This titanium road and 'soft gravel' bike uses additive 3D printing - BikeRadar

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Angel Cycle Works has launched the Heaven, which costs between €9,600 and €17,300

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Published: January 12, 2023 at 11:57 am

The Angel Cycle Works Heaven is a titanium bike made with additive 3D printing, that is said to be suitable for road racing, sportives and “soft gravel”.

The Spanish brand, co-founded by architect and bicycle manufacturer José Angel Calabuig, and journalist and product developer Antonio del Pino, describes the Heaven as a “hyper bike”, with prices ranging from €9,600 to €17,300 through its customisation scheme.

Angel Cycle Works isn’t the first to make a titanium bike with additive 3D printing. Charge used 3D-printed dropouts as early as 2013, but the technology has seen something of a renaissance in the past 12 months with the release of the Reilly Fusion and Moots Vamoots CRD.

Manual welding and 3D printing

Angel Cycle Works says 3D printing means it can use a press-fit bottom bracket without creaking.

Angel Cycle Works

Angel Cycle Works has used a mix of manual welding and 3D printing in the production of the Heaven.

The company says combining welded tubes with 3D-printed lugs enables it to minimise the amount of material used in the bike.

Angel Cycle Works hasn’t provided exact claimed weights, but it does say it has shaved roughly 400g off a typical 1,600g titanium frame.

3D printing is also said to improve contact between the frame and headset bearings for better alignment.

This is also the case at the bottom bracket. Angel Cycle Works says its 3D-printed titanium “will never budge a micron”, which enables it to use a press-fit bottom bracket without the risk of creaks developing.

If Angel Cycle Works is to be believed, then maybe 3D printing facilitates Simon von Bromley’s bottom bracket Platonic ideal.

Adjustable chainstays

The Heaven features adjustable chainstays, shifting it from a road bike to a gravel machine.

Angel Cycle Works

Unusually, you can adjust the length of the Heaven’s chainstays via two thru-axle dropouts.

Called the HD adapter, or ‘Heaven Door adapter’, the design enables riders to vary the geometry of the bike, extending the chainstays from 400mm to 425mm.

This is done to increase tyre clearance. You can either fit 700x30mm road bike tyres or 700x38mm gravel bike tyres, depending on which setting you use.

Paired with the clearance in the fork, this is what enables the Heaven to be used as either a race bike or “soft gravel bike” (even if 38mm tyres on a gravel bike are conservative by today’s standards).

Angel Cycle Works says the HD adapter enables you to use 140mm or 160mm disc brake rotors in either position.

Angel Cycle Works Heaven geometry

Integration and hidden hardware

The stem can be made to custom lengths.

Angel Cycle Works

Angel Cycle Works uses a specific stem for the Heaven, which enables it to run cables and hoses internally.

It claims the design has a level of rigidity and resistance that is often only matched by heavier designs.

The stem is offered in carbon or aluminium and is available in any custom length through Angel Cycle Works’ customisation programme.

Carbon seat mast

The Angel Cycle Works Heaven seatpost topper features the brand’s logo.

Angel Cycle Works.

The Heaven uses a 27.2mm carbon seatpost, which is held in place by a concealed seat clamp. This is, in turn, held in place via a bolt on the underside of the top tube.

Rather than having a saddle clamp integrated into the carbon post, Angel Cycle Works has opted to fit a 3D-printed titanium seatpost topper. This topper provides 5cm of adjustment.

Angel Cycle Works says you can switch its combination of parts out for a conventional seatpost if you desire.

Customisation

The Heaven is available with fully painted frames.

Angel Cycle Works

Angel Cycle Works offers a customisation programme through its website, which has been updated to coincide with the Heaven’s launch.

Alongside component choice, the brand offers cosmetic changes such as anodisation and full paintjobs.

Any paintwork adds to the overall price of the Heaven, with component painting costing €100 and a fully painted frame €600.

Stan Portus is BikeRadar’s content editor. Stan works on everything from content strategy and breaking news to evergreen updates and long-form features on environmental and social issues in cycling. Stan started working in the bike industry in 2018, writing content for some of the sport's biggest brands, including Chris King, ENVE and Castelli. He has worked as a freelance writer and journalist for over seven years writing reviews, essays and interviews for many art, design and literature publications. A road cyclist at heart, he can be found zooming along the lanes and roads of the South West and undertaking foolhardy pursuits such as overnight audax rides.