Bike Build — Alchemy Cycles Balius

Now You See It, Now You Don’t –

If you don’t know about Alchemy Bicycle Co. yet, you should probably take a look. Cyclists spend a lot of time thinking (and talking) about their dream bike, the end-all be-all two-wheeled machine that won’t ever sit with dust or be sold. We recently built that dream bike for someone: the Alchemy Cycles Balius. Alchemy’s entire business is built on giving their customers that dream bike, with each frame painstakingly made specifically for each customer.

Based out of Denver, Colorado, Alchemy has been building frames for the past decade out of steel, titanium, and carbon, and puts great care into their process, going so far as to manufacture all of their carbon tubing on site. While stock geometry exists for all their frame offerings, many customers opt for their custom approach. Each frame is hand-built to match the dynamics of the rider, with frame specification tweaks based on the rider’s bike fit data, their general preferences according to Alchemy’s DNA Ride Optimization system, and the components planned for the bike. While customer’s can bring any bike fit data to the table, Alchemy offers fitting on the Retul Bike Fit System, the same system we use for bike fitting here at Bell’s Bike Shop. Once a rider has approved the final spec sheet for the frame, it goes into production under Alchemy’s dedicated and highly skilled staff.

Nothing at Alchemy is outsourced, every single process is in-house right down to the paint jobs and polishing. The end result are amazing frames with no two quite alike. The Balius we recently got to build here at the shop is for one of our closest reps and as expected, it came out real pretty. Full Campagnolo Record Group, Thomson and FSA, TRP disc brakes, a beautiful camo-style hydro-dip paint job, we can’t quite pick what we like the best. But we do know this much: this bike is fast and light, ready to rip the roads and trails alike. Did we mention how pretty it is? Photos above, bike check below, get ready to drool.