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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.
This mirrors my experience pretty closely. A modern hardtail with fast tyres just covers more ground with less stress once things get rough. You lose a bit of road speed, but you gain confidence, comfort, and way more fun on descents and bad surfaces. For mixed gravel and bikepacking, it makes a lot of sense.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.
No it doesn't
This mirrors my experience pretty closely. A modern hardtail with fast tyres just covers more ground with less stress once things get rough. You lose a bit of road speed, but you gain confidence, comfort, and way more fun on descents and bad surfaces. For mixed gravel and bikepacking, it makes a lot of sense.
But why carry all the extra weight of that fork when it's not needed for gravel riding
TBF, I think my steel Genesis fork weighs more than a suspension fork...
Nice looking ride, but I'm not sure I buy it's a gravel riding / do it all replacement...
Totally with you. Gravel bits are boring whatever bike you are riding. And the fun bits aren't fun on a gravel bike. Fast hardtail for the win
Maybe I’m still in the gravel honeymoon period…
but I’m embracing the terrible technical ability and superb fire road and road performance - just seeing it as its own thing.
my old hardtail spent the summer unloved. Caught in the limbo of being worse technically than my lovely trail bike, and still terrible (even in summer conditions with maxxis icons) on tarmac/easy terrain.
would I want a gravel bike as my only bike or even as a main bike? Absolutely not. But as a second bike as a contrast and for different riding. Hell yes.
Gravel bits are boring whatever bike you are riding. And the fun bits aren't fun on a gravel bike. Fast hardtail for the win
I think it very much depends where you ride as well as your personal motivations.
Gravel bikes are a journeying machine - where the pleasure comes from travelling distances , eyes up, and soaking in what is around you. If you don't have enough miles of relatively easy terrain under wheel through places you want to go because it's a lovely place to be, it might well be a concept that you are trying to shoehorn into geography that's not right. Or if you only ever got into bikes for the technical gnar and adrenaline descent aspects, it probably won't work for you either. If you 'get' road bikes, even if you don't like mixing it with traffic, you'll probably do gravel in much the same way.
I have 40 miles of gravel trails from my front door, and can do 100 mile loops into the Peak District. Two 'Glorious gravel' venues within riding distance.
Did an entire winter of solely gravel riding building up to the Dirty Reiver. Sold the bike straight after. It's not for me.
Gravel bits are boring whatever bike you are riding. And the fun bits aren't fun on a gravel bike. Fast hardtail for the win
I've read some tosh on here over the years but this is up there with the best, snacks of someone who's not ridden a drop bar bike on XC trails for fun. HT and FS MTBs are just too good and make most trails boring they are so efficient. Gravel bikes bring back the excitement of not knowing if you'll finish the trail still on the bike but with out the tedious pedalling between trails you get on an MTB. Gravel bikes should have been called ATBs really as they can cope with everything rather than having a specific machine for ever discipline.*
I posted this on another thread, but it'll go here too.
I have no idea how folk do this stuff!
Gravel bits are boring whatever bike you are riding. And the fun bits aren't fun on a gravel bike. Fast hardtail for the win
I've read some tosh on here over the years but this is up there with the best, snacks of someone who's not ridden a drop bar bike on XC trails for fun. HT and FS MTBs are just too good and make most trails boring they are so efficient. Gravel bikes bring back the excitement of not knowing if you'll finish the trail still on the bike but with out the tedious pedalling between trails you get on an MTB. Gravel bikes should have been called ATBs really as they can cope with everything rather than having a specific machine for ever discipline.*
I've ridden several trail centre reds trails on cx bikes and gravel bikes. I've ridden plenty of bridleways in the peak on gravel bikes. I've done thousands of miles on gravel. For me (and the OP it seems), I have a lot more fun on a hardtail.
That's a lovely hardtail.
I've had my gravel bike just over a year now and I really enjoy it compared to my road bike. Yea it's slower, but I am slow anyway, and if I want to take those paths that I could never do on a road bike, I can. I've made some great routes from my door. I'd not plan a route with much more than fire roads and smooth singletrack on my gravel bike. Thankfully, I have other bikes for that.
It's taught me not to worry about my average speeds, and just enjoy being out.
Interesting to see my thread alive again.
I’m sure you all want to know how worked out. I’d ridden a lot of miles on my gravel bike - Welsh coast to coast, rode it every day for 6 months in lockdown etc so I think I was feeling kind of over the genre having exhausted everything local and done the big rides I wanted to.
So I built the hardtail 6 months ago according to the original post here. I thought it would be amazing and it is but I’ve Ridden it 3 times since then and now I want a gravel bike again.
I miss my gravel bike and its versatility.
i guess sometimes you need to try new things to realise you already have what you want.
Gravel bits are boring whatever bike you are riding. And the fun bits aren't fun on a gravel bike. Fast hardtail for the win
I've read some tosh on here over the years but this is up there with the best, snacks of someone who's not ridden a drop bar bike on XC trails for fun. HT and FS MTBs are just too good and make most trails boring they are so efficient. Gravel bikes bring back the excitement of not knowing if you'll finish the trail still on the bike but with out the tedious pedalling between trails you get on an MTB. Gravel bikes should have been called ATBs really as they can cope with everything rather than having a specific machine for ever discipline.*
I've ridden several trail centre reds trails on cx bikes and gravel bikes. I've ridden plenty of bridleways in the peak on gravel bikes. I've done thousands of miles on gravel. For me (and the OP it seems), I have a lot more fun on a hardtail.
sounds fab, no mention of tarmac though which is my point, that's the tedious bit on a HT. not everyone is lucky enough to ride 100% off road, every ride. if I was that lucky then yes, i'd agree with you.