Price: frame only £4,400, complete bike as tested £11,417
Can it ever be appropriate to review a bike that costs 11 grand? Clearly not. But I was hoping to do you a favour. I’d ride it, then report back that you were missing nothing; that the whole ‘bike at car prices’ was just a silly, crazy indulgence. Sadly, I’ve got bad news for you. The Helios is dizzyingly wonderful. It is fast and exciting, phenomenally comfortable and super smooth. It’s so light and so instantly responsive that at times you think the bike must have ESP.
Alchemy is a bespoke American frame builder based in Denver, Colorado. The address is the cutesy sounding 7700 Cherry Creek South Drive. But there’s nothing whimsical about the frames they build. All bikes are built to order by hand by a small team of experts. What is particularly special about the brand is the fact that Alchemy cut their own moulds in house using CNC (computer numerical control) machines. This allows them to be more adaptable and have complete control over the build process from conception to finished product. They have won countless awards at the NAHBS (North American Handmade Bicycle Show) for their exotic custom creations, however they also offer a range of hand-built ‘off-the-peg’ frames as well, which is where the Helios sits.
The Helios blends the classic appeal of Alchemy’s Xanthus frame with more aerodynamic elements featured on their Arion. Alchemy boosts stiffness on the Helios by flaring the tubes at the headtube and bottom bracket junctions to prevent torsional flex under pedalling. The result is a bike that is a true all-rounder. Light enough to tackle long climbs, comfortable over long distances and yet stiff enough to provide rapid acceleration sprinting out of corners.
I personally hadn’t heard of Alchemy before coming across the Helios. But it’s just one of many bespoke and high-end bike brands that will be on display at the upcoming Rouleur Classic event being held in London from 3-5 November. Billed as the world’s finest road cycling show, it’s a chance for you to get close to some remarkable bikes while also rubbing shoulders with the sport’s biggest stars. This year the likes of David Millar, Sean Kelly, Jan Bakelants, Jan Ullrich, Laura Trott and Jason Kenny will be there.
Although Alchemy will happily build you a bike to your exact specifications, they also offer six stock sizes if you happen to fall into one of those sizes. I am just under 6ft tall and the 56cm frame fitted me really well. In order for me to experience it, a very special bike was created.
Some of its stand-out components included the ENVE SES 3.4 carbon wheelset, which has been designed to perform over all kinds of terrain and in all weather conditions. Aerodynamic to carry speed, but with a wide rim profile to keep the wheels stable in winds. The pair weighed in at just 1.3kg. One thing that separates ENVE from a number of other carbon wheel manufacturers is in their construction process. Most manufacturers build the rim and then drill holes for the spokes. ENVE, however, hand lay the carbon around the holes which creates a rim that can be tensioned more than others, resulting in a far stiffer wheel. New this year is a textured braking surface which provides better braking in all conditions. ENVE say this improves braking by 30%. I was certainly very impressed with the stopping distances – even if under heavy braking the wheels did scream like banshees!
The groupset was the Shimano Di2 matched to Dura-Ace as ridden by Team Sky. Di2 provides shifting that remains consistently pinpoint accurate all the time. Changing gear requires only the lightest of touches – simply the press of a button. Motors in the derailleurs allow for poorly timed shifts and will even shift under extreme load quickly and reliably. With Shimano’s diagnostics, you can even plug the bike into a laptop and custom tune your gears to personal preference – from changing the functions of the buttons to how fast you want the shifts to be. The battery will last approximately 2,500km between charges.
I spent more than 8 hours in the saddle on a sunny Saturday in the Chilterns. The beautiful scenery matched by the performance of the Alchemy (and the good company of my fellow riders) made it a dream ride.
The sums involved in creating a bike like this are, frankly, insane and when I returned the bike on Monday all in one piece I was mighty relieved. This is the full breakdown of the set up. The cheapest thing on the menu was the bar tape – which I have to say was superb!
2017 Achemy Helios Di2 frameset: £4,400
ENVE SES 3.4 carbon clincher wheelset: £2,750
ENVE carbon road handlebar: £300
ENVE carbon road stem: £320
ENVE 25mm Layback carbon seatpost: £250
Astute Taca’ Skylite VT carbon saddle: £200
Vrederstein Fortezza Senso tyres: £46.95 x 2
Arundel Gecko Grip bar tape: £15
Arundel Mandible carbon bottle cage: £60 x 2
Shimano Dura Ace Di2 groupset: £2,967.99
Total = £11,417
Email Martin at martin.love@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @MartinLove166
