Titanium is a wondrous metal, discovered in Cornwall in 1791 by William Gregor and named after the Titans of Greek mythology. Among its many uses, it makes for a superb bicycle frame, proved by Germany’s Matthias Jeschke and his VELOCiPEDO bikes.
VELOCiPEDO is based in Halle (Saale), a city in the east of Germany on the Saale River. Matthias is a qualified car mechanic and designer, who has been riding and wrenching on bikes for over thirty years.
The bikes produced by VELOCiPEDO exemplify the attributes of titanium: brushed and sandblasted finishes, welded with precise beads and produced in limited numbers of ten to twenty-five. The GenTIeman model also shows off Matthias’ eye for design.
The GenTIeman is a stylish road warrior constructed from Grade 9 3AL/2,5V multi-butted titanium tubes, married to a high modulus carbon fork. Matthias designs these frames himself, and the GenTIeman is limited to only fifteen pieces.
It’s available as a frameset or as a complete bike. As shown, with Campagnolo Record groupset and Lightweight Meilenstein tubular wheels, the price is €9,450 (incl. VAT and shipping in EU), or with a Campagnolo BORA ULTRA clincher: €8,700.
Matthias designs all the polished graphics on the frame himself — not to mention taking the photos of them — and it becomes obvious he has a great passion for his work. By the way — ‘Velocipedo’ is the Esperanto word for ‘bicycle’.