Recently, I found myself in the same neighborhood as PDW, so I stopped in to say hi and chat with Dan Powell. It’s these kinds of chat’s that often lead to interesting meetings and knowledge. In this case it was no different, as Dan informed me of a new bicycle brand launching right here in Portland. He put me in touch with one of the co-founders, Dave Rosen.
Dave has worked in the cycling industry for a while now, and after departing his last job he decided it was time to do his own thing. That thing was to partner up with Dave Levy of Ti-Cycles and launch a titanium bike brand dubbed Sage Cycles. With over 27 years of experience engineering and building custom bikes, Mr. Levy is a good person to be involved with. The two of them set out designing and refining the lineup that now includes a road frame, ‘cross frame, commuter / light touring frame, and a soon-to-be mountain bike frame. Each of these frames come in a variety of builds depending on the riders needs. The design and QC of the bikes is done here in the US-of-A (at Ti-Cycles), and in an effort to keep cost minimized, the manufacturing takes place overseas.
Check out our first look at the bikes here. Click through for some words from Dave Rosen, and a break down of the frames and builds…
I asked Dave to give us some insight as to how this new brand came about. Here is his response.
“My good days always involve time on the bike. Those days are even better if it’s spent on a titanium frame, whose ride qualities make the miles pass more comfortably. That being said, titanium has always been expensive and there are very few quality, reasonably priced options on the market. I saw a niche that could be filled by creating something that people who love to ride would want to take out (daily) AND be able to afford. That’s how Sage Cycles got started.
As a bike nut and sales & logistics professional, I felt I could bring affordable titanium frames to market. But I knew I didn’t have the experience or training to get the design and quality of the frames perfect. I knew I needed a partner who was an expert in titanium bicycle design and had the experience, the background, and the uncompromising perfectionism, to make sure the ride and quality was there. Unfortunately, those guys are diamonds in the rough. Luckily, there was such a guy in our midst: Dave Levy. So I reached out to him with the idea of forming a partnership to create a bike brand that we would both be proud to put our name on.”
These stock bicycles are heavily influenced by Dave Levy, and could almost be considered a production run of Ti-Cycles bikes. In fact, they are even made out of the exact same aerospace grade, sports-certified 3/2.5 titanium tubing used for custom Ti-Cycles builds. The only major differences are that Dave Levy isn’t doing the welding, and you don’t get custom sizing and features.
But, the frames are QC’d at Ti-Cycles once they arrive in the states. The alignment and geometry are checked, and the frames are faced, chased and reamed as needed. After that, they are built up to spec and shipped out to the dealers. Yes, dealers. Sage cycles is more of a premium boutique brand, with a value price point, and they are doing a good thing by selling through bike shops.
The road bike is dubbed the Skyline, after a very popular road / ride in the West Hills of Portland. The bike is at home on a multi day stage race or on those epic 100+ mile rides. It’s designed to have a more neutral handling, and be stable at speed. We will know for sure soon, as we have one lined up for a long term review, so stayed tuned.
The frame is constructed using double butted top, down, and seat tubes, as well as heavily shaped stays. It uses a traditional 68mm English bottom bracket, along with a tapered head tube mated to an ENVE 2.0 road fork. The build packages start off with a mechanical drive train in the form of Ultegra 6700, it includes an FSA Energy cockpit and crankset, and it’s rolling on Mavic Cosmic Elite wheels. It runs $4,350. The Skyline E2 and E1 (E for electronic) step up to Ultegra Di2 with the E2 getting SL-K bits and Mavic Ksyrium Equip S wheels, while the E1 is decked out with K-Force and Mavic Ksyrium SLS wheels. The E2 cost $5,350, while the E1 gets you for $6,350. Finally, the E0 goes whole hog with Dura-Ace Di2 (9070), an ENVE cockpit, and Dura-Ace C-50 clinchers. The “money’s no object” build will set you back $10,500.
