Gravel is the darling of the cycling industry at the moment, with more new launches and new tech in that space than others. The problem, as is always the case with new genres, is that the term ‘gravel bike’ is such an all encompassing thing that it’s hard to know what one is referring to. Is it an all terrain, fat tyred beast that until a few years ago would be called a monstercross, or is it a gravel race bike, closer to an endurance road bike than anything else?
What if it’s sort of both, and a bit of everything in between? To many of us a gravel bike isn’t necessarily a bike with a specific purpose, but one that can turn its hand to many things. A lot of the bikes in our best gravel bikes list are capable of holding their own in a gravel race, dabbling in some cyclocross, and doing a bit of bikepacking too.
The Fairlight Secan 2.5 is one of those bikes. Versatility is the order of the day, but without any real compromises in any given area. I’ve been putting the miles in on one over the last few months, covering mixed terrain riding, chunky gravel, hot laps of the woods on well graded tracks, pretend cyclocross and light touring to boot. Can it really be all things to all people? No, but it’s pretty damn close.
Design and aesthetics
Steel bikes are having something of a resurgence in the last few years as riders move back towards what was for many years thought of as an outdated material. Rather than heavy, cumbersome beasts, modern performance steel bikes can mix it with aluminium and carbon, while offering different qualities, and a certain aesthetic that, if we’re all being totally honest with ourselves, is as important as any performance advantages.
The Fairlight Secan is a very good looking bike. Skinny tubed road bikes look cool, but there aren’t enough points of difference for many to stand out from the crowd without expensive custom paint. A skinny tubed gravel bike, though? Visually that’s something a little different. In the case of the Secan the eye is immediately drawn to that top tube; diminutive, ovalised along the horizontal axis, with subtle graphics near the seattube. It looks wonderfully fragile, and along with the thin, wavy stays gives a classic look to proceedings. Add in some thicker tubing for the downtube and headtube, and a thickly bladed carbon fork and you get a frameset that’s a joy to behold,…
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