I recently got the opportunity to have look behind the scenes at Fairlight Cycles in London to see how the brand has become one of the most exciting in the UK
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In today’s video, we are going behind the scenes with one of the most exciting bike brands right now, Felite Cycles. And you’ll know I love this brand for their amazing attention to detail, the ride quality, the looks, and the geometry. And in a recent visit to their small industrial unit in North London, I went behind the scenes with Dom Thomas, the designer behind all their bikes, their steel, road, gravel, and touring bikes. And these are bikes that really resonate with lots of us cycling enthusiasts who aren’t racing. We’re not driven by what the pros are riding. We want a really nice versatile fourseason bike for the riding we actually do. And in my opinion, for nearly the last 10 years, this small bike brand has been redefining what makes a bike truly special. So, let’s dive in and go behind the scenes. Hi guys, welcome to Fair Light. Um, so once you’ve placed an order, this is where the I guess the order starts, the picking of the order. So this is our sort of storage room at the front. We store Shimano in here, FSA, uh, machine parts. So down here we’ve got um Bentley dropouts, axles, various hangers, you standard hanger, direct mount, um disc mounts, and over here we’ve got lots of Chris King, Hope, all different colors. Everything in pick bins, um King cages, dynamos, um Shimano, spare parts. So yeah, everything’s sort of organized in here. Everything you need. Everything we need. And we’ve got Lucas over here. So Luke’s looking after this area. Um and yeah, making sure everything is in place. He’s responsible for the picking. So he makes sure everything’s sorted out and that you know when we prose it’s happens smoothly. These are all the builds we’ll be doing this week. So we’re doing around 50 builds a week at the moment. And um there’s different flags on here. So boxed, picked, complete, part picked. So the first job is to pick the order. So, when we have a customer’s order, which will we’ll probably had for several months, maybe some weeks, but obviously there’s a bit of a lead time. Everything will be picked, put in a box with the customer’s name. By the end of the day or a couple of times a day, this trolley will be full of boxes. Um, and it’ll get wheeled through to the other end of the building. And, uh, yeah, the next part goes over to mechanics. So, where where we then surrounded by boxes? Yeah. So, we’re surrounded by boxes. So, it’s obviously the dispatch area. So, empty now. There’s a big collection earlier which you saw. Yes. All the all the frames going out across the world. Um so we ship all over the world. Um and yeah, this is our frame storage. So um everything’s you see here stra pearlescent blue. That’s the newest color on the strail. Um and then we’ve got stealths ochresc. Yeah. So this is most of our frame storage. We have another unit opposite where we got more frames. Are these frames sold? Yeah. So, the well, the majority of stuff in here will be sold. Um, wow. So, we have a lot of back orders at the moment, which is great. We’re grateful for that. But, there’ll be odd frame that’s free, certain sizes, certain colors, but, you know, even if it’s on the shelf and the customers placing that order, you know, our build schedule is full until September. Um, we’ve got that, you know, that’s when we always got the system. So, I think people don’t understand when they place an order and kind of get it sooner. It’s not just if the frame is here in the building, it’s the capacity in the workshop to do it and to do it our way with the quality, the reaming, the facing, which we’ll look at in a minute and preparing the frame to our level. Um, but yeah, so most of the stuff here is a good certainly good chunk of it will be sold to to orders that are booked in the system and obviously we have, you know, a lot of these trains arrived last week or some other sorry the last arrived last week. So we have containers arriving at the moment every four to six weeks. um with different models in um yeah so it’s logistically getting more of a challenge as we grow into sort of a mediumsiz business I guess um yes this is all frames over here more frames here and then the back here we’ve got frames uh wheels so we do a lot of hope um hope have lots of different colors so we we try and carry a decent stock of hope wheels hunt wheels, DT Swiss wheels at the end. Um, so yeah, I mean it only takes to have to not have one part and it it can store things. So always trying to get that balance between how much stock can we sit on. Yeah. Trying to be nimble as well. Um, so we have, you know, Finn and John looking after that, doing a great job at sort of keeping us efficient. Um, but it takes constant work to do that. Um, so yeah. So, if we go back through here. And who’s this then? Who’s this? This is Monty. Hey, Monty. Little Monty. Office dog. Office dog. Bruno as well. Um, that’s my office in here. This where the magic happens then. Do the HQ sometimes. So, uh, yeah, it’s just mainly where I’m doing stuff. Um, depending what phase we’re at, so we’re doing a lot. Well, always doing design, but top graphics. Yeah, that’s from the SAN 3. Wow, that’s some detailed two. So, that’s some the circles are some final bits. Um, I was looking at that attention to detail. And that was the cable guide. So, obviously that’s some of um trying to find little details. We got modernist detail. We end up with that. Just adding something that had a small amount of detail, a little bit of care. Um, imagine it’s a a tool you use a lot. Tool us a lot. Yeah. The guys always moan because whenever we do the design notes, they have these cheap part calipers, which I’ve had since I was training. So, they bought me some uh some fancy ones. Matoyo, which are still in the box cuz I’m kind of attached to these. Well, they work, don’t they? Uh, so yeah, we got graphics here. So, you doing a lot of the get to the end. I mean, two weeks ago, my desk was spoiled with stuff. Just signed off on hold to be honest. Well, yeah, it’s organized. Functionally organized. Uh, so whole graphics we’ve just finished mocked up there on an old frame. Um, tubing, lots of tubing samples behind there. So, all the custom tubes that, you know, usually take a few versions to get right. I’m pretty bidious with archiving of stuff. So, tubes everywhere. Yeah. Wow. And samples. So, um, drop different versions of dropouts. So, if everything gets listed, archived, so if there’s ever a, you know, an issue or something I want to look back on, I can grab a bag and I know that I’ve got a sample of a particular run and color samples as well. Paint samples. Um, yeah. So, do you use a Oh, row. Um, it depends. And that particular color is a row, but panone. Oh, see T paint code. So, really depends and a lot of the samples there over, you know. Oh, that’s nice. years and years. That’s the moss that we do on the Faren and the Halt. Nice. Yeah. What’s the Is there a color over the years that been the most popular since you launched all those years ago? One color that stood out as a I guess the most successful. Probably a single color we’ve sold the most plum. The iridescent plum. um that was sort of brought through as a limited edition and we’ve never really dropped it. It’s been dropped on the stra now. I still do on the s um and continues to sell pretty I mean it’s not the best the desert’s the best seller on s stray is stealth and oak are both doing really well. Faren moss does well and then the halt again think moss is the best seller on that. Um but it’s always subjective so always trying to do something new but um yeah it’s some colors will go away and maybe come back again. Um, but yeah, the plum was probably overall volume over the years. We’ve done a lot of those. Um, but yeah, it’s sort of just about going away for a bit now and then we might bring it back in a few years, whatever. Drawings, various drawings, ideas, sketches. That’s a um stuff that I’m always so you know it’s sort of organized but um yeah tubing drawings that we’re working on cuz at the end of the day ultimately when we do products we have to put a signature on and that’s our sign off. So nothing we do is off the shelf whether it’s dropouts tubing cable guides just about every small detail is designed in house. Um so you know one of the lessons I’ve certainly learned um doesn’t maybe come natural to me is like being diligent. um you know um just check check check check check check check check and then sign off. So just that diligence because obviously a lot rides on it in terms of investment or time more than anything and yeah obviously we work with great partners Bentley Reynolds these people that um you know really couldn’t do without them. So yeah. Um then we’ve got Rance’s customer service and Finn. That’s Findle’s um purchasing and he’s sort of the general if you like. So he’s linking up different parts of the business. Um keeping everything organized. Um so that’s his dog Bruno. Another office dog. Hey Schnozle. You’re a good boy, aren’t you? So yeah, obviously we’ve got a lot of stuff out there now. So a lot of that falls on to sort of manage all of that. And we’ve got seven David who uh looking at customer service. When that order is placed, it’s going through to here. David’s uploading it onto the system into the build slots. Um and then the customer has to confirm the order. Then it goes onto our backend system, which is deer. So in the front room, we saw uh Luke putting some boxes onto trolleys or the trolley. So those, you know, I don’t know, maybe two or three times a week. The trolley be will down to the side and build boxes will be placed in this racking these two racks here. So obviously we’re sort of halfway through the week. So he’s doing some more at the moment. The little ones are frames. So you know frame set will typically have axles, dropouts, grommets, um headset, seat clamp, which this customer isn’t having. How many people are buying frame sets versus complete bikes? Is there It’s about 2/3 bikes, a third frames. So, um, you know, we we do offer obviously quite a lot of customization. Um, and well priced, good buyers will be bikes are popular, but because it’s a high-end steel frame, there’s always that customer that want it their way. So, I think because the market we’re in, the products you make, there’s always going to be a demand for frame sets. Um, and we understand that, you know, we’re all massively into it. We all probably do frame set builds ourselves because certain components we want. But yeah, we we do bikes is our sort of bread and butter, I guess. is that you know say two/3 of the what we’re putting out but even if you buy a frame set it’s not off the shelf it still goes through this process everything goes through the process and prepared yeah so there’s no you might think it comes off the shelf in a box and yeah I mean obviously that I guess in some ways that would make our life easier if we took an order and we did have a free frame in a certain size and a certain color we can just pick it ship it but that’s not the way we do it every single frame is put in it’s reamemed it’s faced every bolt is greased um tapped um headset seat clamper fitted if they want it, which is most customers go for that. We don’t charge for any of that. Um and yeah, just a tremendous level of care that goes into each one. So when you get out of the box, it’s you you just sense that care straight away. You know, this has been done to a I don’t take it to a shop. It’s been done to a level which is, you know, that’s the fairlight level. And we’ve always done it like that. We know how important word of mouth quality care is for for a brand like us for our size and just knowing that what we buy into the world. We’ve put a lot of attention into it. So um and being aware those things have in the back of your mind because there’s always these sort of danger of looking at spreadsheet. We can save a bit here, save bit there. You know those are really important things that what the customer sees, what they get, the feeling they get. That’s more important than any of that other stuff that we might be concerned about. that it’s a feelings game, you know, fundamentally. So, and then the guys, the mechanics in here. Yeah. How many mechanics in here then? So, we’ve got five. George is on his lunch. So, we got B Yanash who runs the workshop. And there’s Simon Will. Um, yeah. So, um, five mechanics in here, and what they’ll do is they will come onto the computer here. So, this is the same system we had for there. So, a typical week of builds will be one that says picked complete. So, if it’s picked complete, it’s in green, they know they can go and crack on with that build. They’ll put they’ll print off the build sheet. This was yours. Um, so obviously yours was um sec. But when they print that sheet off, it says the model uh the color, the frame size, but it’s got the frame number on there. So sorry it’s the uh point of order you allocate a specific frame that is in production or in a future production. So the guys will take this sheet they’ll come through here they’ll get the customer’s name see yours has already been picked Dave Arthur and see if this was yours Dave Arthur. Go and find the frame number. So on the end of the box we have the frame number. So we have a frame number and a fork number. So when these frames come in, Vin um and Luke will scan the frames in. So one of them is the frame set number and the fork number. So they’re linked together. Um just for sort of, you know, so we have that record on the system. Every customer doesn’t know the frame, know the exact carbon fork, what battery it was from that goes to them. Um, so yeah, they they’ll go around, they’ll find they know what size and color they’re looking for, and then they’ll find the frame number, pull it off the shelf, grab a build box, grab a pair of wheels, um, obviously yours will zip wheels, which I haven’t got, but they maybe we hope with a purple hub. Grab a pair of those wheels back into the workshop and then we’ll start the build. So yeah um obviously as with your frame reamemed faced that’s sort of an hour at the beginning of the process is just preparing the frame. Um if it’s a frame set the headset seat clamp will go on and if it’s a full bike obviously all the other parts will go on. That’s definitely important to you and the preparing the frame the reaming and the facing. Yeah I mean definitely it’s just like I say it’s just um there’ll be first be inspection and it’s just getting that quality. so that the customer hasn’t got to do any of that stuff. I mean, it just it’s very we get emails all the time customers saying um you know blown away by the quality of the frame set or the bike um because you know what it’s like when you get something nice out of a box, you notice it um and the care that went into it. And also it’s funny I even surprises me when I’m designing it. You never get a sense of scale from a photograph. So you see a big dropout blown up in a lookbook and then when you see it on an actual frame, you realize how small it is or the plate and how it all goes together and it’s it’s almost more well it is more impressive in real life than we could put in a photograph. Um and the shaping and the flattening and I think as I’ve said to you before in a video it’s when you see a fair light something in your head is saying it’s a very you know it’s a functional product. There’s so much going on with it in terms of the forming and the shaping and everything and the CNC machining. Um yeah, so this has been prepped. You can see it’s been placed head tubes and fac hasn’t been moved and faced yet this one. Um so that’ll be next. And then these are various sort of I guess consumables that the guys will have through this. So, um, bolts, the frame bolts, the bolts already in the frame, but there’s different bolts, things like cable guides, clips for disc brakes, cable protectors, um, DI2 things for the seat post. Dang, I’m going nuts. Yeah, cable guides. So, you know, stra their own 3D print pretty guides. These are the sec 2 by grommets. One by and two by cable guides. And then yeah, grommets, um, olives, spurs, bolts for disc brakes. So, it’s just makes sense to have this through here cuz I said they’re using a lot of it and it’s at hand and even if some of it might be the frame, it just it’ll slow us down if we don’t have it. So, we keep a good stock of stuff through here. Um, we do dynamo wheels, a lot of those. So, you can see usually have more than that. Six or seven up there. So we build those in house. That’s quite a popular upgrade now, isn’t it? Yeah, it is. We I mean we always done that since day one. So we do a lot of dyno stuff. Kind of goes hand in hand with the products that we make. Really functional allseason bikes. Um so son hubs, hope rims, and uh there’ll be some times in to come every couple of weeks for someone to build. Usually does a lot of wheel building to build a load of wheels. Um yeah, so it’s uh It’s that’s our operation. So it’s like it’s very common here. I mean how many bikes a day the mechanics doing each? You’re doing 50. Yeah, I mean they do get like say builds at the moment with five trying to do 50 um frames bikes mix and that’s what twoirds bikes um and then there’s drops of so at the moment we’re doing a lot of sans because we had delivery last week. The week before we were and two weeks before we’re just plowing free fars. So you’ll tend to find at any one time it’s generally a certain model and then sometimes you’ll be a mix of all sorts. But yeah is car I think part of the comments because obviously they know they’re on camera shy. Yeah. Um but uh yeah so that’s a nice bike over there, isn’t it? Lovely bike. Yeah. Yeah. Very tidy. Yeah, it’s great. of cardboard packaging. So bikes built put in a box. Yes. So each mechanic is built in from scratch. So every bike is done by a mechanic. So you built your bike from scratch. And if if we were shipping that, obviously we’re not. The next thing to be would be to get a box out. So you you build a bike and then take it apart to Yeah. So it’s it’s fully fully built. Everything goes on. Um, and front wheel comes off, the bar and stem come off and the seat post comes out. A few little bits go in the box. Um, obviously we we bleed the brakes. You saw that earlier. Not bleed the brakes, bed in the brakes. Yes, we bleed the brakes as well. Uh, so that just ensures that when a customer gets it, brakes are ready to go. Um and yeah so these are in boxes and has all the internal ribbing that we can send it overseas which we do every day. We are sending bikes around the world as well. America. Yeah. So you know um obviously UK is a good market for us but we we send a huge amount to the US, Germany, Austria, um Australia, New Zealand not as much but we do so we are we sell all over the world. We’re diet consumer brand. Alex’s race winning. Yeah. What’s this? Quick sidebar on this wash. Yes. This is the Hulk two. It needs a wash. Well, it doesn’t. We’re trying to keep it as it was. So, Alex McCormack, one of our um sponsored riders, he won Helenic Mountain Race on it two weeks ago. He already He’d already won Atlas. So, he’s got two out of the three mountain races this year. Silk Road still to go, but yeah. So, it’s the Halt version three. Halt version two. Two, sorry. So, Halt two. Um, so this was literally pulled off production line. It’s had no phosphate treatment, no ED coat, no paint. So the production frame then it was a production frame. Pulled off the line at the last moment within a week it was here and we built him up. You didn’t try and paint it in that time then? No, because it was literally just pulled off and we thought um you know we can blast it now and it will be hung up or something as a trophy for that. But yeah and uh you know he smashed it. He was happy with the bike then. No, he absolutely loved it. He had a lot of input. So um you know because of the nature of products we make um a lot of them used for ultra racing functional tools we um we do rely on that input from our riders especially for the halt because the guys are using it in you know extreme distances demanding and Alex with the Hulk 2 for example um he wanted a slightly steeper head angle uh seat angle so it’s half a degree steeper um we increased the reach by 10 mil um he was adamant along with James Hayden and Marin that we didn’t change the head angle. So with a 110 fork, it’s sagged and sagged. It will be 67 and a half. Okay. 67 with a 120. And that that’s sagged and not static. But you know, it’s a bike that’s got to go long up and down. So, and again, it’s a tool. So, you know, we’re not looking at trends. We’re looking at trying to devise the best product we can for the intention, for the purpose. And yeah, he loved it. He sent some great messages to us saying, “Guys, thanks for buying.” He felt good in there. He like the changes we’ve made and I say he smashed the record by 17 hours. Not 17 hours. Yeah. Not that that’s all about it’s not it’s about him. He’s an amazing athlete, great mindset and really inspiring stuff but he felt good on the bike. The bike helps. He had some input and you know that made him feel better and there’s a value to that. I do like this uh the raw Yeah, it’s nice, isn’t it? Finish and he chucked it down so there’s obviously rust on it. Yeah, but it’s just surface rust. So, yeah, actually on every frame that comes out. So, every frame is phosphate dipped. So, the frames, you know, it’s good for life. As long as you got that coating there, it’s not it’s going to last like a stainless steel frame would. It’s never going to rust. Um, so we do that in every single frame. So, and then that’s on the outside of the frame as well. Obviously, the paint goes over the top. Um, and we get asked a lot for raw frames. Can you get a raw frame? Even a raw frame with phosphate and a lacquer. Obviously you can’t even coat it because it go black. It doesn’t roar. Eventually you’re going to get little rust veins over five years maybe and you know people will be like oh I don’t want that. So that’s why we don’t do a war frame. I never heard of anybody requesting raw steel. Raw tie obviously is. Yeah. No we get asked a lot because I think maybe because the design notes because it looks so okay purposeful. Yes. And everything. You can kind of see the forming very clearly when it’s raw that people want that finish and it does look great and you one of the mechanists has has got a bar who built your bike. He’s got a far and a can older models he’s done in raw. Okay. A local paint shop and he’s happy for those. I mean they might not last forever or they will last have maybe little streaks. So we just it’s not something we do. We’re just making sure every frame has got that um protection so it’s going to be good for you know the life of the bike. Um, but yeah, when the when the guys have boxed the frame or the bike. So, here the last destination for this is a uh box bike. So, that’s what it looks like when it’s been boxed. So, you’ve got like a a box here. So, when the customer service guys will come out and put an invoice in here, actually, you know, Luke will do that and put the invoice in here. Um, close the box. You’ve got your seat post spokes, D2 parts. Then you’ve got the little labels here that Finn made to let you know that something you need to do. And that matches um a little thing here which on the other side has the same stripes. So you match the two together. Okay. It just says what you need to make sure you plug your wire into the battery. That’s cool. Dynamo grommets, carbon assembly paste. Um that’s the knuckle off the mech because this is all our Shimano bikes ship as direct mount. So we we give the customer that back in case they want to use on another bike that maybe hasn’t got a diar in the future. So they get that brake pad. Um uh what do you call it? Like a oh spacer. A spacer if they want to transport the bike without the front wheel. Um and yeah, so it’s covered in in foam and then everything the bars go around and we’ve got cardboard dividers that hold it in place. The bar the bike is support on both sides. The wheel fits in here. You’ve got slots in the base for all these parts. And yeah, we can confidently and happily ship those all around the world and they all arrive safely. Yeah. So that’s what we do. We’re just sort of very conscious of quality, consistency. Um it’s really the core of how we’ve built the business and um we’re up to a dozen people now, but we’re still a small mediumsiz business, but we’re just focused on the same things and trying to um just do the best we can. And each we’ve grown every year. Um and yeah, it’s it’s touchwood, it’s going okay, but keep our feet in the ground. It’s manufacturing is really hard. Got to be diligent. Um you got to when issues arise, you’ve got to treat it as a challenge, not they get you down because it’s really those sort of things that define you. Not you can easily say, “Oh great, we had a good review, but actually celebrate that for a day.” But the thing that really makes the difference is when something when a challenge occurs that you can divert your energy towards that and as a team come together and say you know we’re going to get through this because we know this is what’s going to separate us. That is it. Some staff bikes not just fair various things people are a lot you know everyone here’s worked in the industry for pretty much their whole time. So we got a stray an old stadium frame here. This is Yanos’s halt. commutes on parts far flat bar faren. Oh yeah, that’s cool. With um sort of different colored anodized parts. How long has the company been going now and what’s the sort of the next step? What’s the the next So the company’s been going since we were trading in 2016. So we’ll be a decade old next year. Wow. Flown by. Um which has flown by. Um and what’s next? I mean obviously we’re always working on new products um and always trying to evolute evolve our existing range um so we’re not necessarily trying to cover every single base in the market. We have um the key bases covered that of the sort of bikes that we’re interested in that people want to ride and we try and make those the best they can be. Um and obviously that kind of shows in our business. We’re on version four stra now. Version three sakan, version three famin, version two halt. Um, and yeah, just to keep doing what we’re doing. Like I said, the world is our market. Um, I’m sure if you went into a cycle shop in somewhere in the US and you mentioned Fair Light and they might know us, but they probably won’t because you know, we’re still small in the UK, everyone might know us. And and um yes, there’s a lot there’s a lot to grow into. I mean, not that it’s all about growth. It’s about um building a good solid business, good foundations, absolutely being focused on quality and design in innovation within our little sector. Um and just seeing where that takes us, I guess in that near 10 years. Yeah, you have quite a tight range of just four models, but one of them’s up to fourth version. Yeah. That being a deliberate, you haven’t scaled up and tried to hit every niche and diversify. You kept it quite tight and focused. That’s been a clear deliberate move, hasn’t it, on your part? Yeah. Because brands might have expanded beyond that in the 10 years of me going with more segments. I mean, there’s obviously within the sort of niche that is steel bikes, there is um lots of subniches across categories. There’ll be brands that do have five or six different grabber bikes each covering maybe a different tire size or um you know, slight niches within that. But um I think again it’s a philosophy thing. It’s you can you can do lots of things and you know hit price points and try and cover every base or you can focus very um well put a lot of focus into a smaller range and try and make a few things that are hopefully you know um class leading products that um that you believe in that you put the work in that are genuinely good products. And um also it’s about being true to does does the bike have a a sort of purpose to exist? So you one of the things that I was asked recently by another journalist and it’s a good question was would um have you not thought of doing a a stripped down sort of race strail, no mud guard mounts, shorter chain stays, um you know, no dynamo routine, just really racy. I’ve done those bikes in the past like Genesis project, the Bellaris that I did. Um, and that would be interesting, but actually we’re never going to be able to compete for a pure race bike versus a a tarmac or something or whereas the strail as it exists has an absolute reason to exist as a product. the functionality that you’re not getting on on many of those combs because they’re going after a different market and the minimalism and integration whereas we’re making tools that you can you know fix it in the field that designed for racing or practical use and yet at the same time honing in on design making as light as we can making it as compliant as we can beautiful CNC machining and you would look at that product and go actually this absolutely has a reason to exist the material works really well for this product Um, and you could probably say about all our products. They have a reason to exist. They can be compared against other materials. And I think that is part of why we’ve had look very fortunately had so many great reviews over the years and where they are being compared to other bikes at other materials, other you know price points and have come out um in some cases like you know top because the journalists can see this I totally guess why this product exists. It’s not, it is a niche material, but it’s um it has a reason to exist and and it’s yes, it’s it’s using the benefits of the material and everything. So, that’s also why the range is quite small. You it’s trying to make genuine products. Um, of course, there’s others we could do. Um, but actually there’s only so much time, there’s only so much focus and you have to sort of choose your horses. Um, and our range I’m sure will get bigger over time and maybe in a few years we’ll have six, seven, eight bites. I don’t know. Um, but we’ll have to think very hard about what they are, why they exist, what we’re trying to do with them. Um, which of course we think about all the time. But yeah.
27 Comments
No nonsense.. more power to ya, Cousin! From PNW WA USA
I have the Faran 3.0 on order for December gutted they didn't do it in Sand, i have got eh moss but may end up spraying 🙂 either way i cant wait to not have carbon forks 🙂
Great video. I will own a Fairlight someday…
@2:40 Meet Monty, the Dispatch Manager, and the Brains behind Fairlight Cycles.
Nice video, got an Ochre Strael due in November, can’t wait.
Their prototype size 48 Strael got me very excited. I can finally recommend Fairlight to my friends if more smaller sizes exist.
Genuine question : Is this a Chinese/Taiwanese manufactured bike (frame, groupset + wheels), but designed and assembled in the UK? Or is it similar to a Stanforth frame?
Thanks to you David , I have a Secan coming is a couple of weeks! Can’t wait !
What a coincidence that you do an episode about Fairlight. My strael is probably in that room has its shipping date is next week. So looking forwards to clocking the miles on it. Thanks for sharing 😊
When is a Strael 4.0 Review coming ? 😊
Partly due to your enthousiasm for the secan I’m riding a one as well for years now, still loving it! I do gravel, mountain trails and long distance tours and it always offers me a great ride. Their service is fantastic and hassle free as well!
Good timing David. I'm just about to enjoy a ramble on my now "vintage" Secan (2020). Still love it, still buttery smooth and I ride it more than the carbon road bike. I would never say no to a Strael! ❤😊
So bummed the US is charging an extra 20% import tariff on these lovely bikes now.
Oooh… been in there and got to meet them when I picked up my Faran 3.0. Great company, fantastic to deal with, communicated well and didn't over complicate things, kept it simple, offered solutions they could meet when situations changed, kept to their word and commitment, and great bikes to boot. I now have 3.5k km on the Faran, and 2.5k on the Strael frame I purchased (shipped to NZ), fantastic bikes.
Picked about my Secan from their office a few months back. What a bike, truly special. Love the small company aura they have, I hope they don’t loose that as they grow. Even the bar tape way applied meticulously 👌. Pretty sure I’m a customer for life.
Definitely gonna be my 2026 purchase.
Super happy with my plum Strael, so much so I’ve just ordered a burnt orange Secan hopefully for November. Watching this video has just made the whole thing seem super inclusive and more personalised. You should all be rightfully proud of the Fairlight brand, exceptional bikes that’s for sure.
I got a Strael 4.0 frameset and I'm very happy with it. I started acquiring parts for this build before I knew about Fairlight. I'm German and I need SON lights and a SON dynamo. And Fairlight is actually offering their bikes with it. So my future Secan will be a complete bike.
Sorry I sound like a cheap bought commenter but I'm a real customer. And I wanted to recommend this brand.
I count myself lucky having one of their bikes (a Secan 2.5). A great bike, great philosophy, and a great company. Top notch service!
I personally commute on a steel kaffenback that's made in Taiwan as well!
I think it has an amazing ride quality and value for money!
You can pick a different bar/stem widths lengthens,wheels,seat etc.
For the price of £800 you can't go wrong for that price for a steel frame,carbon fork bike.
I think fairlight is a lot more expensive,again they have some lovely bikes.
I personally think you can't go wrong with planet X the kaffenback ride quality crisp responsive,and snappy!
I wonder if my pearlescent blue Strael is there??
Funny this video was suggested to me. I was out on a ride last Saturday, stopped at a coffee shop , and there was a guy with a Fairlight. First one I had ever seen and probably the only one in the area. Beautifully simple looking steel bike.
Good to see the Fairlight setup. My 2022 Strael 3 is so nice to ride every time. I did change the 105 chainset and front mech for GRX 46/30 as im not able to put out enough power to drive 50/11or12.
If possible can you please review the new Scott Addict 🙂 Would be very curious if you like it more than the Giant Defy Advanced!
nice to see reasonable pricing some small brands are just hilarious nowadays
Fairlight treated me really well several years ago when I needed to cancel an order for personal reasons. I’ve kept reading their Design Notes ever since & just ordered two framesets, Secan 3.0 & Strael 4.0. Never actually seen one though…
They make some awesome looking bikes