suspension design to take the edge off of the road: - James Huang/Future Publishing
The system is similar to Moots' long-running YBB system with a small spring tucked inside a telescoping, tubular seatstay wishbone assembly. Down below, titanium struts are used beneath the chainstays to provide additional strength. Calfee offers five different spring rates to adjust for rider weight and ride preference, and the company can also build the Manta Pro with a fully rigid rear end for those that want a more traditional feel.
Calfee tucks a spring into the seat stay wishbone of its top-end manta pro. different springs are available to accommodate different rider weights and ride preferences: - James Huang/Future Publishing
Rim brake and disc brake configurations are available, too, along with thru-axle dropouts and optional braze-ons for racks and fenders.
Craig Calfee also displayed his custom chops with a wild modular carbon fiber road tandem. A clever arrangement of bolt-on stays and S&S couplers allow the bike to quickly and easily convert to a single as needed. As for the price… don't ask.
Calfee also has a long history building innovative carbon fiber tandems. this one is actually a modular design that can be easily converted into a single bike: - James Huang/Future Publishing
Cielo – the frame division of Chris King – launched a new Road Racer model built with oversized chromoly steel tubes, stainless steel accents, a PF30 bottom bracket shell, a 44mm-diameter head tube, and specific routing for mechanical or electronic drivetrains.
Cielo will offer the new road racer in either mechanical or electronic drivetrain-compatible configurations: - James Huang/Future Publishing
Buyers will also have the option of painted-to-match steel stems, too, which also feature aluminum faceplates that are color anodized to perfectly coordinate the company's headsets and hubs.
Cielo's sparse badging actually seems to make a bigger impact as compared to some production machines that are plastered with manufacturer logos: - James Huang/Future Publishing
Nick Crumpton says his latest Type 5 road frame represents the pinnacle of everything he's learned about building carbon fiber frames. Whereas other models use tubing produced by other companies, the Type 5 features bi-ovalized tubes that are now molded in-house and joined using Crumpton's exquisite tube-to-tube wrapping process.
Crumpton cycles' newest and most advanced carbon chassis is the type 5, built completely in-house including the molded carbon fiber tubes and the hand-wrapped joints : - James Huang/Future Publishing
Pricing starts at US$6,500 with an Enve Composites 1.0 fork.
Best known for his titanium and ExoGrid frames, Bill Holland is now branching into full-carbon road frames with the new flagship HC, designed in cooperation with composites guru Mike Lopez. The HC will be built with custom carbon fiber lugs and gorgeous shaped carbon tubes that will be molded in-house.
Holland cycles' latest creation is this all-carbon masterpiece called the hc. tubes and lugs are custom molded in california by renowned carbon master mike lopez, formerly of serotta: - James Huang/Future Publishing
Lopez designed the HC's modular construction with multiple lug configurations that can each be machined to allow for custom geometry, too. Tubes will also feature custom lay-ups so that each frame can truly be built to order. Complete frames will weigh right around 1kg.
Gorgeous titanium dropouts on the holland cycles hc: - James Huang/Future Publishing
Standard frames will start at US$6,400 and limited-edition anniversary models – to celebrate Holland's 42nd anniversary – will run US$7,700 with special graphics and a numbered plate. Keep in mind that neither of those prices include a fork.
Holland cycles manages to neatly integrate its logo into the seat stay wishbone. note the weave pattern on the logo as compared to the unidirectional surface of the surrounding material: - James Huang/Future Publishing
Remember Delta 7's wild IsoTruss carbon fiber 'tubes'? The technology is back, only now the patents have been purchased by Utah-based Razik Bicycles. Razik says it has refined and greatly improved Delta 7's original concept to produce a new road frame called the Vortex that's far more reliable than before – not to mention much better looking with far better cable routing and finish work. Rear ends are molded in-house, too.
Remember delta 7's outrageous isotruss carbon fiber 'tubes'? the concept is back, only this time the patents have been purchased from the now-defunct company by utah-based company razik. the new vortex uses the same technology but in a package that looks far better finished and more complete than the delta 7 ever did: - James Huang/Future Publishing
Claimed frame weight is around 850g and yet Razik says the Vortex is "stronger, more rigid and more compliant" than any frame built with traditional carbon tubes. We hope to find out for ourselves soon.
Razik says its refined isotruss process yields far better reliability than before. cable routing is much more cleanly executed now, too: - James Huang/Future Publishing
Ritchey unveiled at this year's NAHBS a new carbon fiber version of its popular Break-Away travel road bike. The new carbon chassis is, as expected, lighter and stiffer than the current titanium and steel versions. However, Ritchey has also opted for slightly smaller-diameter tubing and thicker tube walls so that the bike can still be easily packed – and survive the journey.
Ritchey will soon make available a new carbon fiber break-away travel bike frame. retail price will be us$3,199 for the frameset when it goes on sale in august: - James Huang/Future Publishing
Retail price will be US$3,199 for the frame, fork, headset, and soft-sided travel case when it goes on sale in August.
Ritchey has modified its long-running break-away design for the new carbon model. interestingly, the seatpost will only be clamped using one half of the frame: - James Huang/Future Publishing
James Huang is BikeRadar's former technical editor. After leaving BikeRadar in 2016, he worked at CyclingTips and Escape Collective. He now runs the Substack cycling publication N-1 Bikes.
This website is owned and published by Our Media Ltd. www.ourmedia.co.uk
