The Philly Bike Expo had a ton to offer when it came to eye candy, and I mean a lot. With what looked like a resurgence in the popularity of titanium frames at the Expo, one brand stood out to me as one of the most memorable, No.22 Bicycles.
Loving the ride qualities of titanium so much, the founding partners, Mike Smith, and Bryce Gracey named their company after titanium’s atomic number, 22. No.22 Bicycles have been in the news a bit recently, with Tyler covering their 3D dropouts back in August, and we also covered their new No.6 Carbon Fork in August when it was released.
The 3D Dropouts, Hands-On
No.22 was showing some amazing-looking bikes at the Expo. Their attention to detail as well as the new anodizing and etching techniques that were applied on these bikes was really beautiful and definitely showed some real passion for their beloved frame material of choice.
The Drifter
You can see a few other photos of this beautiful all-road gem from the Philly Bike Expo, right here.
New Finishes
They had their track-specific model, Little Wing on display as a remarkably beautiful gold flat bar bike. It was displaying one of No.22’s updated model graphics. Although their raw finish will remain the default finish for all orders, they said that they’re “adding a new range of anodized and combination anodized/Cerakote finishes to take your build to the next level.”
No.22 has been experimenting with Cerakote for “several years” and now have their own in-house paint and Cerakote facilities so they can “roll this option out at a production scale”.
No.22 Bicycles Brand New Integrated Cockpit
From the No.22 website: “Made from sintered titanium, our completely bespoke stem was designed to deliver the highest level of performance while keeping all cables internal, matching the beautiful materials and finishes of our frames”.
Using additive manufacturing has allowed No22. to deliver a stem that they say is “as light as the leading carbon integrated stem offerings, but with huge increases in strength, stiffness, and durability”. These stems have hidden faceplate bolts that are installed from the rear.
The stem also has fully integrated steerer tube clamping. This new stem added to the matching titanium headset and interlocking spacers is an amazing and artful finish to these builds.
New Seatposts and Mast Toppers
Another thing that is new over at No.22 is their completely new seat mast toppers and seatpost heads. They are replacing their old cast versions with new, 3D-printed versions. These new versions will bring added strength and stiffness while looking much more refined.
Check out more No.22 titanium eye candy at the link below.
