GUIDE: HOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST LITESPEED TITANIUM GRAVEL BIKE FOR YOU
Litespeed has been building premium, high-performance titanium bikes in Chattanooga, Tennessee, since 1986, so we know titanium better than anyone. Our hand-built titanium bikes have been ridden to multiple World Championship and Tour de France stage wins, and NASA even relied on our team to fabricate titanium components for the Mars Curiosity Rover!
With the ultimate combination of lightness, ride quality, durability, and beauty, titanium is the best frame material for riding gravel. Our titanium gravel bikes are unique because we possess the machinery and expertise to create custom-formed titanium tubes that are precisely shaped and tuned to deliver the lowest weight and optimal ride quality.
Litespeed offers three different titanium gravel models to suit different riders and riding styles, all of which are suspension-corrected to work with the latest gravel suspension forks. This quick guide will break down the key differences between our titanium gravel models so you can choose the best bike for your next adventure.
Litespeed Toscano
- Frame Weight: 1,285-1,360 grams
- Geometry: Race
- Tire Clearance: 700c x 50mm
- BB: PF30 or T47
- Cables: Fully Integrated or Non-Integrated
The Litespeed Toscano is the world’s lightest production titanium gravel frame. It’s more than just stunningly lightweight, though. It’s also incredibly stiff and efficient thanks to its unique Superform SL 6/4 titanium tubeset. This is our most advanced tubeset, which combines superlight Superfrom SL 3AL/2.5V titanium tubes with a top tube formed from a single ultra-thin sheet of 6AL/4V titanium. This “sheet-formed” top tube weighs less than a standard 3AL/2.5V tube, but also has higher tensile strength and lateral stiffness.
Superform SL 6/4 titanium allows the Toscano to compete with many of the best carbon gravel bikes in terms of weight and pedaling efficiency, without sacrificing titanium’s legendary durability or ride quality. With agile yet capable geometry, it is the ideal titanium gravel bike for riders who prioritize speed and performance above all else.
Who It’s For: Gravel racers looking for the highest-performance titanium gravel bike
The story behind the name: The Toscano is named for the beautiful and fast-rolling white gravel roads of Italy’s Tuscany region, where epic battles occur between the world’s best riders in events like Strade Bianche and the Gravel World Championships.
Litespeed Ultimate G2
- Frame Weight: 1,350-1,410 grams
- Geometry: Race
- Tire Clearance: 700c x 50mm
- BB: PF30 or T47
- Cables: Fully Integrated or Non-Integrated
The Ultimate G2 represents everything that makes Litespeed titanium bikes special. The Superform SL 3AL/2.5V titanium tubing is custom-formed and cold-worked to create variable shapes and wall-thicknesses along the full length of the tube. This allows our engineers to fine-tune each tube to achieve specific weight and stiffness targets. The Ultimate G2’s defining feature is its “Interlock Dropped Seatstays,” which are dropped and extended past the seat tube to the top tube. With two independent stiffness-enhancing weld points, the rear triangle becomes more responsive during acceleration.
The Ultimate G2 has race-oriented geometry like the Toscano, but it adds a bit of extra comfort (at the cost of a few grams). It’s the perfect middle ground between the superlight Toscano and the adventure-oriented Flint. The frame eliminates road buzz but maintains titanium’s characteristic springy quality, meaning the frame feels like it returns energy with every pedal stroke. It’s perfect for riders who want a high-performance gravel bike to handle every style of riding from racing to backcountry adventuring.
Who It’s For: Gravel riders looking for all-around performance, comfort, and capability.
The story behind the name: Litespeed's original Ultimate road bike is the “ultimate benchmark” that all other titanium bikes are measured against, and it was reimagined for gravel as the Ultimate G2. The Ultimate line is where we developed the Superform SL titanium tubeset, which has been refined and perfected over the decades.
Litespeed Flint
- Frame Weight: 1,430-1,490 grams
- Geometry: Endurance
- Tire Clearance: 700c x 54mm
- BB: PF30 or T47
- Cables: Fully Integrated or Non-Integrated
The Litespeed Flint is the successor to our legendary Watia gravel bike. It’s designed to be the most capable titanium gravel bike in our line-up, with the most tire clearance and more relaxed geometry than the race-focused Toscano or Ultimate G2. This makes the Flint extremely versatile, and it’s the ideal tool for riders who want to tackle extremely rough terrain, explore singletrack trails, or go bikepacking.
The Flint is built around our Pure LW titanium tubeset. This more traditional round titanium tubeset is made from aerospace-grade 3AL/2.5V titanium that is formed, butted, and bent in-house just like our Superform tubes, and it prioritizes comfort and durability, while remaining competitively lightweight. This makes the Flint the best value when it comes to premium hand-built titanium gravel bikes.
Who It’s For: Gravel adventurers seeking the most comfort, capability, and value.
The story behind the name: The Flint is named after the Flint Hills of Emporia, Kansas, which plays host to the world's biggest gravel event, UNBOUND Gravel. The race and rough terrain are brutally tough and known for battering bodies and bikes.
