The Alchemy Lycos gravel bike is seeing a big drop in price – over $1000 for most complete builds and up to $2400. They’re doing this with production outside of the USA without reducing build quality or performance. This is paired with a promise that new bikes will ship within 48 hours of order instead of weeks for the previous model.
These are major changes for Alchemy, a company better known for high-end frames and bikes focused on USA-based production, high performance, and first-class attention to detail.
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In 2016, the Colorado company moved to produce their Arktos mountain bike overseas – their first overseas-made frame. Doing so allowed the company to produce a similar bike but sell it for a whole lot less. The same applies to the Lycos gravel bike.
“We realized we could offer the model to a much wider audience if we could find a way to lower manufacturing costs by outsourcing frames – but only if we could still use our Premium Factory Carbon, and assuming there’d be no sacrifices to the overall quality or performance, says Alchemy’s founder, Ryan Cannizzarro.
What is the Alchemy Lycos gravel bike? Lycos is the company’s gravel bike focused a bit more on off-road performance. The frame uses their ‘Alchemy Premium Factory Carbon’, which they say is their secret sauce of the right carbon fiber.
The gravel bike is a 1x-only frame that fits as big as a 700c x 50 mm or 27.5 x 2.2” tire. You’ll get all the traditional mounts you’d find on a gravel bike, including three bottle cage mounts and a top tube bag mount. Geometry is more singletrack sampler ride than all-road bike, but Alchemy assures their bike is plenty capable wherever you take it.
The lower-cost Lycos is complemented by the Lycos Au. What is the difference? Well, the Lycos Au is made in Golden, Colorado with higher-modulus carbon. The lighter carbon, paired with lightweight Cerakote finish options, means the Lycos Au weighs in at as little as 840 grams, or one of the lightest gravel bikes available.
Lycos uses a simpler carbon layup – alongside different paint schemes – that adds about 300 g more to the frame. The fork receives three-bolt pack mounts as standard for water bottle cages or a light-duty rack. Lycos will be available in Midnight Prism/Ivory and Evergreen/Silver. Buyers can also choose between their ‘Classic’ logo scheme or a ‘Minimalist’ logo scheme with smaller logos.
That’s it. The Lycos receives the same design, prototyping, and in-house testing as their USA-made frames.
The new Lycos bikes will debut at the Sea Otter Classic starting April 19th. Pricing starts at $3299 for a frame, fork, and headset. The flashy $4999 entry point nets a SRAM Rival GX AXS complete bike; GRX Di2 and Force XPLR builds are available at $6499, with a Force/X01 build at $6749, with RED XPLR builds at $7999.
Build pre-orders start April 14th, with the first bikes shipping in mid-May 2023. We’ve requested a test bike for review; stay tuned for our thoughts surrounding the bike. Learn more about the Lycos at alchemybikes.com.
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