Singular Cycles Peregrine Mk3 review

BikesGritcxReview

by Ben Haworth May 14, 2025 4

Hey, it’s not a mountain bike. But this is still a very nice bicycle. The Singular Cycles Peregrine Mk3 reviewed.

• Brand: Singular Cycles
• Product: Peregrine Mk3
• Price: £4,000 approx build (frame and fork £1,200)
• From: Singular Cycles

Pros

• The most beautiful bicycle of all time
• Lovely frame feel
• Externally routed cabling

Cons

• Really benefits from expensive tyres and wheels
• EBB is irrelevant for most riders
• People will stop and ask you about it, every ride

Some of you may recall that I few weeks ago I got a couple of gravel bikes in to try. I’ve never explicitly ‘gravelled’ before (well, not unless you count ragging around local waste ground on my 10-speed Raleigh racers in the 1980s, wishing I had a BMX like my bigger brother). Anyway, I got a super modern quasi-MTB carbon machine from Kona and this classically gorgeous Peregrine from Singular Cycles.

Singular Cycles has been doing off-road drop-bar bicycles for a long time. Certainly longer than the godawful monicker of ‘gravel’ was invented by some American or other. And in particular, Singular has been making the Peregrine since 2007. It had its last makeover sometime around 2021 and remains the Mk3 we have here.

The build is a bespoke one-off. Thus can be mostly pushed to the background of this review; you’ll choose your own build for your desires. Suffice to say, I wouldn’t worry too much about the spec apart from this advice: spend the same frame & fork money again on the wheels and tyres. And try to get hydraulic disc brakes (cable ones just becoime a pain after a couple of years). Feel free to scrimp on finishing kit and drivetrain. That stuff all just works and adds very little to the ride.

It’s not you, it’s me (and maybe you)

When trying out the Singular Peregrine (and the Kona Ouroboros for that matter) I fundamentally found myself both tarmac and singletrack averse. Wide tracks and fireroads felt the ‘best’ place for this bike. Well, this bike with me on it anyway. Tarmac is poison. And though I didn’t die (or even crash) attempting to ride any singletrack on my gravel testings, it just felt a bit too much like a sketchy wrestling/balancing act as opposed to the joyous zipping along dirt I’m used to on a mountain bike.

I will return to the subject of dropbars in another feature shortly but ultimately… they aren’t for me. I am entirely set in my flat-bar ways. And I’m fine with that.

Click here if you want to read a more ‘gravel experienced’ review of the Singular Cycles Peregrine.

Stay with me

But stay with me here. If you get along with drop-bars and like the look of the Singular Peregrine (and who wouldn’t?) then I’m fairly certain you’ll not be disappointed should you take the plunge and buy one.

Ultimately, the overriding vibe of riding the Peregrine comes from the tubing (especially the front triangle and fork) and the wheels and tyres. And key parts of the geometry (more about this later).

The RenéHERSE Fleecer Ridge 55c are genuinely amazing. They ain’t cheap; they’re even more expensive than premium MTB tyres but if you consider them as full suspension for your gravel bike, it helps makle them ‘affordable’. The Singular carbon rims and Chris King hubs are light where it matters and supremely engineered where it counts. With these hoops, the Peregrine accelerates lightning quick and keeps its momentum on a highly addictive cushion-of-air sensation.

Compared to the carbon framed and suspension fork-ed Kona, the frame and fork handling on the Peregrine knock it into a cocked hat. There is so much more compliance and give and rumble-munching on the Singular.

Am I going to bang on about the cliche of steel? Yes. Yes, I am. The way those long tubes of the front triangle ‘give’ and flex without any snap-back or skittishness is ideal for off-road terrain, of any sort. And while I can;’t say that I rode the Peregrine laden with luggage, I can totally tell that having a not-stiff-AF frame is only going to be a good thing for touring bikepacking sorties.

In terms of geometry, the Peregrine is very much not a road bike. And TFFT. The wheelbase felt pretty long and stable. The rigid fork had a decent amount of trail to it (70mm ish). And the BB is pretty low (75mm of BB drop). It doesn’t have the sneeze-and-you’ll-jacknife terror of ‘proper’ road bikes. And it’s just more comfortable and balanced when climbing as well as descending. I had no problems with toe overlap either even when riding it sometimes with (shock! horror) flat pedals.

Speaking of BB, the eccentric bottom bracket (EBB) is nice for those who may wish to run a hub gear or such, but it’d be nice if Singular just offered a regular BSA shell as well. Less to keep an eye on. The EBB ay be useful for serial tweakers who want to play about with BB height and/or chainstay lengths.

Overall

Hey, it’s not a mountain bike. Who knew? But seriously, this is a very nice bicycle. The word ‘nice’ gets something of a bad rep in these days of ‘cool’ and ‘aggressive’. But nice is… nice. The Singular Cycles Peregrine is a premium randonneur par excellence. The chassis feel is lovely. Ideal for efficient yet relaxing high mileage along not-too-rough byways and green lanes. Oh and yeah, it is the most beautiful bicycle of all time.

Singular Cycles Peregrine Mk3 specification

• Frame // Custom Columbus steel
• Fork // Cromoly
• Wheels // Carbon rims on Chris King hubs
• Front Tyre // RenéHERSE Fleecer Ridge 700c x 55
• Rear Tyre // RenéHERSE Fleecer Ridge 700c x 55
• Chainset // Middleburn RS8, 165mm
• Brakes // Shimano GRX, 160/160mm
• Drivetrain // Shimano GRX
• Stem // Singular Cycles
• Handlebar // Nitto Gravel
• Grips // Brooks Bar Tape
• Seat Post // Singular Cycles, 27.2mm
• Saddle // Brooks Cambium

Geometry of our size L

• Head angle // 71°
• Effective seat angle // 73°
• Seat tube length // 581mm
• Head tube length // 133mm
• Chainstay // 445mm
• Wheelbase // 1,058mm
• Effective top tube // 565mm
• BB height // 75mm BB drop
• Reach // 386mm
• Weight // 11.9kg (26.26lb)

Review Info

Ben Haworth

185cm tall. 73kg weight. Orange Switch 6er. Saracen Ariel Eeber. Schwalbe Magic Mary. Maxxis DHR II. Coil fan.

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