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Alchemy introduces more affordable steel Konis cross and Kyros road bikes

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Alchemy-Konis_steel-cyclocross-gravel-bike_complete

Alchemy Bicycles just announced the addition of two new bikes to their mostly carbon and titanium lineup. The new Konis cyclcocross/gravel bike and the new Kyros road bike are both built with premium chromoloy steel tubesets, aiming to offer Alchemy craftsmanship and ride at a more attainable pricepoint. Jump past the break to take a closer look…

Alchemy-Konis_steel-cyclocross-gravel-bike_name Alchemy-Konis_steel-cyclocross-gravel-bike_front-3-4

Both bikes use lightweight oversize, butted tubing that Alchemy individually selects to give that classic steel is real ride. At the same time the careful tubing selection, not necessarily sticking in with one tubing supplier, looks to build on the light and stiff stainless bikes they also have in their line to create truly high performance modern steel bikes.

Alchemy-Konis_steel-cyclocross-gravel-bike_drivetrain Alchemy-Konis_steel-cyclocross-gravel-bike_seatstay-bridge

The Konis is disc brake only and gets fully external routing for both mechanical shifting and brakes. This bike is set up for a 1x, but braze-ons for a a double or internally routed Di2 are also available. The frame is available in five standard sizes from 52-60cm or with custom geometry for a ~$500 upcharge. The stock frameset includes an Enve fork and sells for $2600.

Alchemy-Kyros_steel-road-bike-frame

We have a bit less detail on the Kyros, as it hasn’t made it up onto Alchemy’s site yet. But We are told that it is available now as well. Like the Konis, it uses oversized tubing which it uses to run a tapered fork. Cable routing is all external for mechanical builds, with internal Di2 routing an option, as well. It does stick with a threaded bottom bracket and rim brakes. No conformation yet that disc brakes will be available as an option, but seeing how they are on Alchemy’s other metal road bikes, we can’t imagine why not. Pricing should be on par with the Konis.

Pricing on both bikes includes the choice of the base frame color and logos color from the standard Alchemy palette, plus the option is always there for full custom inn-house paint. We just recently learned of Alchemy’s paint shop setting up a name for itself, hanging out a shingle as Ethic Paint Works to offer their services to a wider audience. And they will be happy to make either of these bikes truly unique.

Also shop in their online store until Dec 25 and get 10% off at checkout with the code “happyholidays”.

AlchemyBicycles.com

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Will
Will
8 years ago

Don’t get me wrong, I love this bike, and I’d love to have one, but when a frameset that costs more than my entire bike is considered affordable… WTF.
It’s gorgeous, I understand why it costs so much, but don’t call it “affordable”. Compared to their other bikes maybe. I’m not rich enough for the way this sport is going lately… sigh.

DRC
DRC
8 years ago

Agree, no way I’d call that affordable. I can get a high end Al bike with Force and hydro discs for less.

pmurf
pmurf
8 years ago

Eh, it’s all relative. It’s very affordable given it’s an alchemy product. There are, however, dozens of other builders who will build you the same thing full-custom, with a premium tubeset, and your choice of paint for the same or less. Just like Indy Fab, or Serotta back in the day, some people just really want a certain brand. Alchemy is sort of in that upper tier class.

Myke
Myke
8 years ago

Love the frames but regardless of brand the pricing is out of control for steel.

Ck
Ck
8 years ago

Would really like to heard what this tubing is, because I need something to justify the price besides the brand. $2600 for a stock frame size is a hefty cost.

SAAFA
SAAFA
8 years ago

HA HA HA – Affordable for Donald Trump or Zuma

The_Tank
The_Tank
8 years ago

“more affordable”

As pmurf stated… it’s relative.

Let’s have fun riding what we can each afford! (or is that unfair?)

Colin M
Colin M
8 years ago

$2600 for a Stainless steel frame is pretty good I guess. Why not go with a non-stainless tubeset and be able to get the price down below $2k?

Colin M
Colin M
8 years ago

Frameset sorry, not just the frame. (enve fork included)

Mrazekan
Mrazekan
8 years ago

Colin M,

These frames are not stainless. If they were, the price would be more than worth it.

Burton
Burton
8 years ago

For such a health outlay of cash, I would expect a horizontal top tube.

Heffe
Heffe
8 years ago

Way too expensive for a steel frame.

Bill
Bill
8 years ago

@Will, well.. it does say “more affordable” 🙂

Patrick
Patrick
8 years ago

Wheres it made? Framebuilders gotta eat, but so do the Chinese… The difficulty of this issue transcends politics…

Veganpotter
Veganpotter
8 years ago

(deleted)

pilf
pilf
8 years ago

That price is outrageous. You can get a custom bike from dozens of American builders for substantially less money (and “custom geometry” is included, not $500 extra). Meanwhile, Taiwanese makers like Maxway and Colossi can produce a steel frame with a quality, double-butted tubeset for ~$350 per frame, often less if there’s no steel fork required.

This is insane. I pity the person who would actually pay for this.

Sspiff
Sspiff
8 years ago

While I agree it’s pricy, I used to work at an Indy Fab dealer and a steel crown jewel with an ouzo pro was similar in pricepoint, though I guess the IF full custom treatment was included at that cost. It seems to be inline with the other ‘high end’ domestically produced quasi-custom frames out there.

Matt
Matt
8 years ago

So as set up in the pic it’s almost $5k for a “custom” steel framed bike?

(deleted)

This thing looks great, but I’d rather buy 2 more RLT9s or plead Norco to bring the Search to the US again and call it a day.

Rich
8 years ago

This bike is amazing, and so is the guy who rides it! check out his bottle game below!

http://www.definecycling.bigcartel.com/product/set-of-christmas-bidons

Kevin
Kevin
8 years ago

I’ll stick with my swiss cross.

Steve
Steve
8 years ago

It doesn’t mention it, but that steel bike weighs ~18lbs even with the trail pedals. That’s pretty rad for a CX bike of any material, but will ride much better. Sure you can get cheaper, but I doubt the quality will be matched.

Antipodean_eleven
8 years ago

@Rich, was that some lame attempt to get click throughs?

Velo
Velo
8 years ago

Rikulau in Taiwan will build you a custom STAINLESS frame for about half that.

ez
ez
8 years ago

Ah, the BikeRumor comments section, truly the next best thing to The Paris Review.

Despite your visions of American frame builders sleeping nude in piles of money (unrelated to side jobs in the Adult Entertainment industry), none of the guys building your Alchemy drive Italian sports cars. $2600 for discs, 44 mm head tube, made in the US, light weight (I’ve picked up three of them), frame with an Enve fork, believe it or not, is a good deal.

As for “dozens of other American frame builders”, please enlighten me, because my experience (I ride a custom steel road bike, though that is immaterial, though material, if you see what I’m saying) and knowledge say otherwise: an Indy Fab Crown Jewel (without a 44 mm head tube or other such features) starts at $2300, a Mosaic XS-1 steel will cost about the same as the Alchemy, an Icarus starts at $2600 (add more for disc tabs, 44 mm headtube), a Seven Axiom is only available as a complete and starts at $4k, a Bishop CX bike starts at $3k sans fork, any bike from Speedvagen (the cheaper arm of Vanilla bikes) STARTS at $3750, a Cielo is close at $2500 … so when you say “dozens of other American frame builders” you must be thinking of South America. It’s easy to mix them up. Most folks forget that North America includes a whole other country as well.

dr_lha
dr_lha
8 years ago

@ez if you think $2600 for this is a good deal, then the Wraith Paycheck must be the deal of the f***ing century. Half the price, Columbus tubing, Made in the USA, lightweight, disc tabs, spend the money you save upgrading to an ENVE fork if you must.

http://wraithfabrication.com/products/the-paycheck

ol shel
ol shel
8 years ago

Enve forks are a few hundred wholesale.

This is NOT a good deal, unless you’re a roadie who thinks boutique watches are a good deal.

Support your local independent custom framebuilder, who will give you far more for less money.

Of, if you only care about status, waste your money on a Sachs, Vanilla, or Alchemy.

pilf
pilf
8 years ago

You inexplicably picked six of the most expensive builders, with the longest wait times, in the country.

Here you go, literally off the top of my head:
Rock Lobster
333Fab
Elephant
O’Leary Bicycles
Strong Bikes
Spectrum
Gunnar
Davidson
DeSalvo
Curtlo
Shamrock
Primus Mootry

That’s a full dozen, and it took me about a minute to think of them all. Imagine what a little Googling could do.

Veganpotter
Veganpotter
8 years ago

Sure, I was exaggerating about the Italian sports car but Alchemy isn’t you local builder, begging for business. They have a waiting list and its not because they’re slow one-offs like Vanilla or Bishop where there’s tons of hours of lugwork.

For $2600 I’d rather have a lower and TI bike from Seven, or save nearly $1000 and get a Waterford… more and get a Gunnar.

ez
ez
8 years ago

Dude you are as lazy as you are cynical. That is a nice list of names, but you didn’t spec out the bikes. Some of them are the same, or more. Took you a minute to blast off a list, but zero thought went into it.

Rock Lobster – they aren’t bad at all, but you don’t get things like the 40 mm headtube. Also they have a much longer wait than Alchemy. It’s a much smaller operation.
333 Fab – their CX is exactly the same price as Alchemy.
Elephant – Not the same thing at all. No modern touches like 44 mm and the disc/carbon fork option uses a Ritchey. It’s just a very different kind of bike. Not apples to apples.
O’Leary Bikes – A nice, but smaller builder. You’ll definitely have a wait. Not sure if he can make a frame that’s the same, seems more retro. Probably not at that pricepoint.
Strong Bikes – $2k sans fork. So not really much cheaper.
Spectrum – $3000 for a road frameset, no CX option I could find. That’s MORE expensive.
Gunnar – Gunnar is a weird one. Cheap, but def kind of heavy. I have a friend who has three. He also had to wait a longtime to get each one. They’re not quick. I haven’t been too blown away by any of the newer ones I’ve seen.
Davidson – He doesn’t make CX bikes. The road ones are a good deal, not the lightest but pretty.
DeSalvo – Definitely cheaper. A totally different style of bike, though, and being a small builder (have you ever worked with one? I have, it takes much longer than Alchemy) he says his lead times are 2.5-5 months.
Curtlo – Definitely cheaper, but a very different kind of bike.
Shamrock – The Celtic Cross is $2250, pretty comparable. Options get it about the same.
Primus Mootry – Sadly no longer in the biz.

These are all great bikes, and you should order what speaks to you. My larger point is that many of the builders you mentioned charge just as much, some more. Some of the others are a totally different style of bike. All you’ve really said is “I hate things because ‘Internet’ and I can’t do actual research, I just say things.” Alchemy isn’t perfect, but if you want a race-ready, modern CX steel bike and don’t want to break the bank, these are it!

Melvin
Melvin
8 years ago

Don’t read the comments

pmurf
pmurf
8 years ago

ez I think you’re missing the point that the $2600 pricepoint for a STOCK geometry frameset is on the higher end of the steel frame spectrum. If it were custom, it would fall smack in the middle of the spectrum when all options/upgrades were weighed in. However, it’s custom price of $3100 clearly places it into middle-higher end territory. There’s nothing wrong with that – it’s a beautiful bike from a pedigreed company! They should do them, and charge what they want – there’s a healthy market for their product

The point some of us are trying to make is that for the SAME or LESS than Alchemy’s STOCK frameset (and by less we’re talking between $500 and $200 less, which is not “pretty comparable” btw, that’s a new set of race tires or a carbon cockpit) you can get a CUSTOM frameset with these specs.

If you want to play the apples-to-apples game, Stoemper and Geekhouse come to mind – I’m sure there are more but I wouldn’t want to anger you by simply listing them without doing my research.

Cheese
Cheese
8 years ago

Stoemper steel bikes list for $2000 plus $540 list for an Enve Disc fork is just $60 more than this. They’re also lovely frames, but hardly a bargain compared to the Alchemy, Murph. Why so angry?

Pmurf
Pmurf
8 years ago

Stoempers come with the fork….I think. Not sure about geekhouse – if they did that’d be a heck of a deal.

To answer your last question: probably because I can’t afford any of these 🙂

Dukeofearl
Dukeofearl
8 years ago

The name of the bike is not “Affordable, it’s Konis.. Affordable were the words used by the author not the manufacturer.

Cheese
Cheese
8 years ago

I think you’re right about the Stoemper fork, Pmurf. It looks like the Greenhouse is $1700 for a 4130 Disc frame alone which is a really good deal. I’ve always drooled over Sevens that I can’t afford, but I still admire them.

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