LITESPEED JOINS ADAPTIVE CYCLISTS AND THE CHALLENGED ATHLETES FOUNDATION
We’re proud to announce that Litespeed is partnering with the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF), one of the largest organizations in the world supporting athletes with physical disabilities. We are now a preferred bicycle supplier partner for CAF, and this collaboration reflects a shared belief that the right equipment can remove barriers, create opportunity, and help athletes return to movement, competition, and community through sport.
To celebrate this new partnership, the Litespeed team traveled to one of CAF’s signature events: Mountain Bike Apex Weekend in Boise, Idaho. This is one of the largest gatherings of adaptive mountain bikers in the world, and it gave us the opportunity to meet para athletes and learn what equipment the adaptive cycling community needs to grow and thrive.
Inspired by Bold Custom Projects
Litespeed developed and built the Curiosity Rover's titanium legs. Photo: NASA
In the world of titanium framebuilding, Litespeed is unmatched. We have the tooling and machinery to custom form the world’s most advanced titanium tubesets. We have an engineering team completely dedicated to product development and testing, plus builders with the most experience in the industry. Custom titanium is ingrained into Litespeed’s DNA.
Our titanium manufacturing abilities aren’t just limited to bikes either. NASA sought our expertise and commissioned us to develop the critical titanium legs for the Curiosity Mars Rover. Components that we built are literally on Mars right now! Bold projects like this are what inspire our team to continue pushing the envelope. This is ultimately what led to our partnership with CAF.
Chris Nikic's custom titanium triathlon bike, built by Litespeed.
Last year, Litespeed designed a fully-custom titanium triathlon bike (with Quintana Roo branding) for Chris Nikic, the first athlete with Down syndrome to finish an IRONMAN triathlon. It was built to help accommodate Nikic’s needs in transition when mounting and starting on the bike. This year, we are working on a custom titanium-framed wheelchair for Drew Davis and Josh Wagner, the record holders for the youngest disabled IRONMAN duo in the world.
Drew Davis and Josh Wagner at IRONMAN Texas.
For us, Davis’ words about why he competes resonated: “It’s about proving that a chair isn’t a limitation, it’s a weapon. It’s about showing kids who’ve been counted out that you can chase the dream everyone said was impossible.” This is the perfect example of the ‘why’ behind our desire to build custom titanium bikes and components for adaptive athletes. Now, with CAF, we hope to work on more bold custom projects that can empower even more athletes.
Discovering New Challenges in the Adaptive Space
CAF’s Mountain Bike Apex Weekend was an incredible and eye-opening experience for us. The event is one of, if not the largest, gatherings of adaptive mountain bikers in the world, with over 100 adaptive riders in attendance. Many of these riders require recumbent or prone adaptive bikes or handcycles with motorized assistance. Obviously, Litespeed doesn’t build one of these (yet), so we arrived in Boise with nothing to show.
Our mission at this event was not to promote a product, but to learn as much as possible. We are newcomers to the adaptive space, and want to meet as many riders, builders, and engineers as possible to understand where we might fit in. Everyone welcomed us immediately, and we quickly discovered how amazing the adaptive riding community is. Every single person is unique, and so are their needs, and this is even more true for para athletes.
What we did come away with is an understanding of a few universal principles. First, cost is a major hurdle. Adaptive bikes can be more expensive than even most high-end race bikes. Second, fit is a primary concern. For any athlete, proper fit unlocks their riding abilities. Any piece of equipment that doesn’t fit well or support your body properly can hold you back, but this is especially true when you’re an adaptive athlete. Third, many adaptive bikes suffer from issues with repairs and part availability.
Finally, bikes, in all their forms, are simply beautiful. Countless riders told us how adaptive bikes have transformed their lives. These machines give them freedom, community, and joy. A paraplegic athlete moved us to tears when she explained that riding her bike was the only time she would forget that she was paralyzed.
After speaking and riding with so many inspiring athletes, we came away with plenty of ideas. The seeds are planted, and we need to cultivate them to find out what grows. Watch this space, because we hope to do interesting things.
A Call to Action
Professor Noel Joyce.
Building adaptive equipment is all about access. Through our partnership with CAF, we want to give everyone the opportunity to experience the freedom, community, and joy of riding a bike. That is the mission.
Project Mjolnir.
One of the most inspiring people we met on our trip was Noel Joyce, a New York University professor and the man behind Project Mjolnir. (plus, he’s a Litespeed fan!) He and his students designed and built an open-source adaptive mountain bike with modular capabilities, providing a platform for adaptive riders that is upgradeable over time and cost-effective.
Tubing and machined components for Project Mjolnir.
Project Mjolnir is a bike we need to study. The plans for the bike are freely available, and it can be fabricated by any machine shop. Potentially, we could build our own using titanium, though that would change the cost equation drastically. Ultimately, we also hope to work with Joyce and other passionate adaptive riders and engineers on similar projects in the future.
If we can build a Mars rover, we can do anything. So if you or someone you know is interested in working with us on a custom bike, please reach out! Litespeed is currently interested in making custom upright bikes and e-bikes for adaptive athletes, but is also interested in experimenting with recumbent, prone, and handcycle designs, too.
