Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Hand Crafted Bicycles

While in Tennessee I visited American Bicycle Group - best known for Merlin, Litespeed and Quintana Roo bicycles.

The facility in Ooltewah, TN is home to the Litespeed and Merlin titanium production lines.

This is Robbie McEwen's Litespeed from the Tour de France a few years back.

Drill bits.

I was amazed at the process of taking raw materials to end product, which really is a hand-made titanium bike. The ability to customize each frame was amazing. And the attention to even the smallest details made me realize if you ride a Merlin or Litespeed titanium bike, you really do own not only a well made machine, but also a work of art.