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About Litespeed
Litespeed was founded in 1986 in Ooltewah, Tennessee, after David Lynskey built a titanium bike for himself to spare his knees. The family’s machine shop, Southeast Associates, had supplied aerospace-grade alloys to industry since the 1960s, so the metallurgy came before the bikes. The brand debuted at the 1987 Long Beach Bike Show and built its name on hand-welded 3AL/2.5V titanium frames.
Racing made the reputation. Through the 1990s and 2000s, Litespeed titanium frames were raced at the Tour de France, sometimes rebadged under other brands’ decals, and the Vortex became one of the most recognized titanium race bikes of its era. The program collected WorldTour stage wins and a points-classification green jersey at the sport’s highest level.
Today Litespeed operates under the American Bicycle Group in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where every frame is still cut, welded, and finished by hand in-house. The current lineup is all titanium and spans road, gravel, and hardtail mountain bikes, from the sub-1,000-gram Coll dels Reis climbing frame to the trail-focused Pinhoti III. For 2026, Litespeed introduced multi-color finishes combining anodization, Cerakote, and raw titanium across the range.
Most popular Litespeed models
Every Litespeed is built from cold-worked, cycling-specific titanium tubing, hand-welded in Chattanooga and backed by a lifetime frame warranty. The range splits cleanly across road, gravel, and trail, with most platforms offered as a frameset or a complete build, and full internal routing on the FI trims.
The road family runs from the Cherohala and Arenberg fit-and-comfort builds up through the race-oriented Ultimate and Spezia to the Coll dels Reis, the lightest titanium disc-brake road frame the company has ever made. Gravel is where titanium’s ride quality shows best: the Flint, Ultimate G2, and Toscano clear wide tires and pair with modern gravel suspension forks. The Pinhoti III hardtail brings the same 3AL/2.5V tubing to singletrack. A hand-built titanium frame routinely outlasts the homeowner’s policy meant to cover it and carries a replacement value those policies frequently cap below, which is where stand-alone road bike insurance from Velosurance fills the gap.
The crown jewel and the lightest titanium disc-brake road frame Litespeed has ever built, with sub-1,000-gram frames sized for the highest mountains.
The lightweight Superform-tubed disc race bike and successor to the legendary T1sl, tuned for the highest stiffness-to-weight in the line.
The all-around performance road bike, balancing race-ready stiffness with the all-day ride quality titanium is known for.
The endurance road platform built around fit and comfort, with clearance and geometry suited to long miles and rough pavement.
The most accessible way into a handcrafted titanium road bike, also offered in a Cherohala City build for paved commutes and fitness rides.
The do-it-all titanium gravel bike with wide tire clearance, ready for mixed-surface adventure and modern gravel suspension forks.
The race-focused gravel platform, pairing a stiffer Superform tubeset with the clearance and stability of a modern gravel bike.
The premium adventure gravel bike, built for big days and bikepacking on the roughest unpaved terrain.
The titanium hardtail trail bike, with a CNC-machined asymmetric dropped chainstay yoke and trail geometry for confident descending and light climbing.
Why Velosurance is best for your Litespeed
Velosurance is a stand-alone policy that covers theft and accidental damage and can be optioned to create a comprehensive umbrella of protection for your cycling lifestyle.
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