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Fairlight Cycles Strael 2.0 unveiled - steel disc-equipped road bike revised for 2018

Fairlight has updated its popular Strael steel road bike with a new fork, thru-axles and lots of new builds

British company Fairlight Cycles has just dropped news of its updated Strael 2.0, the successor to its debut steel disc-equipped road bike that we were so highly impressed with earlier this year. You can refresh yourself on that review here, before reading all about its replacement below. 

The Strael is pitched as an all season bike, one that is perfectly suited to UK cyclists and our typical riding conditions. It’s an elegant steel frame designed specifically around disc brakes, with clearance for wide tyres and mudguards, there are even rack mounts for a spot of touring or Audaxing if the idea of bikepacking is all a bit too hipster trendy for you.

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The Strael 2.0 keeps many of the solid foundations laid down by the original but brings forth a number of updates that will be appreciated by anyone looking for a new bike to kick off their 2018 cycling year. Starting with a new carbon fibre fork that is now 12mm thru-axle and flat mount compatible, bringing the bike into line with what is now commonly accepted as standard on all new disc brake road bikes. We've come a long way in a few short years...

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This new fork, called the Anraed, is based on the same mould as the original, but the steerer tube length has been increased by 40mm allowing the addition of a 61 Tall frame to be added to the range. Tall people rejoice. There’s still clearance for 28mm tyres with mudguards or 33mm without ‘guards. It retains the useful dynamo mount and proper mudguard eyelets, so no bending mudguard stays here. The fork weighs 415g without an axle and 330mm steeerer tube. 

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Moving onto the frame, Fairlight Cycles has kept the same Reynolds tubeset as the original except for a new headtube, which has been slimmed down. Each headtube is CNC machined from a solid lump of Reynolds steel, and every tube in the frame is made by Reynolds in Birmingham. 

FAIRLIGHT 2018 Strael Frameset 58151.jpg

The big update is in the new dropouts. To develop them, Fairlight partnered with Bentley Components to create brand new dropouts that are thru-axle and flat mount ready. It’s a design they have been developing since 2015, and uses laser cut steel plates with a CNC machined brake mount and turned stainless steel inserts. They look exceptionally well thought through. Is it possible to get excited about a dropout?

FAIRLIGHT 2018 Strael Mech Detail 58079.jpg

Attempting to easily cater for the various groupsets on the market at the moment, Fairlight has opted for simple bolt-on plastic guides that use a single bottle boss and the Di2 hole for a mechanical groupset, while an electronic groupset leaves just a single bottle boss for a very clean appearance. Fairlight says the modular port approach favoured by some companies results in extra weight because of the braze-on reinforcements that are necessary.

The new Strael retains the proportional geometry of the original. It’s a concept that aims to address the fact that there are differences in body proportions, so it offers a regular and tall version of each frame size. Regular is lower and longer or people with short legs and long backs, while Tall is higher and shorter for people with longer legs and a shorter back. To help you decide on the correct size there’s a handy Fit Guide Tool on the company’s website.

There are new colour choices too. The putty colour remains, a popular one with road.cc readers, and it’ll be joined by a new colour that won’t be announced until later this month. Ooh, you tease Dom…

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Those are the new details covered, what’s it going to cost you to buy this new bike you might be wondering? Well, Fairlight is offering five Shimano builds from 105 to Dura-Ace Di2 and two SRAM 1x builds, Force and Rival. A Shimano 105 build will cost £1,999, Ultegra is £2,599, Ultegra Di2 is £3,399, Dura-Ace is £3,499 and Dura-Ace Di2 is TBC. Choose SRAM Force 1x for £2,599 and Rival 1x for £1,999.

Fairlight is offering early bird discounting which knocks £200-400 off the price.  Each build is also offered with a Hope headset and seatclamp upgrade for £40, as well as a host of other upgrades including various Hunt wheels and Conti and Vittoria tyres. You can also buy the frameset for £999, or an early bird price is £899.

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The new bike is a smidgen lighter, mainly due to the new dropouts and headtube. We're told the weight for a 54R Strael with Ultegra comes in at  8.97kg. 

The new bike is expected in mid-January and stock will be allocated on a first come, first served basis, with a £500 deposit securing a bike. Check out the website for more info https://fairlightcycles.com. We've got one coming our way soon for a review, so be sure to stay tuned for that.

David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes

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20 comments

Avatar
kil0ran | 6 years ago
0 likes

If only they did a rim-braked version of the Strael. Ultra-lightweight challenger to the Fratello

Avatar
mista-tee | 6 years ago
0 likes

Only just noticed this review of the mk2.  I bought the mk1 Strael last April for my 17mile commute and it has been out pretty much twice a week since.  It was hard work finding a bike with hydraulic discs, mudguard mounts and the right geometry/spec.  I can't be the only one that wants a quality fast bike for a commute in all weathers.

The guys at Fairlight/Swift were really helpful, giving me the choice of wheels, chainring size, cassette and speccing things like the stem and headset to match the geometry of my previous bike.  They also let me buy it without tyres as I they didn't have the schwalbes that I wanted.

In the end I got the 58R (I'm 6'2") with 50/34 11-32 shimano 105 and the Hunt 4S wheels and fitted some SKS chromoplastic mudguards and tubeless 28mm Schwalbe Pro One tyres.  In black with the blue Hope headset and seat clamp it looks great (though not so much at the moment as it is getting caked in crud on most rides). 

It is a pleasure to ride on the mix of fast descents, undulating country road and a monster climb.  The 28mm tubless at 80psi are so much nicer than my 23s at 100. There is no way I would go back from discs now.  I ride in all weathers so being able to actually brake in the pouring rain makes a refreshing change.  I'll gloss over the ocaisonal squeeling from the discs.  Strangely I also found the rear shifting far smoother than with the Ultegra on my other bike.  Having externally routed cables and a threaded bottom bracket should make for much easier servicing.

All in, really happy with my Strael.  For a winter bike, commuter or all rounder you can't go wrong.

Avatar
mattcycles | 6 years ago
0 likes

@srchar

A good mate of mone has the Mason and loves it. The Strael is much more competitively priced though and I liked the notion of a European build rather than Far East

Avatar
srchar | 6 years ago
1 like

Great stuff, the rather industrial dropouts of the old frame have made way for far more elegant items.

I'm slimming down my bike collection to just one. It needs to replace a Cotic Roadrat, Kinesis T3 and Cervelo R5 to do everything from commuting on bad roads and towpaths to continental gran fondos. Shortlist is Strael now the dropouts have been sorted (yes I'm shallow), Mason Definition and the new Bowman, which I've yet to properly check out.

I've test ridden a Strael but couldn't sort out a Mason - anyone ridden both and care to comment?

Avatar
ChancerOnABike replied to srchar | 6 years ago
0 likes

srchar wrote:

I've test ridden a Strael but couldn't sort out a Mason - anyone ridden both and care to comment?

Stu Kerton - check out the reviews of both bikes on this site

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mattcycles | 6 years ago
0 likes

Mine is ordered - just waiting on the surprise colour!

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Ogi | 7 years ago
0 likes

@Dom

I wanted to push matter further with some funny metaphores including (1995 Italian lady vs. 2017 British lady)...but in this day and age, super slippery slope...I would be convicted of many *isms. I kept my mouth shut :).

Glad I made you laugh - albeit not far from truth:).

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gonedownhill | 7 years ago
0 likes

 

"the addition of a 61 Tall frame to be added to the range. Tall people rejoice."

 

Almost enough to make this tall person want his Crosslight to get nicked so he can put the insurance money toward one.

 

 

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Ogi | 7 years ago
0 likes

If it wasn't for my lovely Master, Strael would be the one :).

Just to tell everyone how high I think of this frame. Sure. much different prospect to 1995 Italian racing steel frame.

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DomThomas replied to Ogi | 7 years ago
0 likes

Ogi wrote:

If it wasn't for my lovely Master, Strael would be the one :).

Just to tell everyone how high I think of this frame. Sure. much different prospect to 1995 Italian racing steel frame.

This made me smile. Thankyou!

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John_S | 7 years ago
1 like

This is a gorgeous looking bike from a British company and I hope that this bike does well for them!

I like the fact that they are offering differing geometries with a tall version.

This is a real N+1 to droll over!

 

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matthewn5 | 7 years ago
0 likes

Nice... the perfect winter bike?

*googles Campag disk groupsets*

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jerome | 7 years ago
1 like

Unfortunately there is no size for people with normal legs and back.

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DomThomas replied to jerome | 7 years ago
1 like

jerome wrote:

Unfortunately there is no size for people with normal legs and back.

Hi Jerome, Dom from Fairlgiht here. Our bikes are designed to fit everyone but we are also able to cover more of each extreme becuase we have two headtube lengths rather than one. For a given height we can provide a good fit for approx 90% of people, where as with a single sized headtube it would be about 60%.  So put simply you are more 'likely' to be able to achieve your correct set up on a Fairlght than you are on a brand with standard sizing. We have 10 sizes within the same size range (e.g. 50-60 or 51-56) where most brands have 5.

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Rich_cb | 7 years ago
2 likes

Everything I want on a bike right there. N+1…

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part_robot | 7 years ago
4 likes

It's too cheap. What's wrong with it? (Apart from the weight; a sub 8kg build looks challenging...)

But seriously; steel, hydraulic, external cables, mudguards... What's not to love?

Avatar
DomThomas replied to part_robot | 7 years ago
0 likes

part_robot wrote:

It's too cheap. What's wrong with it? (Apart from the weight; a sub 8kg build looks challenging...)

But seriously; steel, hydraulic, external cables, mudguards... What's not to love?

Hi part_robot. Im glad it ticks a lot of boxes for you. Regarding the price, we sell direct and we pass that saving on to the customer. If we were selling through dealers and had another margin to add then the price for a frameset would be nearer to £1500.  More design for your money. 

Avatar
Luv2ride | 7 years ago
3 likes

Probably my perfect bike right there, especially in the "putty" colourway.  Love it...

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BehindTheBikesheds replied to Luv2ride | 7 years ago
0 likes
Luv2ride wrote:

Probably my perfect bike right there, especially in the "putty" colourway.  Love it...

Ihad a Peugeot Super Competition in that off white about 10 years back, orange decals, lovely clean lines, it was lovely to look at. As usual all the best looking bikes from yesteryear I could never find bigger than a 21.5"/22" without splashing a shed load.
It does look a fine bike.

Avatar
kil0ran | 7 years ago
3 likes

Bloomin' lovely, but then I'm a biased Faran owner. 

At the time I was torn between the Strael & the Faran and went with the Faran for the greater clearance with guards. Now I have a voice in my head telling me to buy this as a dry best bike and keep the Faran as a gravel/wet/commuting bike

 

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