Velo City: Bicycle Culture and City Life

Alchemy x Blacksmith Cycle

Alchemy x Blacksmith Cycle

Canadians are very proud of their outdoor lifestyle and their sense of adventure, it’s always good to hear from the riders and their rides. Paul Keodprom is a wrench at a Toronto bike shop, Blacksmith Cycle, who recently built up his dream steel road frame, handmade by Colorado’s Alchemy Bikes.

Paul gives us the background: “As far as the story goes, I’m 36 years old, and like a lot of guys my age I grew up skateboarding and snowboarding, worked in those industries for a long time and basically destroyed my body doing so. About 10 years ago I started riding track bikes, starting with an IRO and getting more and more into the culture.

Alchemy x Blacksmith Cycle

“It was a pretty natural progression to move in to the bike industry and I started working at a local shop that was mostly commuter but with a lot of fixed gear and a solid local history. Eventually track led to road, and the road led me to work at Blacksmith Cycle in Toronto. Two years on and I have had the pleasure of building and riding some of the finest custom road bikes in the world: Baum, Passoni, Cyfac, IF, and of course Alchemy.

Alchemy x Blacksmith Cycle

“My previous bike was a Pegoretti Marcelo, and through all the carbon bikes I’ve ridden nothing has struck me like the feel of that steel. Having such a good relationship with Alchemy it made sense to move on to something that was made for me, with the personality of steel but a little racier.

What we came up with was a real Frankenstein blend of steel. Spirit top tube, Deda Penta down tube, KVA stainless seat tube, Life/Max rear stays. The bike has a 44mm head tube paired with an Enve 2.0 Fork, is BB30 with Super Record drive train. The brakes are by EE cycle works.

Alchemy x Blacksmith Cycle

“I started out with a full ENVE cockpit but a customer needed the bar off my bike so I went with the new 3T Tornova, which is all I ever really wanted out of a bar. The bike was painted by Noah Rosen at Velocolour in our shop livery, with graphics by Tobin Reid at Breadwinner Design.”

Paul’s good mate Viktor Cahoj is the local Toronto photographer, videographer and “amazing disco DJ” who we can thank for the shots of Paul’s Alchemy. Drop by Blacksmith Cycle if you’re in Toronto, I’m looking forward to seeing more beautiful bikes from Canada.