Bikes are amazing machines. Importantly, bikes of all ilk, by virtue of being bikes, are good bikes. Most bikes can be defined by their purpose: commuting, cyclocross, road racing; the list goes on. But some bikes are equipped to exist and (almost just) excel across a set of those nuanced categories. What follows is less of a review than a narrative: entirely too many words about a particularly good, definition-defying bike and how it came to be.

Let’s talk about patience.

To claim that bikes are having a bit of a moment would be a bit of an understatement. The pandemic saw many people embrace the bicycle, and all of its transformative possibilities, as they sought new ways to travel, exercise, and enjoy socially-distant collective activities. (Welcome! We’re so glad you’re here!) This increased demand, coupled with supply-chain issues made bikes and parts rarer than hens’ teeth. Nonetheless, out of some combination of boredom and self-imposed productivity, I spent time in the early months of our local lockdown purging some bikes and gear while dreaming up ways to fill those newfound gaps in my service course. (Admittedly, if I had known how dire the used bike market would become, I might have held onto some of those bits just a little longer…)

As I began my bike search, I knew that I wanted a ferrous, disc-brake bike. I wanted a bike that would be comfortable enough for long days in the saddle, but also one that could handle a bit of pace when desired. This type of bike is not unfamiliar territory for me. From my prior “fastest commuter bike in NYC” (I did not come up with this nickname) to my current, rattle-canned “trash bike”, I knew that a steel bike could be durable enough to be an all-use without its weight being a hitch in its giddy up.

How it started… (My beloved “trash bike”)

As my search continued, so grew my list of desired features. Could it fit wider tires? Not quite “full-gravel” wide, but at least wide by road bike standards (I’d later come to know this as “all-road”). Could it include rack and fender mounts? Not a deal-breaker, but it would fit with my desire to use the bike in bad weather as well as for commuting. Could it not be too heavy? Yes, I know this is a silly thought for a metal bike. My searching found me off-the-peg options, all great but lacking in some way, from Ritchey, All-City, Bombtrack, and Mason, to name a few. Going custom, or semi-custom would open the options up even further, but until people decide public school teachers deserve better compensation… My unicorn eluded me until some combination of Google search terms I cannot remember led me to Fairlight’s website, where I found the Strael 2.0. A few hours of browsing through this UK-based bike company’s galleries and look books, along with a quick bit of bike geometry comparison using their “find your fit” calculator, and I was sold on a frameset in “putty.”

But I hesitated. Fairlight lists the expected lead times for orders on the pages of their models, and I was initially put off by the ~3 month projected wait I saw when I was browsing their site in late-July 2020. As a result, I almost ended up with a different bike frame (that would have been also amazing) but holding off for thirty minutes before going through with that checkout meant *poof, * goodbye stock. When I finally placed my order with Fairlight in early-August, that 3 month wait was now ~6 months, but I laid down my deposit and hoped for a change of fate. I was gifted several such interjections of fate as I waited that made me rue my initial hesitancy in ordering. On-going supply chain issues. Brexit (Fairlight is a UK-based operation). The Ever Given (probably not actually, but it would make sense given my luck). In all, it took 9 months from the time I ordered my frameset to the day it arrived on my doorstep. It has to be said that the folks at Fairlight were great during this time, fielding my questions as best they could and sending updates when they had them.

*Of course as I finished writing this, Fairlight released an updated version of the Strael with a few tweaks (redesigned dropouts, slightly increased tire clearance, and a third bottle mount) that serve to boost this platform’s capabilities even further…and made me think for a hot second that a further delay might not have been so terrible.

But you probably care more about the destination than the journey, so on to the bike.

Friday nights are for bike builds.

After such a long wait, I was downright amazed by the lightning-fast, two-day delivery from the UK to the East Coast. My frameset arrived, exceedingly well-packaged, on a Thursday afternoon which meant that I stood a slim, but optimistic chance of getting it out on the road by the weekend. Out of the box, I treated the inside of the frame with boiled linseed oil as a frame saver to stave off excess corrosion. And with that frame saver dry enough when I made it home from teaching on Friday, I knew that I was going to sacrifice a bit of sleep to make a new bike weekend happen. One positive aspect of having such a long wait is that I had plenty of time to get all of my parts squared away; they were itching to meet their new body.

Two Days. Two Very Different Flights of the “Arrow”

My Strael’s maiden voyage came the Saturday morning after my late-night Friday build session. “Crisp” is not a word I would use to describe how I felt on limited sleep, but I was itching to get out and test the ride, as well as shake out any issues that weren’t easily diagnosed on a work stand. I forgot to take my allergy meds in my morning stupor but still couldn’t stop myself from smiling as I rode along. This thing is simply great on pavement. Period.

After my successful Saturday shakeout on the road, I was keen to test my Strael’s chops with a little bit of “underbiking” with my team on our #NotFarmersDaughter gravel ride the next day in Chatham, NY. To better enable my bike’s transition to the roads less traveled, I sourced a set of Hunt’s Gravel Race Disc wheels to pair with a (almost sufficiently wide) set of off-road tires and slightly larger cassette. Since my “road mode” Hunt wheels use the same hub, and I sized my chain for a slightly larger cassette from the start, moving from road to (I cringe as I type this) “groad” use was as easy as unscrewing a thru-axle. Off road, my Strael proved to a mix of nimble, smooth, and (definitely) underbiked for parts of the Farmer’s Daughter course. But, overall, it’s much more capable than its “all-season road” label suggests, and it will likely be my horse for the course as TBD takes on SBT GRVL later this summer.

This and other photos in this section artisinally captured by Matthew Vandivort — @photorhetoric

Photo Rhetoric - To Be Determined - Fairlight Strael Steel Bicycle Frame-06.jpg

My Strael is…

A mile-munching, mixed-surface dreamboat. Capable of quick turns of pace without leaving me feeling worked over like my taint took a few rounds in the ring with Tyson. Lighter than it should be allowed/expected to be for a steel all-road bike without resorting to custom builders and weight-weenie exotica. Unique, at least on our side of the pond…for now.

It’s adaptable. Slap on some skinny tires and ride fast; swap them out for something wider and enjoy the roads less traveled. 2x? 1x? Mechanical? Electronic? Fenders? Racks? All can be easily accommodated on this platform. (Plus, running electronic gearing means getting to ditch the removable, 3D-printed downtube cable guide for a neater build.)

Don’t need it? Remove it. Fairlight’s derailleur cable guides are swappable/replaceable to accommodate mechanical 1x and 2x, as well as electronic, builds.

My Strael isn’t quite…

A lightweight, hyper-efficient racing bike. A super plush, wide-tired gravel whip; the 33mm Vittoria Terreno Dry’s I’m running for more “adventurous” roads measure out to just shy of 35mm on my Hunt wheels and are, more or less, the widest tire the rear triangle can handle. (Fairlight makes a gravel bike that I very strongly considered before settling on this frameset.) Concerned with adhering to its “road” label. But I settled on this frame precisely because I believed it would likely be able to handle a tiny bit of a lot of things. In a few short weeks of owning this bike, I have racked up a few hundred miles of road riding, gravel underbiking, and racing. A true Jack of many trades, master of none…sort of.

My Strael weighs…

Hahaha. Next Question. Though, in all fairness, it’s probably within about 1-1.5 pounds of my Allez Sprint. Yes, that may sound heavy when compared to the carbon bikes of the world, but you’d be surprised to pick it up and then hear that it’s made of steel. And that excess weight does not exactly hold it back in use.

Parting Thoughts

I’ve ridden a number of good bikes over the years, thanks to a combination of thoughtful research and sheer dumb luck. I am happy to continue that trend with my pandemic-sourced Fairlight. It’s smooth, true handling and nimble capabilities are befitting a bike whose name translates to “arrow.” I would never tell someone what bike they should buy, but if you’re looking for a metal bike with a bit of versatility, you could do a lot worse than a Strael.

Full Build Specs

Frame: Fairlight Strael 2.0 (Reynolds 853 Steel), Putty color, size 56R
Fork: Fairlight Anraed Carbon Fork
Seatpost: FSA SL-K carbon seatpost, 20mm setback
Groupset: SRAM Red Etap (11-speed; if it ain’t broke…)
Gearing: 52/36 chainset; 11/30 (road) -or- 11/34 (gravel) cassette
Cranks: SRAM Red with 4iiii Podiiiium power meter
BB: SRAM GXP (For now, may swap later for the Kogel that is collecting dust in my service course)
Bars: FSA Gossamer, 420mm
Stem: FSA SL-K, 110mm
Headset: FSA Orbit ITA, black
Wheels: Hunt 34 Aero Wide Disc (Road, reviewed here) -or- Hunt Gravel Race Disc (Gravel)
Tires: Vittoria Corsa Clincher, 25mm (Road) -or- Vittoria Terreno Dry, 33mm, tubeless (Gravel)
Rotors: SRAM Centerline: 160mm front, 140mm rear; centerlock
Brakes: TRP Spyre
Saddle: PRO Stealth, 142mm
Bottle Cages: Tacx Deva, Orange
Saddle Bag: Speedsleev Ranger, Orange (Thank you, hivemind)
Pedestrian Annoyance Device: Spurcycle Bell
Frame Protection: Restrap Bicycle Protection Kit