Fairlight Cycles

What an absolutely stunning Holt 2.0 build from @bennosellin . And perfect timing too, as finally the M, L & XL restock will leave the factory next week. We had a run on L & XL last September to December and have been out of stock since. Benno will be taking the bike to ride @lesperitdelbikepacking El Piri this year, an event we’re once again supporting. Two of our staff members, Luke & Sam, are also heading over to ride it too, but more on that soon. Anyway, onto the build. Here’s the full run-through from Benno: • Frame: Fairlight Holt 2.0 Moss Large • Fork: RockShox SID Ultimate 120mm Remote • Gearing: SRAM Transmission XX SL 10–52 with a Garbaruk 32T oval up front. “I wanted SRAM AXS because they have Blips.” • Brakes: Shimano XTR 4-piston with 180mm rotors. “Because I am not the lightest rider and I ride a lot in the mountains with a packed bike.” • Wheelset: @hunt.beyond Proven Dynamo XC 29”. “Possibly the best available option for a light XC wheelset with a dynamo hub out there and feels so snappy.” • Tyres: @vittoriatires Barzo & Mezcal 29” x 2.25 tan wall • Bar: Ritchey Classic Riser shortened to 760mm • Aero Bars: Profile Design • Grips: Ergon GA3 and SQLab 402 inner bar ends • Stem: Cane Creek • Saddle: Fizik Terra Argo • Dropper: Pro Tharsis • Remote: Orbea Squidlock • Dynamo + lights: SON28 with SON Ladelux and SON Rücklicht K. “Can charge all my devices on the go and has a high beam as well as StVZO compliance.” • Custom frame bag + food pouches: @von_berg_bags . “One is for gummy bears and the other for a camera.” • Top tube bag: @restrap • Cargo pack + cages: @tailfincycling alongside a couple of cages and FixPlus straps • Handlebar roll bag: @ortlieb_waterproof Enjoy it Benno, and do catch up with Luke and Sam at El Piri. Thank you for the wonderful photos, we really appreciate the effort. Have a lovely weekend everyone. #fitfunctionform

NLD9 - part 1. @northlondondirt was a vibe. Sun, dust, smiles. As always, we provided pizzas for every rider and this year we once again set up our photo booth with @lloydjwright behind the camera. By all accounts the route for this addition was amazing. As ever, loads of Fairlights were out there and here are a few of them. We’ll post a few more later in the week. Credit, as always, goes to the Diprose brothers (Philip and Andrew). Every penny goes to a worthwhile cause and they give an awful lot of themselves to make it happen. That is extremely cool in my books. Thank you to everyone that came over to say hello. If you rode the event, expect an email from the Diproses with a link to the huge gallery.

STAFF BUILD This is Fins Burnt Orange Secan 3.0 in size 58T. The build is a mix of new and used parts. The used parts came straight off his Secan 2.5 - he wanted the bigger tyre clearance of the v3.0. Anyway, lots of good stuff on this build! Full spec below: Headset & seat clamp: @chriskingbuzz Black Chainset: SRAM Force D1 Chainring: @garbaruk_components Bottom bracket: @enduro_bearings Maxhit - lifetime warranty! Rear derailleur: SRAM Force XPLR AXS 12-speed Shifters & brakes: SRAM Rival AXS E1 Wheels: @dtswiss 350 on carbon rims Tyres: @panaracer_world Gravel King SK 50mm Seat post: Reverb AXS XPLR Stem: @canecreekusa GXC GPS/Light mount: Cane Creek Bars: @zippspeed SL70 XPLR Bar tape: Cane Creek Bottle cages: Elite Leggero carbon Have a lovely bank holiday weekend, all! You’ll find me in the lanes and the fields - having a reset. Charging the brain and social battery, the only way I know how; trees, tracks, breeze, freedom. We have been busy (thank you!), so a long weekend is much needed by all. Photos: @nickhillnmd

Team rider @totosupertramp rolled out this morning for the @thetraka Adventure in Girona. It is a little shorter (550km) than he prefers, but it fits well with building form for the TCR in August. “I’m feeling well and looking forward to getting out there and racing hard. The field is incredibly stacked this year and I’m very pleased to line up with so many strong riders. It is shorter than what I am used to, but I have done the work and I am ready to embrace it. The bike is dialled and I am very happy with how it rides. Time to rip it.” Thomas prefers mechanical gearing on all his bikes and we dig that. Bike spec: Frameset: Secan 3.0 51R Pearlescent Blue. Headset and seatclamp: @hopetech silver Crankset: Shimano GRX 820 170mm Derailleur: Shimano GRX 820 Chainring: 44T Cassette: 10–51 Wheels: @lilienthal.bike GX carbon Built by @les_roues_de_l_ecureuil Tyres: @hutchinsoncycling Caracal 45 and Touareg 45 Seatpost: Ritchey Logic Saddle: San Marco Shortcut Supercomfort Bars: FSA Adventure Stem: FSA 70mm Cages: Wolf Tooth Kit: @albion.cycling Luggage and hydration: @restrap Go well Thomas and good luck to everyone out there today. Stay safe, push hard, stay grateful. 📸 @nils_laengner

First ultra. Flat pedals. First place. Credit where it’s due, and this deserves some. A customer who raced the @letourdefrankie in Mexico messaged me yesterday and pointed me towards this. He DNF’d himself, but said the winner was on a Secan: “What this guy has done… it’s insane tbh. He won the race on flat pedals, navigating with his phone, first ever ultra. Proper tough course… I scratched.” 806km 13,000m climbing 55h 32m 1st place 🥇 (175 riders!) Brutal stats. Deeply impressive. Chapeau Thomas @tvlaake . Delighted for you. Hope you’re enjoying some cold beers 🍻 Thanks for the tip off, @seb.frn , and for the well deserved shout. 📸 @valeriasalvv

Whilst shooting the Root Beer Straels last week, I threw (gently placed...dont worry boys!) a couple of staff builds in the van. Here we have Bart’s Holt in Violet. I really like the spec of this bike – both workhorse-like, but with really nice timeless parts. It has the unashamedly XC stance about it – this is Bart’s for evening or weekend blasts around Epping Forest, but these could easily hold their own on gravel rides. A light underbuilt frame, with a focus on comfort. Rides as well as it looks. I’m extremely tempted to buy one of these XTR mechanical groupsets for my Holt; whilst discontinued, they still exist. Spec as follows: Frame: Holt 1.0 Large Violet. Fork: SID with decals removed. Groupset: XTR 12-speed mechanical. Headset and seat clamp: @chriskingbuzz silver Seatpost: @oneupcomponents dropper. Stem: @bikethomson X4 60mm. GPS: mount: @canecreekusa Bars: Speciailized low rise - alloy Grips: ESI foam Inner bar ends: @sqlab Bar end plus: @simworksusa Pump: @silca_velo Hubs: @dtswiss 350 Rims: DT Swiss woith decals removed(I think..will check with Bart) Tyres: @vittoriauk_tyres Mezcal 2.35 rear, Barzo 2.35 front. Crank guards: Pro. Cages: @ron_kingcage For those eagle eyeed among you, it does indeed appear taht the Holt 2.0 chaninstay protector works with v1.0 (just misses the brazed-on cable guides). 📸 @nickhillnmd

Strael 4.0 Root Beer is now live. Based on the Secan 3.0 reception of this colour, demand is expected to be high. The best advice is to place a deposit early to allocate a frame from the planned drops, even if you are still awaiting a bike fit or refining your spec. It can be amended later, though we cannot always guarantee dates if the size is changed. We will do our best. Here we have a @sramroad Force AXS build, paired with @hunt.road 50 carbon wheels, @conti_bicycle GP5000 AS TR 35mm tyres and a @hopetech headset and seat clamp in Smoke. Demand is high across the range. The team is growing steadily and working hard, but maintaining our “Fairlight level” is non-negotiable. Every order is prepared and assembled with care. A lot of it. Words are easy. Your eyes and your senses are the only real judges. One last thing. This colour is insanely nice in the flesh. Biased, but true. 📸 @nickhillnmd

Strael Root beer AVAILABILITY INFO. Morning all. The Iridescent Root Beer Strael 4.0 will launch on the website around 10am on Tuesday. We’ll do a post once it goes live. Stock of most sizes will land in a couple of weeks but due to extremely high demand across the range - the soonest we will be able to build them is late June. A second drop will arrive shortly afterwards, so that we can hopefully keep builds available into July and August. As always, best advice is to get your deposit in to reserve your frame. Enjoy the lanes today folks.

The Strael 4.0 Iridescent Root Beer lookbook is live. Linked from the website home page and in our Instagram bio. 105 pages of detailed photography, including two full build examples. Shot in the Lincolnshire Wolds. Sunny, but very gusty. The fields were like oceans. It was a joy to be out there. The strong directional light made the copper to cherry red iridescent flip easy to see. The bike transforms from every angle. This build is a size 56R with Dura Ace Di2. @chriskingbuzz headset and hubs in silver. @bikethomson stem and Ti seatpost. Ti headset spacers. @envecomposites SES 3.4 rims. Plenty more in the lookbook. Thanks, as always, to @nickhillnmd for the fantastic camera work. This colour option will be available to order on the website from Tuesday morning. We will let you know when it goes live. Enjoy your weekend. The whole team are heading to Bespoked this afternoon.

YOU ASKED. WE LISTENED. IT’S COMING. Iridescent Root Beer is coming to the Strael 4.0. Here are some detailed shots of the frameset in size 56R. We launched this colour on the Secan 3.0 two months ago and it’s been incredibly popular. Since then, we’ve had a lot of requests to bring it to the Strael, so it’s happening. Launch schedule Friday 24 April • Lookbook goes live • Two lovely builds, shot yesterday in a very sunny, very windy Lincolnshire Wolds • We’ll share once it’s live Tuesday 28 April • Available to order If you already have a Strael 4.0 on order and would like to switch to this finish, please email us as soon as possible. Please note that changing your order may affect lead times depending on size. Until Friday, enjoy the rest of your week. Photos by @nickhillnmd

We hope you all had an enjoyable Easter weekend. We’re incredibly happy for and proud of our colleague and friend @ge.orge , who finished 3rd in the Dales Divide. It was a 300 strong field, packed with hard and talented riders at the sharp end. Conditions were torrential at times as Storm Dave battered the open and exposed high ground of Yorkshire. An incredible effort, George! Hopefully this is the start of a great season ahead. Congratulations to every rider who made it around, and kudos to Alastair Brownlee for his victory. Getting so close to an FKT in those conditions is seriously impressive. Photos by @cadence_images

This weekend is the Dales Divide @dalesdivide . A 600km (with 10,000m of climbing!) route through the Yorkshire Dales, Moors and Wolds. It has become a really popular early season race in the UK ultra calendar. It is looking like it might be a wet edition this year. This morning, team rider and Fairlight staff member @ge.orge set off on the journey north to Arnside, where the race starts at 8am tomorrow. George has been training hard all winter. I have been really impressed with his diligence and commitment, putting in shifts before and after work. It is great to see someone hungry and passionate. He is great fun and keeps it all in good perspective too. We wish you a good ride, George. Give the Dales hell. At the end of the day, all that really matters is that you give it your best and come away proud of the ride and of yourself. Push hard, stay grateful, which we know you will. We have featured George’s Holt 2.0 XL Team build before. The spec includes an XTR M9200 groupset, Fox 34SL forks, Chris King headset, and DT Swiss XMC1501 wheels. He has spent the winter getting it dialled and clearly loves it. Additions and updates for the race include Vittoria Peyote XC 2.4” tyres, SQlab 30X carbon bars, Zipp aero bars and a USE MaXx-D light. Luggage wise, George is running a @tailfincycling frame bag and top tube bag. He may also add a Tailfin downtube pack to carry a second set of waterproofs. All kit is by our friends and co-sponsors at @albion.cycling . The Zoa shell will get some use. Helmet and glasses are POC. Good luck to everyone lining up. Whatever your long weekend has in store, we hope you all have a great Easter break. Summer is just around the corner. 📸 @simon_weller