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I've got a surly disk trucker, which was built frame only, so 105/tiagra mix with XT cranks and hope hubs on basic mavic rims. Thomson post and stem.
Enjoyed a rare but becoming more realistic road spin last week. Equally don't see me doing any touring.
Quite like the look of the Spa Elan 725 frame 600g lighter than the surly frame, springier with it(?), But still takes QR wheels, IS mount brakes and is a audaxy light tourer rather than a whippet race bike.
With some nice rims, light spokes and tyres I think it seems like a reasonable revision, or have I missed some fundemental flaw which says I would be better off buying an off the shelf Giant contend or planet x hurricane? And keeping the good-ship-slow-coach.
Looking at this review it makes sense to me.
https://www.bikeradar.com/features/bike-of-the-week/spa-cycles-elan-725-botw/
I have a Trucker (rim brake) and even with a full camping load and my 16 or 17 stone on it there isn't excessive flex. While it is unbeatable at it's job of loaded touring the Trucker is too stiff and heavy for the average rider when unloaded.
Mine only gets out on tour. Local pootles are on my Surly Pacer flat bar build.
Check the sizing. Surly have some quite funky sizing, so you might find that just going from a 52cm Surly to a 52cm anything-else won't really work as well as you might expect.
Looks good but the lack of thru axles and square taper BB would put me off. Have you looked at the Fairlight Strael. The 195 build is £2.5k. Not sure on waiting time though.
I know a lot of happy Spa owners in the audax world. QR isn't going to suddenly disappear, wheel builders will still be able to make decent wheels.
Though I've gone thru-axle.
Ask the question on the CUK forum. Stacks about these two bikes there.
Spa bikes get great reviews, qr and sq taper are both absolutely fine as you already have bits.
Your reasoning sounds good, but it’s all about the geometry, make certain it’s gonna fit you.
I would just buy a proper road bike off FB marketplace, and enjoy having something light and fast. Should be able to get something modern and reasonably nice for sub £1K.
Don't be afraid of 'whippet race bikes', you quickly get used to it. My 68 year old Dad rides an aero bike 🙂 Modern road frames are often quite forgiving to ride, even for big miles.
Heavy road bikes just suck the fun out of it for me (I've had a few, relegated to commuters).
I would be better off buying an off the shelf Giant contend
there is a half price effectively brand new one in the classifieds if you are a Medium ... 🙂
I have had a similar dilemma. Have a Fargo, but on road rides it's heavy and slow, but still love it. Occasionally I'll ride out with some local roadies and I can't keep up, even casually, never mind "Training ride". If you swap all the bits over it'll still cost you £550+ by the time you've got cables, stem, post etc. And your Trucker won't be there ready and waiting for a mucky gravel ride. I bought a cheap roadie off the classifieds for roadie days and kept the Fargo intact.
Or you could flog the Trucker altogether and get an on one Free Ranger, it'll work great as a roadie, a gravel bike and a tourer all in one. I was tempted but then I saw a Bike Friday on Ebay...
@Olly - how tall are you?
I've got an alu road bike with 2*10 compact full 105 groupset (rim brakes) that I don't use anymore
based in W Yorks