Beautiful Bicycle: A Firey Time ADHX 45

In an era where dark, muted paint schemes dominate, it’s refreshing to see brands fully embrace color, and TIME is no exception. With metallic greens, blues, oranges, and reds to choose from, this customer went bold, selecting a fiery scheme TIME calls “Vertical Red.” A deep candy apple red fades into orange before giving way to raw gloss carbon weave near the top of the frame, creating a striking contrast that highlights the craftsmanship of the ADHX 45.

TIME makes their frames in a unique way. The carbon sock slides over the wax mold to create the frame, then skilled hands thread and knit the layers together. This process results in some of the best tolerances, looks, and quality of any frame we carry. This colorway showcases that as the raw carbon pushes through the red and orange like ashes rising from a flame.

The TIME ADHX is built to be a quiver killer, with two sets of wheels and a comfortable geometry. With the pulling of the axles, this frame goes from being a gravel ripper to an endurance road bike in moments, based on the wheels that are put on the bike. This is something more unique to this frame based on its geometry. A lot of modern gravel bikes have been getting what is often referred to as “The MTB treatment.” This means longer wheelbases, slacker head angles, longer reaches, and shorter stems. The ENVE MOG, Santa Cruz Stigmata, SCOTT Addict Gravel, and Mondraker Arid are all great examples of this. While there certainly is a place for these geometries, and they make sense, they are a more specific use case. The TIME ADHX 45 has the tire clearance of a true gravel bike, but its geometry is still more in line with what you would expect from an endurance road bike (albeit with a slightly slacker head tube and longer chainstays). This means having two sets of wheels for this bike and using it as a road bike as well is a great option.

Wanting to do gravel and road with equal prowess, weight and comfort are of equal importance, and there are some tricks on this bike to help. The seat post is an Ergon CF Allroad post, which uses a leaf spring-style design to have a slight “travel” to it to reduce bumps and rider fatigue. While this is not a dropper or true suspension seat post, it helps a lot. And it only adds 25-30g over a 400mm long ENVE post in the same diameter—barely a weight penalty. The handlebar on this bike is a Coefficient All Road Handlebar, which also helps. With a backward sweep to normalize reach in the hoods and a slight flare, this bar increases comfort for those long days. And like every other TIME, this frame is built around high-quality Dyneema fiber, which is known for its comfort levels.

Spinning around on a “mullet” drivetrain, this bike uses a mixture of SRAM Force and GX AXS shifting with an MTB rear cassette. Lots of range, maybe a little fewer small jumps. ENVE AG25 gravel wheels with Schwalbe G-One Allround tires for those rougher, more dirt-heavy rides. Then, for those road days, ENVE Foundation 45 wheels with Pirelli Cinturato tires help with some extra rim depth and a slicker tire.