Mason Bokeh vs. Fairlight Secan a.k.a. aluminium vs. steel

I’ve got the Hunt 30 CAD

I’ve got the Hunt 30 CAD wheels on my Strael, they’re brilliant. Beautiful looking, tough and SO light weight .

Aren’t those very expensive Hunt stickers on Kinlin rims?  Was thinking about getting a set built up on some CK hubs,,,, 

That sounds like a fantastic

That sounds like a fantastic bike and nice plan for your build!

56T would be my frame size as well and I’m super jealous because i’d Love any one of the three bikes that Fairlight make!

hope you enjoy your bike when you get it!

John

Good call Jakub, I’m sure you

Good call Jakub, I’m sure you’ll be absolutely thrilled with it. Btw, If you get the white and purple colour schemed one, I will be extremely jealous and will probably never talk to you again .

Hi Jakub,

Hi Jakub,

Following what has been said about sending Fairlight your bike fit data if worst case scenario you don’t have any the Fairlight website can help you.

One of the things about Fairlight is that they offer both regular and tall versions of their frames and so it’s more likely that you’ll be able to get a frame that fits you according to your body type and riding style.

I’m currently on my phone and so it’s not so easy to post the right links but if you go on their website and read about the ‘Fit, Form, Function’ principals and also watch their video on this it explains all.

Then if you’re go on their website you can put into the site measurements such as your height and it will recommend frames to you according to riding style.  I’m not sure if this functionality is up & running for the Secan yet but if it isn’t (and my apologies if i’ve got this wrong) but at some point I thought I could remember it being said that you could use the Strael calculator for the Secan as well.

happy bike hunting to you!

John

Mike Burrows – What’s the

Mike Burrows – What’s the best material to make a bike from?

http://www.madegood.com/mike-burrows/#one

(Edit : whilst the old GCN video does deal with some of the myths of steel, or any other material, this is a nice overview IMO)

Mark B wrote:

srchar wrote:

kil0ran wrote:

I’ve got a stainless steel Bowman Layhams. It somehow manages to be super-stiff (I’m well north of 120kgs and there is no discernible flex even mashing away out of the saddle) and super-comfy.

I don’t doubt it, but that has very little to do with the fact that it’s made from steel and is thanks to the tube selection, construction and geometry.

Of course, but these are not independent of the metal used.

Often they are, e.g. generally narrower steel tubes due to the mass, but I think the point being made is that idea of one type of metal, or a bike made from one type, being necessarily ‘comfortable’ or being ‘harsh’ is a fallacy. That’s certainly the point I was alluding to, aplogies to srchar if it wasn’t theirs.

kil0ran wrote:

I’ve got a stainless steel Bowman Layhams. It somehow manages to be super-stiff (I’m well north of 120kgs and there is no discernible flex even mashing away out of the saddle) and super-comfy.

I don’t doubt it, but that has very little to do with the fact that it’s made from steel and is thanks to the tube selection, construction and geometry.

srchar wrote:

VeloUSA wrote:

Steel all the way for smoother and comfy compliance over alloy.

It’s not quite as simple as that; I have a Kinesis T3 for commuting duties (made from aluminium) which is far comfier than the Van Nicholas titanium and Genesis steel bikes that preceded it.  The Genesis in particular was like riding a farm gate, which surprised me, as I went for steel based on comments I’d read online about how comfortable it is, and I went for titanium after it based on comments I’d read online about how comfortable it is.

I’ve got a stainless steel Bowman Layhams. It somehow manages to be super-stiff (I’m well north of 120kgs and there is no discernible flex even mashing away out of the saddle) and super-comfy. Even running 25mm tyres on what passes for tarmac roads around here. I’ve had a number of aluminium bikes and it is by far the most comfortable bike I’ve ever owned. You won’t notice much difference on smooth tarmac or gravel but in my experience as soon as the tarmac has been dressed or had a couple of hard winters the road buzz creeps in with aluminium frames.

Of course, if you’re intending running big tyres frame comfort plays less of a role. Once you’re up in the low 30s, particularly on lower pressure tubeless tyres, I’d suggest that frame compliance doesn’t affect comfort that much.