Nicole Duke’s Alchemy on display at NAHBS. © Lance Barry
Alchemy is having a good year at NAHBS. The company moved from Austin, TX to Denver, CO, and now, they’ve taken home the prize on home turf for Best Carbon Construction for NAHBS 2013. However, it wasn’t their road bikes that we were interested in, and we got some up close and personal looks at their cyclocross bike.
We’ve profiled Nationals bronze medalist Nicole Duke’s Alchemy carbon cyclocross bikes before, but we wanted to snap a few more shots of it today, all cleaned up and kitted out at NAHBS. Complete with Zipp 303 wheels with Clement PDX tubular tires, a Chris King headset, ENVE Disc fork, Avid BB7 Sl disc brakes (reviewed in the upcoming Issue 20) and a 2012 SRAM Red groupset, the Alchemy bike designed for Duke weighs in at 17 lbs. The front end is stiffer than a normal cyclocross bike, taking into account Duke’s background as a downhiller.
The bike shown at NAHBS is the same one Duke rode at Nationals, it’s just been painted white. Matt Simpson, president of Alchemy, is particularly proud of this, saying that now Duke has a black one and a white one. Before, he told us, “We finished Nicole’s bike with a choice of black-and-white for paint. The color choice was incredibly deliberate for us. A great metaphor for Nicole.” Clearly, they’re taking that to the next level.
Jesse Pisel contributed to this report.
Love custom and handmade bicycles? Stay tuned to our NAHBS 2013 page for more drool-worthy goodies coming up over the weekend!
Alchemy Bicycle Company’s Carbon Balius Cyclocross Bike Photo Gallery:
The Specs:
Frames: Balius from Alchemy Bicycle Company (990g.)
Fork: ENVE Cross 1.5″ Taper disc fork, raw carbon finish
Handlebar: ZIPP Service Course SL Traditional Bend / 46cm. o-o (44cm. center-to-center – with Duke’s downhiller background, she prefers a wider handlebar than most)
Bar Tape: ZIPP Service Course CX Tape
Stem: ZIPP Service Course SL / 100mm
Brakes: Avid BB7 SL Road Mechanical Disc Brakeset / SRAM HSX Rotors
Wheelset: SRAM Rise 60 Hub / ZIPP 303 Firecrest Tubular Rim (Black Box)
Tires: Challenge Team Edition Tubular Tires 33mm – Fango, Limus and Grifo
Shifters: SRAM Red DoubleTap Controls-2012
Rear Derailleur: SRAM RED Rear Derailleur-2012
Front Derailleur: SRAM RED 2012 YAW Front Derailleur
Crankset: SRAM RED 2012 Compact 110BCD BB30 Crankset
Chainring: Wick Werks 44t x 34t Compact Chainrings for SRAM Red 2012 Crankset
Cassette: SRAM XG-1090 12-27 Cyclocross Cassette
Chain: SRAM 1090 Chain
Seatpost: ZIPP SL Speed Carbon Seatpost / 20 Degree Setback
Saddle: Prologo Scratch PRO DEA saddle
Bottom Bracket: PF30
Pedals: Shimano 980 XTR Pedals
