At the North American Handmade Bike Show in Sacramento, California, Canadian titanium frame builder No. 22 has unveiled its latest model. The Drifter X builds off the extremely popular Drifter gravel bike but offers a tweak in geometry that gives the rider a more aggressive position and some high-end touches.
“We’re expecting the Drifter X to be one of the most fun bikes in our lineup,” said Mike Smith, co-founder of No. 22 Bicycles. “It’s a bike that’s even sharper-handling than the current Drifter, and is crisp and fast on rough roads with a bit of handling edge that we find is missing from a lot of other gravel bikes.”
No. 22 Drifter X
The new frame gets more aggressive geometry thanks to a shorter wheelbase, lower stack height and tighter steering. No. 22 intend the frame to feel faster and more reactive on the road, while still retaining its gravel pedigree. The Drifter X still gives riders the opportunity to mount super wide 42 mm tires or fenders for the most adventurous rides.
No. 22 build their handmade titanium frames in Johnstown, N.Y. and are incorporating the very attractive tapered headtube with an integrated headset similar to the one that already graces the companies top-end Aurora and Reactor road frames onto the Drifter X. The frame will also get a single piece carbon or titanium seatmast finished with the companies custom seat topper. Like on the existing Drifter model, brake cables will be routed through the frame and it will use the T47 threaded bottom bracket.
No. 22 has garnered a lot of attention at NAHBS in recent years. In 2015, their Broken Arrow won Best Cyclocross Bike. Their success continued in 2017 with their best Campagnolo Equipped Reactor road bike. In 2018, they were presented with the Special Judges Exhibit Award and the People’s Choice Award.
The new No. 6 fork
No. 22’s detailed titanium anodizing
Which extends to matching the frame pump to the Drifter X colourway
Colour matched titanium anodized fenders
With the expected No. 22 detailing
Including very sharp fender mounts
Which, of course, are also colour matched to the frame and fender
No. 22’s bespoke seat mast topper
No. 6 forks
Announcing their new Drifter X model coincides with the launch of No. 6 forks. Like the frame company, which gets its name from the atomic number of titanium, No. 6 is titled after the atomic number for carbon.
The three models of carbon fibre forks the company are launching are a gravel fork designed to fit 45 mm tires on 700 wheels or 50 mm tires on 650b wheels. The road disc fork offers 38 mm of tire clearance while the road rim fork offers 30 mm of tire clearance. No. 6 forks are designed and tested in N.Y. and Canada but built by a manufacturing partner in Taiwan.
