You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I don’t usually do this but there’s was a bit of discussion about this particular model over on the psa thread so I though this might be useful to someone.
I’ve had a Fairlight Secan for over 4 years and loved it. It’s done bikepacking, big gravel rides, family rides, commuting and everything else I asked of it. It’s been a great bike.
I recently took it on a gravel ride with Alex from here, I did one day of the 4 day ride he recently did and we got to talking about xc hardtails and how they would be a better bike for most of the stuff. Better on rough descents, almost as fast on flat smooth stuff and generally a bit more fun when needed.
That started my search for an xc hardtail that would be suitable for distance riding and also bikepacking.
I put the Fairlight up for sale and sold it pretty much instantly so that made my search a bit more urgent.
with the money burning a hole in my pocket I managed to buy a totally inappropriate 64 degree head angle steel hardtail with one set of bottle bosses 🤣
it’s set up with fast 2.4 tyres and a 130mm fork and having just ridden it the thing absolutely flies. it was fast everywhere and fun everywhere, just like I hoped.
It’s not quite finished yet, my new wheels are still being built, the stem is temporary and too short and Alex still has my proper brakes so it has sram on for now. It’s got wide bars so plenty of room for bar bags for bikepacking, will take an aeroe rear rack for a pack and has a really comfortable riding position.
I’ve gone full circle from a hardtail to gravel and now I’m back to a hardtail and I think it’s a better gravel bike than an actual gravel bike.
Nice! What is it?
Lovely looking bike 👍
I'm back on my Trek Superfly now having gone full circle, currently re-fitting the 2x chainset it came with as I was spinning out on tarmac at times even with a 36 tooth single ring.
Stick some Mezcals on that if you really want it to fly and don't be afraid to experiment with the handlebars, I've got some heavily wrapped basic Brand-X bar ends inboard of my shifters which feel great for everything but the properly lumpy bits. I've even got aero bars now for the really long or tarmac heavy days 😎
Nice! My mate just bought one and I've been tempted.
I went from gravel bike to carbon hardtail to carbon full suss set up xc and can confirm it's miles better at the sort of 'gravel' riding I do.
one of my pals just bought one too, awaiting delivery.
looks like a lovely bit of kit!
That's lovely.
I've a gravel bike, but was starting to find it tiring on long bike-packing trips on chunkier gravel. So, quite often now, I use my Ti On One Vandal as my 'Gravel +' bike. Currently, it's got a Pike fork and 2.4 Woolfpack trail tyres, which is quick enough and capable enough on pretty mixed terrain. I also have a Carbon rigid fork, and with 2.2/2.3 Bontrager XR2/3 tyres, it flies ....
Hardtails make great UK 'gravel' bikes for bridleways, rutted and corrugated farm fields, canal toe paths etc.
I've got a Nukeproof Scout for when my gravel bike gets a bit jarring.
I wouldn't want to do 80kms on the hardtail though, and more than a few kms of road and I've had enough and want to be back into the trails.
I wouldn't want to do 80kms on the hardtail though, and more than a few kms of road and I've had enough and want to be back into the trails.
I used to think like that but have since done some of my biggest days ever on a bike on my Superfly. A lot of this I think is down to good fortune in finding a saddle I can tolerate all day (A Fizik Terra Argo, too wide and too much of a sofa for the gravel bike it was intended for, but ideal for the MTB where I'm sitting more upright and the wider stance width seems to work with the wider nose of the saddle).
I've also continually played with handlebars and position to get over the lack of hand positions. Ergon grips, inner bar ends and clip-on aero bars for the really long days or rides with extended tarmac sections has made it much more comfortable and enjoyable.
I still want to use the gravel bike for shorter, faster rides but for anything where outright speed doesn't matter (i.e. 12hr days just tapping away) I think I'll use the Superfly now.