Ooltewah, Tennessee – Litespeed Titanium, a boutique brand long known for its cutting edge frame technologies, this week announced the release of an all-new entry-level titanium frame called the Xicon (pronounced Zicon).

“Offering a full titanium, hand-built frameset with the Litespeed name on it, at a retail price point of $1599 - is just unheard of in our industry” said Peter Hurley, CEO of American Bicycle Group. “This is the kind of breakthrough that our dealers need right now and we’re excited to be able to provide it in the heart of the spring selling season. And the best news is that this is just the beginning. We have a lot more up our sleeves as we head into 2010.”

Through collaborations with NASA and the company’s membership in the International Titanium Association, the opportunity presented itself for Litespeed’s engineers to work with some of the premier titanium tubing producers in the world to develop new varieties of tubing. These partnerships have led to the creation a new bicycle frame that combines an exciting new material technology with 25 years of legendary fabrication expertise from Litespeed Titanium.

The new frame will feature oversized, tapered, and shaped 3AL/2.5V titanium tubing and an asymmetric, bi-planar chain stay. The technology employed is similar to the ground-breaking designs of the company’s flagship model – The Archon. The new frame will come in weighing 2.6 lbs and will be available in five semi-compact geometries. The new frame will also come packaged with a full carbon fork and headset and comes road-ready for all components ranging from Shimano 105 to Campagnolo Record. Complete race-ready bikes can be built for as low as $2495 MSRP.
True to the Litespeed heritage, every frame will be hand-crafted in the company’s Ooltewah, Tennessee factory and will carry the company’s standard lifetime warranty.