Handmade in Denver: Alchemy Bicycle Co.

The call of the Rockies

The Colorado Rockies are many things to many people. For Alchemy, they are a recruitment tool.

“When we are looking to make a hire, usually we fly someone out on a Thursday, meet with them on a Friday, and set them up with a bike to ride in the mountains over the weekend,” said Alchemy founder Ryan Cannizzaro. “Usually by Monday they are ready to move here.”

The swansong of the Rockies lured Cannizzaro and his partner Matt MacZuzak to Colorado in 2011 from Texas. Cycling and skiing were personal draws, but so was the ability to bring in welders, painters, machinists and others to build Alchemy.

‘Welcome to Colorful Colorado’ read our state signs at our borders. And you’ll find that to be true, wherever you ride

The pair found a home in a warehouse owned by Primal Wear, which sits smack on the jam-packed Cherry Creek bike path that runs north-south through the heart of Denver. For years, Alchemy ran a coffee shop in the front of the building, catering almost exclusively to cyclists who would pop in off the path.

So, sure, it’s not hard to see why a cycling brand would want to set up shop in Denver. But swimming upstream and building carbon frames in house? That’s another story.

Building carbon vs buying from Asia  

Cannizzaro began Alchemy in Austin, welding titanium and steel frames. He connected with MacZuzak, who was laying up carbon frames, mostly for friends. For both, building frames was a matter of passion.

But passion only takes one so far.

Making carbon frames stateside — and assembling them into complete bikes —  costs more than doing it in Taiwan. Which is why hardly anyone does it, at least without some customization to differentiate the product.

Bike in a bag. Each frame is made up of dozens of pieces

For Alchemy, Cannizzaro and MacZuzak argue that ride quality, not just the ‘made in Colorado’ tag, is what continues to drive their business.  

“A lot of Asian-made bikes, they are made in sections and put together with lugs and epoxy,” Cannizzaro said, pointing to how Alchemy uses tube-to-tube construction, mitering each tube to precisely nestle up against the other tube, and then overwrap the junctions with more carbon.

“Made in the USA counts for some riders. And made in Colorado counts,” Cannizzaro said. “But the bigger picture is that, for road and gravel riders, you are sitting in one or two relatively fixed positions for hours, and the difference in how one bike feels over another makes a big difference.

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Awards, and American firsts

Over the years, Alchemy had notched up a number of accolades, including awards for Best Carbon Bicycle and Best Carbon Layup at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show.

Alchemy also lays claims to the first American-made carbon full-suspension mountain bike, with its Arktos. Notably, the Arktos is the one model Alchemy now makes Denver and also buys from an Asian factory, where it can deliver the bike for about $800 less. Cannizzaro said that, for full-suspension mountain bikes, often riders are most focused on the suspension and the linkage configuration, and much less on the frame itself. “As long as the frame is light and stiff, riders are feeling the finer points of the shock and the linkage design,” Cannizzaro said. “And while riders here might appreciate the made-in-Colorado thing, there is also some price sensitivity, which is understandable.”

Arktos was the first production full-suspension carbon bike made in the US, Alchemy claims

For an inside look at Alchemy, check out the gallery below, and visit Alchemy online or, better yet, in person at their shop.