We were paid a visit by Dom Thomas of Fairlight Cycles recently – and as much as we were pleased to see him, we were even more pleased that he brought along their new Strael 2. The first Strael was one of our 2017 Bikes of the Year, so we were keen to see how it could have been improved.
Review: Fairlight Strael
Bike of the Year 2017/18
Competition: Win a Fairlight Cycles Strael 2
The tubeset has stayed the same, with Dom saying it was pretty much impossible to improve without falling foul of ISO testing procedures. The headtube has changed from a 1.2mm down to a 1.1mm wall, saving a tiny bit of weight. It’s a custom part specifically for Fairlight, made in Birmingham.
The bike is now optimised for flat mount disc standards with a thru-axle at the rear. It’s allowed Fairlight to remove some weight by designing new, smaller dropouts. They’re asymmetric, with a shorter one on the non-driveside to save a few grams.
Fairlight are now using a 3D-printed cable guide, as opposed to braze-on. While Fairlight say the braze-on solution was never a huge problem it could look a little untidy with Di2, so the new guide allows you to run the Di2 cable down the brake hose, making it look clean and without the extra weight of ports. The plastic has been tested extensively and Fairlight insist it’s near-unbreakable and doesn’t move.
The bike can be bought with various groupsets from Shimano and Sram, and is also available as frameset-only. We’ll be testing the Fairlight Strael 2 over the coming weeks – check back to read the road.cc verdict soon.
If you haven’t already spotted, we’ve got a mega comp on the site at the moment in which you could win a Fairlight Strale 2, worth £2,600! Entries close on the 19th February, get yours in now by entering here. You’ve nothing to lose, except perhaps a very nice bike indeed!
12 thoughts on “First Look video: Fairlight Strael 2”
Looks fantastic, some proper
Looks fantastic, some proper joined up thinking on that frame.
I wish more manufacturers would offer two height options. Easier on steel and alloy bikes than with carbon, but with some clever machining you could probably craft some inserts for a carbon frame mould to convert it down from a tall to a short. Might need a different set of bladders, but that’s the cheaper bit.
Looks really great. I really
Looks really great. I really like that Dom has taken on board all of the feedback given for the last model
Is this one of these videos
Is this one of these videos where one actor plays two characters?
I assume I’d be right in
I assume I’d be right in thinking no one else has bothered to enter the competion for one…
Right?
So if you could just organise the delivery for next Monday I’d be very happy…….
JimD666 wrote:
No, it’s mine, mine, MINE, I say, MINE, mwahahaha!!
Seriously, this has just gone right to the top of my wish list… If only it didn’t mean a trip to London for a test ride…
Absolutely gorgeous. Was
Absolutely gorgeous. Was very taken by the putty coloured version last year, but that new dark grey one looks ace. Thankfully I’m skint so don’t need to make that decision right now….just waiting on a lottery win or another unexpected windfall of some “disposable” and I’ll be joining the queue.
Really lovely looking bike, I
Really lovely looking bike, I’ve been saving for one for a while, but the updated version just makes me want one even more. That grey colour is great, it’d look brilliant with some brightly coloured (say orange) hope parts to add a little bit of contrast. Nice to see some real thought and attention going into the design.
Now if you can just arrange for another ten or so as competition prizes that’d be great…
RobD wrote:
Dom will likely let you spec headset/seat clamp colours. My Faran (dark blue/gray) looks great with orange parts. Possibly took things a little too far with orange DMR V12s though 🙂
If I’d had the budget I’d have gone with silver/chrome Nitto bars/stem/seatpost and a silver crankset.
If only Shimano would do a modretro proper chrome group….
I think standards have
I think standards have settled to the point that I can consider a nice disc braked road bike.
Question is…
Do you bolt your H11 groupset to a Strael or a Definition?
Does this mean I have to
Does this mean I have to start referring to my original Strael as the Strael ‘Classic’ now
?
I’m lucky enough to have the
I’m lucky enough to have the original (now classic!) Strael in the putty colour. Its been an absolutely fantastic bike; practical, fits me like a glove, the ride is sublime, really tough paint finish and zero problems – can’t recommend it enough.
Feeling that I’ve found my perfect bike, I would only consider changing it for a Strael 2…..I do like that deep grey finish and I already have some orange hope parts and hubs….
When is the full review due
When is the full review due to be published??