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Video Just In: Fairlight Cycles Strael, a disc-equipped steel all-season road bike

A first look at the newest British bike brand and its all-season Strael disc road bike

Having only launched about a month ago, it’s unlikely you’ve heard of Fairlight Cycles. The new British bike brand has launched with two disc-equipped steel road bikes and we’ve just received the Strael for review, a model which combines a Reynolds 853 steel frame with the company’s own carbon fibre fork and, in this £2,399 build, a Shimano Ultegra groupset with hydraulic disc brakes and Hunt wheels. 

Fairlight Strael.jpg

The Strael is pitched as an all-season road bike. There’s clearance for up to 30mm tyres with mudguards, 32mm without, and disc brakes using the flat mount standard and regular quick releases. The bottom bracket is externally threaded and the cables are routed outside of the frame. The front triangle of the frame is made from Reynolds 853 tubing, with a ProTeam down tube, custom tapered skinny top tube and 44mm ring-reinforced head tube. The rear triangle is made of Reynolds 725 and 631 tubing with quick release dropouts. The company has developed its own carbon fibre fork, with internal brake hose routing, mudguard, rack and dynamo mounts, and a quick release axle. 

Fairlight Strael - drivetrain.jpg

Fairlight is offering a choice of Shimano builds, starting with 105 at £1,849 and rising to Dura-Ace for £2,999. We’ve plumped for the mid-pack offering, an Ultegra mechanical build with hydraulic brakes, costing £2,399, which is also built with Hunt 4 Season wheels shod with Continental Gatorskin 28mm tyres. Finishing kit is a combination of a Fabric saddle and FSA Gossamer Compact handlebar, stem and SL-K carbon seatpost. Weight on the scales is 9.1kg (20lb). 

Fairlight Strael - top tube .jpg

The designer behind the bikes has pedigree. Dom Thomas used to be the designer at Genesis Bikes with the development of the Volare steel race bike one of his standout contributions to the UK cycling market. And with Fairlight, he has applied all his expertise with steel into the Strael. It’s a beautifully made bike and packed with thoughtful design details.

“The Strael is a road bike, it's designed to be a fast 'point to point' charger. It has race bike angles and has 'as short a wheelbase as we could justify' while still being able to accommodate mudguards and a rack for light touring duties,” says Dom Thomas. 

Something that sets Fairlight apart is the Proportional Geometry it has developed. In recognising that people come in all shapes and sizes, it offers each frame size with a choice of regular or tall geometry. So if you have long legs and a short torso you’ll be better off with the tall geometry and its higher and shorter shape, whereas the regular geometry suits those cyclists with shorter legs and a longer back. It has developed a Fit Calculator to allow potential customers to input their numbers, whether from a Retul bike fit, position details from an existing bike or a measurement guide, to find the right geometry.

Fairlight Strael - headtube.jpg

Dom Thomas describes it as a way of separating bike fit from the way the bike rides. “The way a bike fits is defined by its stack and reach,” says Dom. “The way the bike handles is defined by its angles and wheelbase. Most bikes currently only offer a low fit position with racy handling (a race bike) or an upright fit position with slower handling (a sportive bike)," he says. 

“The problem with this is if your body shape dictates that you have to have a higher front end to the bike then effectively you're forced into riding a slow handling sportive bike. This isn't the case if you separate fitment from handling. Obviously, this isn't really a new idea. Bikes have been custom built for many years and Trek use different fitment systems already. We just think this is the right way to go for the rider. They are the engine after all," he adds.

Fairlight Strael - frame decal.jpg

- 15 of the best steel road bikes and frames

The disc-equipped, steel-framed, market is a competitive place these days, and there are some well-established brands. Genesis Bikes, for instance, offers the classic Equilibrium Disc 30 with a Reynolds 725 frame and Shimano Ultegra build kit for £1,999. 

Fairlight Strael - cable route.jpg

Also built from Reynolds 853 is the Kona Roadhouse which we tested this year and also ticks the boxes an all-season road bike. It’s one of the few steel road bikes to be equipped with thru-axles at both ends, but the 2017 Ultegra build costs £3,499 which is a lot more than the Strael. 

Another obvious rival is the Mason Resolution, another British designed steel bike packing disc brakes, and it’s a bike that has reviewed well at road.cc in the past. It uses a Columbus tubeset, a combination of Spirit and Life tubing with many custom profiles, and the company’s own carbon fork with a thru-axle. A similar Ultegra/Hunt build to the Strael we’ve got costs £3,395.

More at http://fairlightcycles.com/

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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15 comments

Avatar
mark_m | 7 years ago
0 likes

@davearthur

Took one of these for a test ride last week. Rather taken by it, but curious to know your thoughts. Any chance of the review appearing soon?

Cheers

Mark

Avatar
matthewn5 | 7 years ago
1 like

That looks great! Love to know the geometry, but it looks right.

Avatar
DomThomas replied to matthewn5 | 7 years ago
0 likes

matthewn5 wrote:

That looks great! Love to know the geometry, but it looks right.

Thankyou matthewn5, glad you like it. The full geometry data for all 9 sizes is on our website. 

Avatar
Peowpeowpeowlasers | 7 years ago
0 likes

Nice looking frame.  Why the seatpost clamp and not a more typical slot+lug?

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Ogi | 7 years ago
0 likes

@Ian

105 Groupset could add in the area of 200-300g. Wheels are different beast...for example, Aksium Discs would add 500g relative to Hunts 4season (I thin they are around 1550g).

So ye, 105G + cheaper wheels = 500-700g.

O

Avatar
IanEdward | 7 years ago
0 likes

Quote:

Ritchey Road Logic.

Not really like for like though is it, the Road Logic is rim brake only with space for up to 28c tyres, the Strael is disc brake with space for 32s.

Despite this I'm still interested in weight, don't know how much weight the 105 version gains, a cheaper groupset and wheels hopefully wouldn't add much more than 0.5kg?

 

Avatar
Ogi | 7 years ago
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As in the previous post, I must confirm I love the Strael. I repeat my comment of it sounding  something like a cross between Volare Disc (non-existent) and Equilibrium Disc (which I currently own in R725 guise).

I'm in love with my Equilibrium and I'm sure I would love this one too. I'm salivating on that headtube with orange Hope headset...

@Dom,

Ideas for the future could be literally Volare Disc version - without the PF BB of course. Also, if you could put 953 in the mix :):):).

Also, any promotional free giveaways of the frame? :):):)

Keep the good work! 

Avatar
Dicklexic | 7 years ago
0 likes

Looks really good and personally I think good value too. All it needs is some tubeless tyres instead of the conti's fitted.

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CXR94Di2 | 7 years ago
0 likes

I will be looking at the Faran frameset for my son for Christmas.  Might need to wait a little while as he still growing taller than me, ha

Regarding colours, will Fairlight be expanding the range?  I like the purple, but would like a few more options.   Or a bare frame option?

 

Avatar
DomThomas replied to CXR94Di2 | 7 years ago
0 likes

CXR94Di2 wrote:

I will be looking at the Faran frameset for my son for Christmas.  Might need to wait a little while as he still growing taller than me, ha

Regarding colours, will Fairlight be expanding the range?  I like the purple, but would like a few more options.   Or a bare frame option?

 

Im sure your son will enjoy a Faran. We will expand the range of bikes in the future but it is unlikely we will offer more than 2 colours per bike at any one time. With 10 sizes it creates a lot of SKUs! There are obviously 3 colour choices currently but the purple is discontinued so going forward it will be orange and slate only. 

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alotronic | 7 years ago
0 likes

What TWO talented Doms who used to work for standout brands in the UK?! What are the odds!  Looks v. nice - but I have a Kinesis ATR and a Datum, so I am biased  1

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StraelGuy | 7 years ago
0 likes

Dom, This is actually my ideal bike! If I bought one, I would replace the heavy Aksium wheels with Hunt wheels like I have on my 2 current bikes. The review suggests that that would be an option when purchasing, is that the case?

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DomThomas replied to StraelGuy | 7 years ago
1 like

guyrwood wrote:

Dom, This is actually my ideal bike! If I bought one, I would replace the heavy Aksium wheels with Hunt wheels like I have on my 2 current bikes. The review suggests that that would be an option when purchasing, is that the case?

Hi guyrwood, glad you like it! Yes we are happy to do a Hunt wheel upgrade on the 105 bike. Email us for pricing. There is an example on our instagram of a recent 105 build for a customer who went with a Hunt upgrade. 

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othello | 7 years ago
0 likes

Looks lovly, especially with the orange accents. I know weight isn't everything but it is a tad heavier than others for a similar cost, like the Ritchey Road Logic. Wondering how light you could go with a decent build, and more importantly what the ride is like. 

Avatar
DomThomas replied to othello | 7 years ago
0 likes

othello wrote:

Looks lovly, especially with the orange accents. I know weight isn't everything but it is a tad heavier than others for a similar cost, like the Ritchey Road Logic. Wondering how light you could go with a decent build, and more importantly what the ride is like. 

othello, thankyou for the kind words. We put a huge amount of work into keeping weight at a minimum while still passing the stringent ISO tests. The frameset is actually lighter [size for size] vs the competiton within the 'steel disc road' category (e.g. Condor Fratello disc, Equilibrium disc, Kona Roadhouse).

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