At present UK model Genesis launches updates to 3 of its best-selling machines. The round-the-world succesful Tour de Fer, the monster cross Vagabond, and maybe most significantly the do-it-all Croix de Fer. The latter of those fashions might nicely make a very good case for being the primary gravel bike, and efficiently made the leap from cyclocross machine, by way of a bit-of-everything section, to the place it lands right this moment as an out-and-out gravel bike.
There’s a suite of updates to enter, however if you wish to know what two of the bikes are prefer to experience then head over to my new Croix de Fer and Vagabond first experience assessment. Will they justify a spot among the many greatest gravel bikes available on the market? Additional testing will reveal all, however for now let’s dive into the headline figures, construct choices, and the all-important updates.
(Picture credit score: Madison Cycles)
New Croix de Fer
(Picture credit score: Madison Cycles)
Given present tendencies in gravel bike design it ought to come as no shock to see wider tyre clearances because the headline change to the venerable Croix de Fer. The brand new mannequin can deal with as much as a 47mm tyre, and all full builds will ship with a set of 45c Maxxis Rambler tyres. Genesis states that the bike basically can clear a 45c tyre with fenders, although this does considerably depend upon the precise tyre and fender mixture.
The highest tube has been ovalised, in a lot the identical manner as that which is seen on each the Fairlight Secan and Strael. It’s a design observe that has been ported over from the model’s Volare highway mannequin so as to create a extra racy look, however claims of elevated lateral stiffness had been additionally talked about.
Once more, ostensibly to modernise the silhouette, the chain stays have been dropped, however fortuitously for followers of a pannier rack, they haven’t ditched the rack eyelets. On this regard, the dropout plates on the rear have additionally been made extra sturdy for higher load carrying. In eyelet phrases, there are actually extra now on the most recent mannequin. A pair on the downtube and prime tube respectively, three on every fork leg whether or not you go for metal or carbon (the latter of which is able to web you a 900g weight saving), together with six on the highest of the down tube and three on the seat tube. The goal is to make your bottle setup way more configurable, and it ought to be potential (body dimension relying) to suit three separate water bottles contained in the body triangle, with one underneath the downtube when you want most hydration portage.
Seven full bikes make up the vary, with the body constructed from both Genesis’ personal Mjolnir chromoly or Reynolds 725, with three framesets obtainable in both Reynolds 725, stainless 931, or titanium. Stainless and Ti framesets ship with a carbon fork, whereas the 725 has a metal one. Costs vary from £1,199.99 / €1,399.00 to £2,799.99 / €3.299.00 for completes, and £899.99 / €999.00 to £2,699.99 / €3,199.00.
Up to date Tour de Fer
(Picture credit score: Madison Cycles)
The goal, in line with Genesis, was all the time that the Tour de Fer be ‘around the world prepared straight out of the field’. There are not any drastic silhouette adjustments right here, however followers of old-school drivetrains could nicely shed a tear on the information that the triple has been eliminated utterly, with all Tour de Fer fashions now working 2x drivetrains.
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Solely 4 fashions make up the vary, with the uppermost two that includes dynamo lighting routed contained in the body from Busch and Muller. The lower-tier fashions nonetheless have the routing ports throughout the frames ought to prospects want to set theirs up down the road. Cables and hoses are all nonetheless exterior, moreover the dynamo cabling, for ease of upkeep, and the spoke holder on the chainstay stays for facilitating roadside wheel repairs.
Fashions begin at £1,299.99 / €1,499.00 and go as much as £2,199.99 / €2,599.00 and it’s obtainable solely as an entire machine.
New Vagabond
(Picture credit score: Madison Cycles)
Lastly, the Vagabond, the model’s monster cross, go-anywhere bike has had maybe essentially the most important and hardest-to-spot updates. The wheelbase is longer, with a slacker headtube, and tyre clearance has been upped to a whopping 2.35”. The inventory metal fork is suspension corrected now, which means must you want to run a suspension fork then something as much as 40mm of journey isn’t going to have an effect on the geometry unduly.
A lift spacing rear hub and mountain bike gearing means the Vagabond is about as near a drop bar mountain bike as you may get earlier than truly committing to a flat bar machine, nevertheless it additionally implies that your substitute elements will likely be partially coming from the MTB world, so price taking into consideration.
Solely two full builds for the Vagabond are being launched, at £1,799.99 / €2,149.00 and £2,299.99 / €2,699.00, with a frameset-only possibility priced at £899.99 / €999.00.
