An exceptional strength-to-weight ratio. Superior durability, longevity, and ride quality. There are a lot of great reasons to love titanium bikes. It’s why Litespeed has been committed to building bikes out of titanium since 1986. Throughout its entire history, Litespeed has innovated with frame designs and manufacturing processes that have allowed it to create the lightest and most advanced titanium bikes on the market. Litespeed isn’t just building titanium bikes. It’s perfecting them.
This year, I started searching for a new gravel race bike, and I came to the conclusion that titanium is the best frame material for my needs and goals. With Litespeed’s history and framebuilding expertise, it is the clear choice for a high-performance titanium bike.
I could go on and on about why I love Litespeed, but I figured, why not show you instead? I visited the Litespeed factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to see firsthand how Litespeed bikes are built. I met Litespeed’s lead product engineer, Brad DeVaney, as well as many of the people who are going to bring my new titanium gravel bike to life.
Litespeed's Titanium Frame Manufacturing Process:
This process is essentially what happens whenever you order a Litespeed titanium bike. Tubes are shaped and welded by some of the industry's most experienced framebuilders. Every frame undergoes a rigorous quality assurance process that ensures precise alignment. Then, it's given a beautiful finish and built up to your specifications by a team of pro mechanics. In the hands of a small team of experts, simple titanium tubes get transformed into a high-performance titanium bike that will arrive at your doorstep, ready to ride.
My factory tour lasted well over three hours, and there was so much to look at and learn, it was really hard to try and distill everything down into a 30-minute video! Perhaps the thing that surprised me the most is just how much work goes into forming, shaping, butting, and milling all of the titanium tubes before they're even welded into a frame. From what I learned, this is really the secret sauce behind Litespeed's frames.
All of Litespeed's premium Superform titanium tubes have impressively complex cold-worked 3D shapes and precisely controlled wall thicknesses that vary along the entire length of the tube. I also learned that every frame size has a custom-shaped and tuned tubeset, which ensures the frame weight, stiffness, and ride quality are optimized for every rider from extra-small to extra-large.
If you’re ever in Chattanooga, definitely stop by. If Brad is available, he’ll make your brain explode with everything he knows about designing and manufacturing titanium bikes.
My Litespeed Toscano: The Lightest Titanium Gravel Bike
This is my new 2025 Litespeed Toscano gravel bike. There are many like it, but this one is mine!
Since my visit, I’ve ordered a new Toscano, Litespeed’s flagship gravel bike. During the tour, Brad DeVaney and I talked about what my perfect titanium gravel bike would look like. This has led to some exciting developments. Litespeed offers fully-custom frames, and my new Toscano is going to feature some custom design elements like suspension-corrected geometry, a bit of extra tire clearance, and a new etched and anodized finish that is sure to turn heads. The most exciting part is that these changes will be available as options on stock Toscano’s as well!
I also took advantage of all of Litespeed’s build customization options. I picked my preferred SRAM drivetrain, ENVE cockpit, and a Cane Creek Invert suspension fork. I even called the customer service team and ordered a few components like wheels and tires that were off-menu, and they helped me get exactly what I wanted, which was a really cool experience.
I’ll be featuring this new Litespeed titanium bike in more upcoming blog posts and videos, so stay tuned!