Yesterday, Alchemy bikes announced two new bikes, an updated Arktos, and a slew of new finish options. But it wasn’t until seeing them in person and getting one of the bikes in the sunlight, that the full picture emerged.
In-House Cerakote
When it comes to finishes, Alchemy says they can pretty much do whatever you want when it comes to custom paint. But they also wanted to add a more durable option to the mix, which comes in the form of Cerakote. A ceramic thin-film coating, Cerakote finishes are thinner than traditional paint, lighter, and much more durable. And you can Cerakote pretty much anything, including carbon fiber.
Now with Alchemy bringing the process in-house, they’ll be offering single-color frame and fork coating for free – no upcharge at all. Initially, Alchemy will offer seven stock colors of Cerakote for free, but they can do any color in the Cerakote catalog for an upcharge.
However, if you want to get more detailed with the Cerakote finish, they’ll offer multi-color finishes for an additional charge.
Additionally, they’ll be offering coated bars and stems – and you can even coat the bolts. According to Alchemy, the finish is so durable that typical allen wrench use will not cause the finish to wear off the bolts.
This gives you all kinds of options for the final look. Do you just coat everything in the same color? Do you keep the bolts natural? Black? Different colors completely? What about the headset components? However you want to do it, Alchemy seems to have the ability to make it happen.
Even water bottle bolts, derailleur hangers, and other small parts can be color coordinated.
And on their titanium bikes, they can use vinyl appliqués to leave raw titanium showing through the Cerakote.
New Harlequin Prismatic Finish
What if you’re not a fan of the semi-matte look, and prefer something a little more shiny, more colorful? Well, their new Harlequin Prismatic finish should do the trick.
Shown here on an eRonin gravel bike, the impressive paint completely changes in the sunlight, even allowing details of the carbon fiber underneath to show through.
Between this, the existing custom paint options, and all of the new Cerakote options, it might take you a while to design your new Alchemy.
