What Bike & Components Did A PRO Bike Reviewer Spend His OWN Money On? (Staff Bikes Ep.6)

Can a steel bike REALLY still compete against carbon or titanium in 2024? Our professional bike reviewer puts his money where his mouth is and spends his own money building his dream bike. In this road.cc Staff Bikes episode we take a look at Stu’s new Fairlight Secan 2.5 gravel bike.

Stu reviewed over 70 of the best road bikes and best gravel bikes in 2023 but this is the one that he chooses to ride when he’s not at work.

For the full build spec including Shimano GRX and Panaracer GravelKing tyres click the link below:
https://road.cc/content/feature/staff-bikes-fairlight-secan-307265

Let us know what you think of this dream gravel bike in the comments section!

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Welcome back to another Staff Bikes, where today we are looking at head reviewers, Senior reviewer, Senior reviewers, Stuss, new Fairlight, Secan, 2.5. Now Stu reviews, oh, I don’t know, hundreds. Yeah. And at least tens of Bikes. Yeah. It was at least 70 in 2023 Bikes. So for you to

Buy a bike with your own money, you’ve got to like it quite a lot. Yeah. So this is, this is the one you chose? I have a, a thing for metal bikes. Yeah. Um, I dunno why I love the way they ride. Yeah. I love the way they look modern, but classical

And just fairlight just kind of encompasses everything that I love about the way a bike looks and rides in and fill. So, And this Saan 2.5 is obviously a gravel bike. Yeah, I believe it. One hour gravel bike. Gravel bike Of the year. Yeah.

And certainly made it into our top 10 bikes overall. You reviewed it Yep. And then bought it. Yep. Why, what impressed you so much about it? I’ve nearly bought a faite two or three times. Mm-Hmm. Over the last few years reviewing the ccan, the, um,

Strail Strail one, two, and three never rode a sea cam before, but this rides just like the Strail, which was the only bike that I’ve ever given a 10 outta 10 mm-Hmm. But the way my ridings go in these days, I don’t race. Yeah. I do a lot of gravel. Mm-Hmm.

I do a lot of just riding on the back lanes, commuting to the office. So the gravel bike was more of the all rounder. Yeah. That I could go for wider tires, lower gearing, I could do anything Bike. So you’re actually planning on using this gravel bike on the road Primarily?

Uh, yeah. Probably do about, probably 80% Mm-Hmm. Of, of the riding will be on the road. Um, hence the, the slick tires. Yes. The Mud guards. So are they the panorama gravel things? Are they Yeah, the slick 38 mil. Yeah. Um, this has got massive clearance.

Yeah. There is plenty of room in there. Yeah. Look at that. So I wanted to go as big as I could, but not too big that they get too heavy, which would affect the overall Yes. It’s still, it’s still a quick bike. Mm-Hmm.

Um, it’s still got that racy kind of geometry to it. Um, so yeah, slick tires big, but I can dark down a gravel track. Yeah. By way. A canal path. S**t leg. Exactly what whatever. Um, and it still feels like a nimble enough to be a road bike on the road. Mm-Hmm. But

Now I have noticed that something that goes against most of the recent bikes we’ve seen is it’s got external cables. Yes. What are your feelings on that? I never really work on bikes because they’re always brand new, so I don’t have to worry about the, whether they’re hassle to re cable

Or, um, anything. Mm-Hmm. Internal cabling looks nice. Yeah. Especially on carbon. Yeah. But on steel, titanium, aluminum, I think it adds to that whole engineered Mm-Hmm. Kind of look Mm-Hmm. And, um, yeah, for me it’s, it’s, it’s part and parcel of the, of the bike.

It doesn’t really even aesthetically it works for me. Mm-Hmm. And when it does come to replacing a cable, it is gonna be, It’s gonna than and easy. Uh, some of the latest ones with integrated cockpits and things, they are, they’re a pain in the ass.

And I’m not massively, I enjoy electronic gearing. Mm-Hmm. But it’s probably not something that I wouldn’t probably buy. Well let’s have a closer look at the group section. So Shimano G Rx Yes. But as you say, mechanical. Yeah. This is the 11 speed. ’cause when I first received the bike,

This is the actual review bike. Yeah. Um, Came with 11 speakers, 12 speed. GRX wasn’t out at the time. Mm-Hmm. So yeah, this is still using the 11 speed and yet mechanical just because I like the fi, I like the fill through the levers. I like still like the mechanical clunk. Some

Of that has been locked hasn’t it? Yes. Especially as, um, the newer electronic group sets got so smooth and so fast. Yeah. Someone who’s old school lucky Sometimes you don’t know if you change gear or not. Exactly. So yeah, I, I enjoy the clunk. Mm-Hmm. And the um, and everything else.

There is something about a nicely indexed mechanical group set that is just like, Especially on a hill Yeah. When it’s under load. Mm-Hmm. And you can uh, just sweep the change in. Mm-Hmm. The main reason why I wouldn’t go for a mechanical group set lovely bike.

Yeah. Before I say anything rude about it is the shifter size. There’s obviously just more going on in the shifters, especially when you’ve got disc brakes. You’ve obviously got to have a hydraulic reservoir up there. Yeah. And then well all that mechanical goins. Yes.

Um, that’s the only reason I wouldn’t go mechanical I think. Yeah. Yes. That on the gravel I do find it works well. ’cause the taller hoods Yes. Gives you a platform to push again, I guess so when You’re going down Harder to go the bars.

Exactly, yes. So yeah. But I do, yeah. Pros and cons. Um, so gravel bike, gravel group set. Um, a lot of gravel bikes have one bike. How come you didn’t go down that route? Yeah, Purely, um, because I’m gonna ride it a lot on the road and yeah.

I’m being, I’ve been a road rider of the last 25 years. Um, I’m very much with that narrow cadence Yeah. Kind of Thing. Okay. One bike works perfectly on gravel So you don’t want the big jumps. Yeah. The big, I find myself in between gears. Mm-Hmm.

And um, yeah, so one with the two by um, and also obviously being the slightly lower ratios. Yeah. I think they’re 48, 32, I’ll tell you. 48 31. 48 31. That’s why I can climb so well because I thought I was on a 32. Um, but yeah, so four eight.

So it’s slightly, um, lower ratios than 1 0 5 say on their compact at 50 34. Yeah. So if the bike’s loaded up or I’m off road, a slightly lower ratios Mm-Hmm. Offsets the slight weight. Yeah. And what would you sort of spin out at what,

What speed would you get up to on that? Um, on a 48 11, Probably high thirties, low forties I spent miles an hour wise. Yeah. So you’d, I’ve done, no One really wanted to go quicker Than that do they? No, on 30, on 50 11 I’ve done over 50 miles an hour.

Quite a high. He mm-Hmm. So yeah, that easy 45 6 I expect. So, So let’s uh, look at some of the other component choices. So we will start off with big one wheels. Um, yes. They’re carbon, they are, they’re fulcrum, Rapid red, um, they are a gravel wheel set.

Mm-Hmm. About 1,570 grams. I think they Look pretty wide. We weighed them out. Yeah. And just a really nice all round mm-Hmm. Wheel set that I cope with. A bit of abuse, um, ling, which we all know is very important. Yes. And um, yeah, as you say, work with white tires.

Um, yeah, I do have two or three other wheel sets which are wearing gravel tires and 28 mil slicks. Mm-Hmm. So that depending on what I wanna do with the bike, I can literally swap the cassette. Yeah. And the Bros right. For some, isn’t it? Yes It is. Um,

But yeah, so it sort of just makes it quick and easy and versatile to change the bike. So. Oh, I’ve also noticed, even though you’re a bit of an old school kind of guy Yep. It looks like they’re tubeless valves. They set up tubeless. They are. Which isn’t something

That I normally do on my own. Yeah. Except on the road. Are they still At about a hundred Ps? Yes, they are. Yes. They are still rock hard. Yes. I think they’re, I haven’t actually ridden this in a long time. Um, ’cause I’ve had so many test fights. Yeah.

And I don’t wanna get it dirty, so, um, yeah, I literally pumped ’em up the other day and they’re probably about 45 50 PSI on 38 wheel tire, so That’s a lot. Yeah. Comfy eight. But, um, it looks good for the photos, But yeah. Tubeless just for the punctu of traction tube?

Uh, yes, basically. Um, and the fact that I didn’t have any inner tubes of this size when I was building it. Fair enough. But, um, yeah, because I might dark down that gravel track when I’m out Yeah. On the road or like say canal pass like that.

It just, I think tubeless does make a lot of sense off-Road especially. Yeah. Um, just picking up that sharp stone that whatever. So, And we’ve already discussed the, the tires a bit. 38 mil. Yeah. The pan racers, they are just a really good all rounder aren’t they? Yes. Um, if someone asks me

What tires should they put on their commuter or do everything like, then the pan acer, uh, growl king slick is Just, yeah. They, the compound is soft enough that Yeah. You can chuck it into a corner on the road. Mm-Hmm. Um, they still feel quick, they feel supple.

That’s probably the main, main reason why I went for them is the suppleness for a tubeless tire. Yeah. They’ve got that. They give you that road fill. Even at that PSI Probably not, they give you some kind of fill at that PSI, but, um, yeah, it, it matches in

With the whole still fill of the frame. Yes. Through the tires and Mm-Hmm. And everything else. But I believe Pan have just released a new gravel king, haven’t They? They have. I haven’t seen it yet. No. But I, I think they’ve just arrived at the office,

So look out for that on the Rott C website soon. I dunno if Sue’s in charge of reviewing it or If it’s the right color side, it might go on the bike for Review. Yeah. Next, I guess mud guards. Yes. Um, they’re, they’re pretty, uh, what’s the word?

They’re pretty heavy duty should we say. Yes. Um, I’ve always used SKS chromo plastics in the past on all my winter fights, but for this I just wanted to get, do something a bit special because it was a bit Of a Yeah. If you can’t see then these are, They’re Kinesis fend offs.

These are a solid metal affair. Yes. Aluminum, easiest mud guard I’ve ever fitted to a bike. Yeah. I must say. Um, but yeah, just because this is a, this is a bit of a, a dream bike. Mm-Hmm. For me, it wasn’t a bike that I needed, it was a bike that I wanted.

Yeah. So, um, yeah, so I thought I’d go just a little bit, um, special and I just think they really suit, um, the look of the bike. Mm. Well and probably keep a lot of the muck off. They look like they’ve got some really good coverage coming down

There. Yeah. Coverage, um, mud flaps come with them. Mm-Hmm. Um, so yeah. Clean shoes hopefully. And they, they do look like they won’t rub, which is my main bug bear with, There’s no Yeah. No que Especially in the rear one. Yeah. I can’t deal with rubbing anything really, but especially my

Guard. No. Rather than no rubbing, no, no movement. Full stop to be honest. They do look like a, they’re a proper bit of kit then. Yes. Um, so what else have we got on the bike seat? Post Seat post is A masterpiece. Yeah. Thompson Masterpiece. I reviewed that a long time ago. Mm-Hmm.

But it’s one that I just is swapped from bike to bike. I just, yeah. It’s a seat post. It does it, it holds a saddle. It does its job. It’s nothing special in that part. I just love the engineered look again of it. Yeah. When the machined finished.

Um, and I like the inline, I I on preference by riding inline seat post. Mm-Hmm. And I just love, um, Yeah, it’s just, I’ve got a Thompson masterpiece on my growl bike, so Yeah. I’m also a fan of, fan of that. Yeah. Um, I believe it’s got titanium screws up

For it on the masterpiece version. Yes. Um, saddle Saddle Alia 3D printed. Yes. That’s not very old school either. No, you’re changing. I know. Um, Maybe for the better, I’m not sure. Well to offset that. Super hard tires. I super soft saddle and um, I’ve ridden quite a lot of 3D printed saddles

From, we have had quite a lot. Yeah. Specialized, released recently Physique. Um, and this and I, I do think they’re brilliant. Mm-Hmm. They’re just, you know, they’re light. Um, they have that comfort from the squid from the mesh. Yes. But they don’t, they it’s, they’re Goldilocks basically. They’re absolutely bang on for me.

I like a lot of road trail from the bike, but Yeah. You know, so I want a little bit of padding, not, I don’t wanna be isolated, but Yeah. And those just work and I think it looks rather nice as well if I’m Honest. There is certain components where 3D printing is

I think being used as a bit of a gimmick. Yes. SALs I don’t think is one of them. No, you can print. So I dunno where this one’s it’s proper hard at the, at the front there and then we’ll get soft in the middle and then a bit harder at the back

And they can tune that density. Yeah. For every little, for every millimeter of that saddle. And it’s the carbon rail version of, so it’s probably quite light as well. Yes. Um, short nose saddle. Have you always used a short nose saddle or is that something that you’ve come

Through recently? Oh yeah. Only since I’ve started reviewing them. Yeah. That um, I just found, if anything I was the other way. Mm-Hmm. When the physics Ariana originally came out. Yeah. You know, the first long saddle I went in that direction. Mm-Hmm. But over the years, yeah, I’ve kind of saddle.

I’ve also migrated onto the, the short nose saddles. Yeah. It’s personally something I find. And as you can probably see by the setup, I do like quite a tos, saddle low front end. Yeah. And it does Matter. So Yes. You know, I, But don’t copy that. Uh, Yeah. My back is

Knackered but I do look good, uh, when on the bike. But um, yeah, so the short nose just helps that you’ve got less material when you’re, when you’re crouched down in the um, in the drops. Mm-Hmm. We’ve got some hope finishing kit. Um, yes. Headset, a seat post clamp.

And is there any other hope bits? No, that’s it is part of the, the package Top cap as Well. Top cap, yeah. Part of the package when you buy a fair like Oh, okay. You can have, Yeah. Um, the hope finishing kit in different anodized colors. So this one came with the silver,

The top cap I actually had on another bike, so I just brought that across to MM-Hmm. Tie it all in. But it’s just all those little extra dinginess As tidy and fits with the British and the British theme. Yes. British engineering. Yes. Um, Richie, I don’t think that is British.

I dunno where they’re from. Anyone know where? Richie’s from America? It’s got to be American. Um, don’t bother letting us know in the comments section below. Uh, just that we’re idiots for not getting that immediately. Um, STEM and bars, they’re matching. Yes. That’s quite nice. They’ve Got a match. Um,

Yeah, ideally I would like to have seat posts and everything matching, but yeah. I can live with it. Um, again, this is two components that I reviewed quite a few years ago. Yeah. And I’ve just kind of hung on them and moved them from bike to bike

Because I just, I love the shape, I love the paint finish they use. Which mm-Hmm. It looks almost carbon. Yeah. You could mistake that for carbon very easily. Yeah. Especially those bars and um, but they’re not, are they? No, no. They are alloy. Mm-Hmm.

They’re, it’s the WWCS range, so it’s a top end alloy. The flat top. It adds a bit of comfort. They’ve got a lovely little sweet back as well. I’ll teach you how to do some bar tape wrapping one day, Stu. Yeah. Well again, that’ll be changed probably

For the next review product within a week, so I don’t worry too much about it, but um, but yeah. And I’ve gone quite a wide bar as well. Wider than probably most would ride on the road. Mm-Hmm. Because it just gives that extra stability. Yeah. On the gravel you head off road. Yeah.

When I put the bike, the frame bags and that on and add a bit of weight to it. Mm-Hmm. It just More stability All a little bit. Um, speaking of bar tape. Yes. Lizard skin Lizard skins is, isn’t it? Yes. I’ve, I’ve used lizard skins on my own bikes for years.

You, I just like it. Yeah. I like the finish, I like the colors and I like the comfort and it and it cleans and it’s Pretty grippy. Yes. Um, dry and wet. Yes. Some bar tapes you get, they’re really grippy in the dry. Yes. And then as soon as you sweat

Or you get a bit of moisture. Yeah. Which we do get in the UK quite a bit, don’t we? Yeah. Um, and it’s just like, yeah, you can’t grab it. But yeah, lizard skin’s pretty good I Think. And I don’t wear gloves. No. In the winter I wear gloves for warmth, but Mm-Hmm.

In the summer and spring I don’t wear. Yeah. And it’s ever so I, I I like it. Yeah. Like you say a grippy comfortable. Mm-Hmm. Um, bar tape. What have we missed then? Um, Bolts. Bolts, um, gone. Yes. Tell us about them. They were all silver, which looked pretty cool

And tied in with the hope components. But um, a little bit of late night on lights scrolling. Found these orange ones just to pick up the Orange. They do match well with that, Don’t they? Yeah. Um, they are disc rotor bolts so they won’t be used to carry any huge load ’cause they’re

Dinky. Yeah. But while I’m not carrying any load, I think it just looks like mm-Hmm. So and there’s no bottle cages on it? No, I don’t drink on the bike. Um, if I get that thirsty I stop at a petrol station and grab a bottle of coke or water or something.

Okay. Um, yeah, so More things that you shouldn’t copy. Yeah. And I’ve never found a cup and or a bottle cage that I really like the look of to match this bike. It must be like a silver titanium sort of, you know, one of those like minimalist ones But very expensive. They’re

Very expensive few I’ve seen and as I don’t carry a bottle it’s kind of, I might as well just staple a 50 quid note to the Yeah. Frame. Yeah, you might as well. Anyway, this is why we don’t let Stew write any of the nutrition or Yes. Or those sorts of features.

Yes. There is one coming up on dehydration and how you call it. Yeah. Tell us a bit more about the paint then. Um, did you choose that color? No, that was it. This, as I said, was actually the review bike that came in. Yeah. So, um, I didn’t actually choose the color,

But I think it is definitely the one that I would choose. Mm-Hmm. Because it is the limited edition iridescent plum. Is it So cranky. It’s a hundred pound extra but it’s metallic and it’s a blue purple flip. So as you move around the bike it changes from blue to

Purple eye. We’ll try and get some shots in a minute. Yes. It looked absolutely stunning in the sun. I do also know that you’ve spent a lot of time polishing this Up. I do have a slight fetish for detailing, um, and stuff. So yes, this has been waxed.

Um, probably more times as it’s been ridden Mm-Hmm. Since I bought it off of uh, Fairlight. Um, yeah. And it’ll probably be ceramic coated at some point this year. Yeah. Just for pure. Do you wanna let us in on the secrets of what products you use to do that?

Uh, that one is a MAs I think. I think that’s how you pronounce it. McGuire’s McGuire. I don’t know, it’s, I Dunno, but Carb it Car, it it a, it’s a car. It’s a car. Yeah. Um, it’s their high-end wax, like 50 quid aton job stuff that I use on the car Yeah.

That I’ve used on that. And it’s um, yes, it makes it pop as they say on YouTube. Uh, They do now, um, final bit I think. Look Pedals? Yes. I use Shimano Pedals personally. Why, why? Look Purely ’cause they were cheap. Uh, they were literally, yeah,

They are I think just like their entry level. Yeah. Um, pedals, I normally ride Shimano. I’ve got like a fleet Mm-Hmm. Of um, basic Shimano pedals which go across to all the review bikes, but they are battered and scuffed and scratched and everything else.

So yes, I was just looking for a cheap pair of pedals. Nice and quickly. I have got look, I have used look in the past so I do have the cleats and everything else. Yeah. So I went for them purely ’cause they are uns scuffed Also. I heard

A rumor going around the office. Yeah. Hitting you in a bit of a bad line. No. Um, that you use knockoff. Look cleats. No. Is that true? Knockoff shiano cleats. Oh, Okay. On fried. Yeah. And um, yeah, it’s like wearing ice skates. They are. Um, But they do work in the pedal though.

They work in the pedals eventually. Yeah. Haven’t broken us that they take, they take a little bit of bedding in. Yeah. But yeah, the moment you touch tire, they’re worse than like the speed play. Oh, metal on tarmac. These are, these are worse. You’ll be on your back before you know

It. I think I’m gonna stick to the legitimate ones. It’s, It’s worth paying the extra for the, Oh, we’ve learned the hard way. Have we? Um, well I think that’s, that’s everything. Let us know what you think of stew’s. Bike down in the comment section below as well as anything

That you think you should change. Uh, thank you very much for watching. Make sure you’re subscribed to the channel. See lots more cool bikes and we’ll see you next time. Nice. Nailed it. Yeah, that was cool.