JOSH ROSS OF VELO REVIEWS THE LITESPEED COLL DELS REIS
The Coll dels Reis stands alone as the world's lightest disc-brake titanium road bike. With our most advanced Superform tubing and an intense manufacturing process, it represents the pinnacle of titanium climbing bikes. But it isn't just a technological showcase. The Coll dels Reis is also designed to make you fall in love. It's a bike that you choose with your heart, as much as your head. Or, as Josh Ross puts it, "the Litespeed Coll dels Reis is about choosing something different, something unique."
Ross has spent half a year aboard his Coll dels Reis. At the end of 2025, he actually nominated the Coll dels Reis for Velo's Bike of the Year, and now, he's published a full review. Check out his review video below, plus an excerpt from the written review where he describes what it's like to ride the world's lightest titanium bike.
Excerpt from "What It’s Like Riding the Lightest Metal Bike You Can Buy" by Velo:
Litespeed Coll dels Reis ride experience
I ride a lot of bikes and they differ in material, concept, and purpose but more and more I find that there’s one constant to a good bike. That constant is flex.
Obviously there’s a balancing act there. You don’t want a wet noodle of a frame but you also don’t want something that’s too stiff. Getting that just right is where the magic happens. When a company nails that balance, that’s when a frame becomes truly extraordinary. The Litespeed Coll dels Reis nails that balance.
The thing about me saying that is you expect it. This is a high-end titanium frame and that’s exactly what titanium is known for. It’s not quite what you expect though.
Titanium has a reputation as a more flexible material compared to carbon but that’s strictly a choice. The stiffness of both materials is highly dependent on the choices a designer makes and in this case there’s virtually no difference. The Litespeed Coll dels Reis is a performance bike and, as such, it’s similarly stiff to carbon bikes in this same class. What’s different is where Litespeed has created flex and how the rider feels that.
Photo: Josh Ross/Velo
The Coll dels Reis uses complex tube shaping to get the flex where you want it and remove it where you don’t. That starts with removing it where you don’t and that’s where the oversized downtube comes in. The increased weld area at the bottom bracket resists twisting inherent in the pedaling motion. It also ties the headtube and bottom bracket together into a single piece that can better resist twisting as you push and pull on the pedals and bars.
Then Litespeed adds flex where you want it. With the lower part of the bike stabilized now it’s time for the upper to shine. Using that squared off top tube keeps it from twisting but moving to a round shape in the center creates a flex point there. It essentially creates a solid foundation then adds spring that really makes the bike pop. The inherent spring of titanium only enhances that feeling.
That’s not the end of the story though. The geometry is also a clever supporting character here. Litespeed is still selling a performance bike and there’s a long and low feel that’s tempered just a bit with a tiny bit longer chainstay (415mm) and slightly longer wheelbase (as compared to all-out race bikes).
The result is a beautifully balanced bike. The geometry makes it feel planted and predictable while the frame design adds a snap. It never feels slow or overly upright and it’s a beautiful descender.
The precision of the Enve wheels is also another supporting character. Those wheels have that same feeling of balanced stiffness and flex and just absolutely disappear under the bike. Everything feels like it moves as one.
Photo: Josh Ross/Velo
Then there’s the fact that the Coll dels Reis is so light. Often when a titanium bike is just right it comes with a caveat that it’s a bit heavier. It comes with the territory and while it’s typically worth the trade off the offer here is simply that there’s no trade off. I won’t pretend that small differences in weight matters a ton but all things being equal, light bikes feel fantastic and the Coll dels Reis is among the lightest I have ridden. The rest of the details are more important but weight is a detail you can forget about here because there’s no concession.
When you wrap all this together, this is the bike I’d describe if I’m describing a concept of what makes a good bike. And if I look at my rides this summer, I can see that reflected. This isn’t the technically fastest bike I had available to me but it’s a bike I continued to grab over and over for long rides and short rides. The combination of all the details creates a package that I just find myself gushing over.
