The steel Flyer singlespeed was a mainstay of the Genesis range for many years, having been introduced back in 2006/2007, but it’s no longer available, so we thought we’d take a quick look back at this once-popular bike and see what similar options are still available.
road.cc reader Bob Carter recently wrote to us saying:
“I’ve had my Genesis Flyer for a decade now and Strava tells me I have ridden 8,349 miles on it, have replaced tyres countless times, front and rear wheels once, chain and sprocket many many times (44×17, since you ask), taken it on long rides, and regularly pack a week’s shopping in the panniers.
“I thought maybe it was approaching time for a replacement. There were rumours on various chat rooms and blogs, but I went and asked Genesis direct. ‘No more Flyers,’ came the reply. Any suggestions for a replacement?”
The Flyer was actually dropped from the Genesis range a while back, although freewheel.co.uk was selling through stock until the end of last year. We had a quick look around and found the odd one still available through retailers in a size XS, but essentially, the Genesis Flyer is no more. Shame.
The first time we covered the Genesis Flyer was back in the early days of road.cc when it was getting an update for the 2010 model year. Genesis designer James Olsen showed us around it in this video…
The 2010 Genesis Flyer got a more classic steel feel. Although the Flyer frame was made from TIG-welded Reyolds 520 Chromoly, the addition of some lug collars gave it a slightly more retro appearance. Out went the carbon fork and acid yellow paint job, and in came an elegantly slim steel fork and a restrained sky blue finish.
Genesis’ original intention with the Flyer was to create a fast-handling, stiff road bike – that’s why the geometry at the front end was more track than road. The head angle was relaxed by a degree for 2010, James Olsen telling us that it was to create a bike with more forgiving handling when cornering and descending, particularly in the wet.
The change from a carbon to steel fork helped keep the price down to £599 and also made for a more comfortable ride.
When our man Dave Atkinson reviewed the Genesis Flyer singlespeed in 2015, the frame was made from Genesis Mjölnir seamless double-butted chromoly and it was back to using a carbon fork with an alloy steerer. Although Dave reviewed the complete bike, it was the frame and fork that stood out.
“The Flyer doesn’t suffer for not being a Reynolds-tubed frame,” said Dave. “It’s not a light bike at 9.65kg, but it responds really well to rider input and it has a supple feel, especially over rougher tarmac. You need to put some oomph through the rear triangle to get a singlespeed to crest the hills and the Flyer copes with that admirably; it doesn’t have the monolithic feel of a carbon bike but neither is it flexy enough to cause any problems. It’s springy, if it’s anything. And not in a bad way.”
There you go. A no-nonsense singlespeed workhorse, essentially.
The Genesis Flyer eventually got an alloy frame, disc brakes, and loads of tyre clearance, but we’re guessing that reader Bob Carter is after steel.
Genesis still offers the Equilibrium road bike made from Reynolds 725 heat-treated chromoly steel, although not as a singlespeed. The rim brake model, built up with a Shimano 105 mechanical groupset, is £1,849.99 while the Genesis Equilibrium Disc is £2,699.99.
> Read our review of the Genesis Equilibrium
Matt Swaine absolutely loved the Spa Cycles Audax Mono (above) that he reviewed on road.cc a couple of years ago, with a Reynolds 725 frame, carbon/alloy fork, and the ability to be set up as a singlespeed or fixed. Priced at £795, it’s also far more accessible.
> Check out our review of the Spa Cycles Audax Mono
Matt said, “Based on the company’s well-regarded Audax frame, it is a ridiculously comfortable bike that will eat up the miles, climbs incredibly well and will keep you in control on the steepest of descents. And if you want to dip your toe into the slightly eccentric world of long-distance fixed-gear riding, then its combination of build quality and excellent value make this a great choice.”
Condor’s Tempo is a beautiful singlespeed steel frameset, although it’ll set you back £1,150 and you’ll need to factor in the cost of components.
Beyond that, we’d like to open this up to the hive mind of road.cc readers. A singlespeed road bike to replace Bob’s Genesis Flyer – any suggestions?
33 thoughts on “Remembering the Genesis Flyer, a singlespeed classic”
Bike brands are missing a
Bike brands are missing a trick by not continuing to produce a basic steel framed rim braked single. Still enjoying riding my Kona Band Wagon (which they also stopped making quite a while ago). Even the lovely Kona Grand Wagon was a steal at the time.
Agreed. I still have my Kona
Agreed. I still have my Kona Zing which is an alu rim brake option for adventures when hills or distance rules out the S/S Flyer.
That is a thing of beauty.
That is a thing of beauty.
Mosstyn wrote:
Agreed. This is a Specialized Langster Steel I acquired via eBay a few years ago, for around £200. Needed a bit of tidying up, new tyres & brake pads, and I replaced the drop bars and top levers for bullhorns with TT levers. Other than that not much else; it was a bargain.
I had red Spesh Steel
I had red Spesh Steel Langster. My favourite ever bike. Came with drop bars and bend mounted brake levers as argain clearout after ExCeL London Triathlon show. Loved it: only drawback compared with Genesis was no adjusters in rear dropout. Gave it away, along with lock and lights, after massive heart attack at start of Covid Lockdown. Had to change the wheels as I ripped the rear threads with bunny hop stops. Current owner doesn’t ride it fixed.
Why change the bars?
E6toSE3 wrote:
A few reasons really, one was that the previous owner had top bar levers on the drop bars, so you couldn’t use the brakes on the drops, and there were no hoods. Second was that I liked the idea of bullhorns (with accessible brakes). Third, I have many other drop bar bikes to choose from. It’s basically a pub/town bike.
I did talk about this in a
I did talk about this in a knowledgeable shop a few years ago. There was no money in it while the bikes take up same space in showroom and at back as a geared bike. Couldn’t make money selling them as people wouldn’t pay realistic prices and little to no maintenance work. So brands stopped making them.
Still gutted I sold my
Still gutted I sold my Genesis Day 0 in the orange and white paint scheme. It was my first ‘gravel’ bike and we put some big days in with 32mm Kenda Small Block 8s.
A Charge Plug 0 has filled the void a wee bit but chunky aluminium tubes instead of skinny steel.
Temple Cycles do a steel
Temple Cycles do a steel framed singlespeed, IIRC.
Did you mean a Day One, or
Did you mean a Day One, or was it a Ridgeback which I think came before the Genesis versions?
I too regretted selling mine and bought a replacement second hand one less than 2 years later. It’s a slightly boring black one though. Do I really want to drop another chunk of cash on getting it refurbished? Yeah, probably. 😁
Argh, possibly a Day One, yes
Argh, possibly a Day One, yes. The single speed orange one with the mini-Vs.
I no longer need it for the
I no longer need it for the commute it used to do, but I can’t bring myself to part with my Day One Disc even though it’s had one outing in 5 years. Such a reliable workhorse.
The Charge Plug. That’s
The Charge Plug. That’s another well priced steel single speed bike that has dissapeared. At least we can still get that great saddle
Agreed about the Plug. Just
Agreed about the Plug. Just failed in comparison with Gen Flyer and Spesh Steel Langster
I loved the look of the steel
I loved the look of the steel Plug but it was a fairly crude frame. A £600 version with a better quality frame would have been great,
I liked the bikes James Olsen
I liked the bikes James Olsen designed both at Genesis and after he moved to Evans/Pinnacle, I think he used to make sensible choices that I highly valued. He was also active in forums and to me it looked like he liked to explain his designs.
Anyone knows how is he doing after the Evans takeover? Is he still related with the Pinnacle brand or has he moved on?
I’m not sure what he does as
I’m not sure what he does as a job but he still posts regularly enough on the Singletrackworld forum, usually very helpful/interesting posts.
I believe he was also behind the organisation of the Torino-Nice Rally.
Have been commuting daily on
Have been commuting daily on my Flyer since 2010 – inc just now. Bought it second hand and have done c.30k miles on it so god knows how many it’s actually done. Original bottom bracket still spins as free as it ever did. What a machine.
Random question… why do
Random question… why do singlespeed bikes usually/always seem to have very large flanges on their front wheel…?
Dnnnnnn wrote:
I believe it’s because singlespeed riders tend to produce very high torque through the pedals when climbing and sprinting, having no gears for power management, which can put extra stresses through the frame and wheels; large flange hubs add extra rigidity to the front wheel which helps in coping with these extra pressures.
Do you mean lateral forces
Do you mean lateral forces due to e.g. leaning the bike as they hammer down on a pedal / pull against the handlebars while twisting the front? Or (torque on front wheel) … this?
I suspect it’s because most
I suspect it’s because most track bikes historically had large-flange hubs. And most solid-axle hubs still have large flanges nowadays. To me, a fixed-gear bike only looks right with them.
But surely that goes back to
But surely that goes back to Rendel’s point – track bikes have large flanges to resist the torque involved in using a single speed / fixed gear?
High strain on spokes. And,
High strain on spokes. And, with track heritage, comfort is less important. Reverse bunny hop to stop or slow down and hopping over obstacles is also better with shorter spokes
What is the reason for
What is the reason for wanting to replace it?
N+1?
n+1?
That wouldn’t be replacement,
That wouldn’t be replacement, though – it would be complementing.
Nice road-orientated frame. I
Nice road-orientated frame. I’m curious, what other road-orientated fixed-gear/single-speed frames are out there? I.e., frames which have a rear brake-caliper bridge (and drilled) AND some kind of cable-routing provisions for the rear (internal or external).
Only ones I know are the current iteration of Cinelli Vigorelli frame (internal routing to rear too, nice); and the 8Bar frame (it has optional eyes for rear cable routing). Any others?
Used bikes including
Used bikes including Specialized Langster. Worth trying the likes of XO Bikes – charitable project trains ex-offenders in bike maintenance and shop management fixing, doing up selling unclaimed police recovered bikes
I have an Equillibrium from
I have an Equillibrium from 2012. Lovely bike. it is my daily rider and is so comfortable and versatile. I used to share an office with someone with someone who rode a blue Flyer like that. Side by side, in the office, you could see they were similar. Both are lovely bikes. I agree with what other people are saying that is a shame there aren’t as many single speed steel frame bikes like this now. The Spa cycles one mentioned looks a close match though. If I was to replace my Equillibrium one day, I might go with them or perharps splash out on a Strael…
Wanted a Flyer but saw a
Wanted a Flyer but saw a Specialized steel Langster with proper bend mounted brakes (not bar top) at ExCeL at end of London Triathlon show. Bristol based company didn’t want to take it home. Bought it. Soon broke the wheels but got better ones from Brick Lane Bikes. My favourite bike, gave it away in Lockdown after I’d had a massive heart attack. Met up with it outside Blackheath Standard Library as we both arrived and locked up bikes at same time.
Why mention this? It was an offer I couldn’t refuse. But I met a few guys on Flyers and I’d have bought one if I hadn’t seen the Langster. Flyer was more practical as it had adjustable bolts for rear dropout and eyes for mudguards. Langster was, perhaps, a bit livelier handling. Genesis One was a good bike too. Did big fast mileage across London, around my 14¼ mile fast and almost traffic and lights free circuit around Docklands, 35 mile circuit around Poole Harbour including the Chain Ferry. Also Woolwich to Eltham over top of Shooters Hill for a strength workout
Age 70, I’d love to justify another similar bike.
E6toSE3 wrote:
You want one. There you go, justified – go for it.
I have a first edition
I have a first edition aluminium Langster as my commute/town bike. I bought it is the US for $299 and it was an absolute bargain. The main limitation for me is that it is limited to 25mm tyres and I have got used to 30mm+ on my audax and gravel bikes. For that reason I have occasionally looked for another fixie and they seem to be a dying breed at a sensible price. Genesis could re-launch the Flyer and I think it would sell well.