They Borrowed the HOUSE-MADE CARBON TUBES FROM The HELIOS
For the limited number of custom bike builders located in the United States, it’s likely you can count on one hand how many of them actually draw up and form their own tubes from scratch. Well Alchemy is on that short list as one of those very limited few, and they have now unveiled a third bike, the Balius to form perfectly into their lineup of exotic rides, that is engineered and built out of their own tubing and design.
For 2014, the new Alchemy Balius cyclocross bike also follows along with what the other two members in the lineup of magical rides, that being what the Arione and Helios are all about. (For now) they have employed the same layups and tube shapes that are molded, cut, laid up and then hand wrapped specific to what the intended use is and most importantly what the end user’s needs are. So, at the moment, the Balius ride employs the same Helios down and top tube molds. But it’s been reported within the next 12 months or so, it will branch off with it’s own even more ‘cross specific top tube design. As the progression goes, the evolution has played out with round tubes that were utilized on the original Balius frameset, while this second model that’s shown above utilizes tubes and bladder molded shapes that welcome all the stiffness and handling you could need out there in a scene off super fast crossers, along with an easy to grab and shoulder curve on the top tube to quickly propel you to the front of that highly intense group of masters in the one-hour-suffer-fest-sport.
The lead marketing designer here is Josh Huseby, who actually got his roots from one of the infamous big three, the Cannondale Sports Group, and it’s been reported he used to race cyclocross professionally and helped Alchemy develop the sweet ride characteristics. They were looking for all the modern carbon cross bike traits like vertical compliance while still being able to maintain the torsional stiffness at the same time, which is critical for steering through rough tracks. The rear end is also built to be more forgiving to alleviate the harshness found on some of the bikes out there, in turn provides plenty of compliancy.
For the carbon gurus at Alchemy to build the bike, each tube’s layup is figured out based on rider size, weight and riding preferences and style. Then they’re each handmade before being assembled into a complete frameset. And the rider has plenty of options to really make it work the way they want:
You have the option of disc or cantilever brake mounts
Either a PF86, or PF30 threaded bottom bracket
And the option of either Gloss or Matte for the finish in one of 9 colors to choose from
If by chance your wanting to go Alchemy’s route of a full custom frame, the Balius suggested retail price is listed at $4250, while they also have what is called in a stock sizing program, that range in even increments from (52cm, 54cm, 56cm, 58cm, 60cm), for the suggested retail pricing of $3750. This also includes a sweet matching Chris King headset, along with ENVE’s amazing mastery by way of the compliant but stiff front fork, that is color-paint-matched of course.
Average frame weight is estimated around 1,150 grams, but the marketing guru Huseby has said they will probably get down there around 1,050 for the smaller sizes.
The Balius are absolutely stunning rides, so if you want to check out more, here’s a link to where all the magic happens here.