Fairlight Secan 2.5 GRX 820 2x

Fairlight's Secan 2.5 is a stunning looking steel gravel bike, finished to an exceptionally high level, although its beauty is more than skin deep. It has a weight low enough for fast and fun blasts on your local trails while huge tyre clearances and plentiful mounts mean the Secan is also the perfect choice for a loaded-up adventure.

Check out our guide to the best gravel bikes for more options.

> Buy now: Fairlight Secan 2.5 from £2,499 from Fairlight Cycles

If you've been following the site for a while, you'll know that Fairlight's Strael has impressed us over all of its three versions; in fact it's one of only three road bikes to ever score top marks in the 15 years that we have been reviewing them. The Secan 2.5 is no different, offering absolutely everything you could want or need from a gravel bike – well, as long as your main concern isn't the light weight that can be achieved by going carbon fibre.

The Secan uses Reynolds steel tubing, and while there is a massive cliché about the whole 'steel is real' thing, if you get to ride a Fairlight, you'll realise it's true. Quality steel tubes like these designed for the Secan provide all of the stiffness you need, while also having a smooth, rough-road-defying ride quality.

And how can I tell this on a bike fitted with large-volume squishy tyres? Well, I also ran the Secan with wide slicks pumped up hard to my usual preference for use on the road, and the ride quality is just sublime.

> Best steel road bikes 2023 — versatile, durable and comfortable steeds

The feedback is also great. It's one of those framesets that just talks to you as a rider, thanks to a mixture of the materials used and the geometry. By providing Fairlight with my measurements (one of the ways that it can put you on the right sized frame – more about its 'proportional geometry' in a minute), I ended up with a Secan that fitted me perfectly, and that all just adds to the ride experience.

I've touched on the weight, and as I've said the steel Secan isn't going to compete with a carbon fibre machine, but that doesn't mean the Fairlight is heavy. Far from it. In fact, at 9.77kg it is just 200g heavier than a carbon Ribble CGR SL I'm also riding at the moment.

It feels sprightly enough for hilly rides, and should you want to go out for a quick spin, or a spirited ride, it certainly doesn't feel like it's holding you back. It feels generally lively and nimble, too, so I'd have no qualms about entering some kind of gravel race or event on the Secan.

When loaded up with bags and kit the Secan 2.5 barely changes its mannerisms. Even adding weight to the front end doesn't make it become a handful, while its surefooted and planted behaviour means it doesn't become a handful even on loose terrain.

All of this is what makes the Secan 2.5 such an excellent bike. We see so many gravel machines being pigeon-holed into micro niches, but the Fairlight straddles the entire gravel genre with what feels like no compromises whatsoever. The fact that it can work on the road, too, as a large-tyred tourer or audax machine, is an added bonus.

The combination of the geometry and the tyre clearance makes this a proper jack-of-all-trades, and a master of most.

Frame and Fork

This is where the Secan 2.5 really excels thanks to an exceptional level of finish, and excellent attention to detail when it comes to the overall design.

In fact, there are so many details that Fairlight creates Design Note brochures for each bike in its catalogue, which definitely make for an interesting read if you are into the whole design and engineering aspect of bike development. At the time of writing the design notes for the Secan are being updated for this 2.5 model, but we'll add a link once they become available.

The Secan shares a lot of its design with the Faran, Fairlight's hardcore gravel/adventure bike, with both using pretty much the same tubeset – the main triangle is Reynolds 631, although after the shaping and forming is completed, the down tube, seat tube and top tube of the Secan are heat-treated, meaning that it becomes Reynolds 853.

The 61R and 61T frames now also get size-specific tubeset designs.

Some of the tubing has custom profiles for Fairlight, like the down tube which starts life as a 34.9mm diameter round tube, but is ovalised at both ends to become 30mm x 40mm. By custom shaping the tubes in this way Fairlight can control the resistance of the tube to forces in certain directions, increasing stiffness. Here it adds lateral stiffness at the bottom bracket end, while at the head tube head it deals with braking and steering forces without the need to use a larger diameter tube throughout.

You'll often see manufacturers describing tubes as double or triple butted. This relates to how many different wall thicknesses you'll find across the length of the tube. The down tube of the Secan has thicknesses of 1.0, 0.8, 0.5 and 0.8mm along its length.

The top tube is triple butted and is also custom ovalised, while the triple-butted seat tube hasn't been manipulated. It's 26.8mm in diameter but is externally butted from the top – to 29.8mm – to give the inner diameter needed for the 27.2mm seatpost.

The Secan's head tube is CNC-machined from a single billet of 631 and is designed to work with a 1 1/2 to 1 1/8in tapered fork steerer.

The seatstays and chainstays see a change of material to 4130 chromoly steel. The seatstays are 14mm in diameter, non-tapered, and heat-treated to add strength.

One of the changes to this 2.5 model over the previous Secan 2.0 is that the wall thickness of the chainstays has been dropped to 0.8mm from 0.95mm; this is thanks to them being heat-treated, giving the same amount of strength for a thinner wall. Fairlight says this brings increased compliance and reduces weight by 75g. Marginal gains, innit.

Fairlight has also managed to increase the clearance slightly to 69mm between the chainstays at their widest point. This means the Secan can comfortably accept a 60mm tyre in a 650B size, or 50mm if you are using 700C and a 1x chainset.

If you are running 2x with 700C, that drops slightly to 47mm. The largest chainset you can have is 50/34T, or 44T if you're running 1x.

This 2.5 model also gets updated MK2 dropouts. For this Fairlight has worked with Bentley Components to create a modular design that is beautifully CNC-machined from a single piece of aluminium, and looks absolutely stunning especially once painted.

The dropout incorporates the axle housing, the disc mounting and the rear mech hanger, and being attached to the dropouts by bolts means they can be completely replaced should anything get damaged in a crash or cross-threaded. This modular design is also futureproof, highlighted by the fact that Fairlight can now provide a SRAM T-type insert, enabling its frames to be compatible with the latest hangerless standard.

On the outside of the dropouts, you'll also find stainless steel washer plates which protect the frame if you're fixing mudguards and a rear rack.

The rack and mudguard mountings are in a traditional position, so there is no need to fettle or bend the stays of off-the-shelf mudguards prior to fitting.

You'll also find plenty more mounts, with three bottle cage positions – two in the traditional place and an extra set under the down tube – plus there are three bolts on each leg of Fairlight's own full-carbon fibre Cempa 2.0 fork for bottle or adventure cages.

Both the frame and fork also get full internal routing for dynamo lighting, which is a very neat touch.

The cables and hoses are routed externally, which I find quite aesthetically pleasing on a bike of this style and design.

Things are kept neat and tidy thanks to a 3D-printed guide which attaches at the top of the down tube, and welded guides elsewhere, although if you were to go down the electronic or wireless groupset option then you'll be left with empty guides, which would spoil the look for me.

Weight-wise, Fairlight claims 2,157g for a painted 54R including all bolts, mounts and axles, and 584g for the fork with hardware included.

Finishing off each frame and fork is a range of luxurious paint jobs including this limited-edition Iridescent Plum (+£100) which flips between purple and blue. You can also have Monochrome, which is a light grey with black detailing, Desert or Black.

Proportional geometry

Fairlight offers all of its bikes with proportional geometry, which it has created to account for differences in body proportions rather than just overall height. The Secan, as with all models, comes in either a tall or regular setup for each frame size, denoted by a T or R after the number.

Basically the R is lower at the front end and has a longer reach, designed for people with shorter legs and a longer back, or for those who want a lower, racier position.

The T is higher at the front and shorter in reach, designed for those with longer legs and a shorter torso, giving a more upright riding position.

From a numbers point of view that means the 54R reviewed here has a 553mm effective top tube length, which is the same as the 54T, but the T has a 150mm head tube at 71.5 degrees, and stack and reach figures of 589mm and 383mm respectively, compared to the 559mm and 386mm of the R. That's down to the R having a much shorter head tube length of 120mm at 71 degrees.

There is a difference of standover height too, with 789mm for the T and 771mm on the R when using 650B x 47mm tyres.

Other than that, the rest of the measurements are pretty similar or the same. The wheelbase is 1,030mm (T) and 1,029mm (R), chainstays are 430mm, and the bottom bracket drop is 77mm.

To get the right size and fit you can provide Fairlight with your details and it will create a Fit Report which includes the recommended frame size and component sizes such as stem length and handlebar width.

If, like me, you haven't had a bike fit, you can use Fairlight's online Fit Guide Tool to find the right size.

Build options

The Secan is available in a range of builds starting with a frameset for £1,399 which includes the frame, Campa fork, thru-axles and 3D printed cable guide. An FSA headset and seatclamp adds £35 to the price, while upgrades to Hope or Chris King options add £110 or £210.

Full bikes start with Shimano GRX 600 11-speed in either 1x (£2,499) or 2x (£2,549) builds. The jump to 12-speed starts at £2,699 for the 1x GRX 610 and goes up £3,049 for this 2x GRX 820 build.

Di2 builds are £3,949 for both 1x and 2x although they are 11-speed as GRX hasn't made the jump to 12-speed yet for electronic shifting.

Various upgrades are available across all of the builds, including tyres and wheels in both 700C and 650B diameters, bottle cages and those headset/seatclamp upgrades mentioned on the frameset. You can also get dynamo light kit and wheelset upgrades too.

Our build has the Hope headset/seatclamp upgrade in silver for £70, and the Hope hub upgrade to silver from black for another £50. This means that this exact bike, with the £100 Iridescent Plum paint job, retails for £3,269.

Groupset

The Shimano GRX 820 12-speed groupset is pretty much brand new to the market, and I haven't actually spent a whole lot of time using it. When I received the Secan a few months back it hadn't been released, so the bike I had was running 11-speed GRX, and that's what most of the review miles were carried out on.

In the short time I have spent using the 12-speed setup it's very pleasurable, mostly because it doesn't feel that much different to the 11-speed version in terms of ergonomics, shifting feel and speed.

Our 2x model has a 48/31-tooth chainset paired to an 11-34T cassette, which I found a great spread of gears, covering both climbing and descending. It works well on the road too for the kind of riding the Secan would be used for – quick but not necessarily high speed.

Our sister site off.road.cc is running a full review on both of the new GRX groupsets, and they'll be live very soon.

Finishing kit

As for the rest of the components, Fairlight has specced stuff from FSA including the Adventure Compact flared gravel handlebar and the Energy stem. Both components are alloy and are mid-range offerings but good quality and work well with the bike.

The seatpost is an SL-K which is carbon fibre, available in both inline and set-back options.

For the contact points Fairlight is using Fizik components: a Terra Argos X5 saddle and Vento Solocush Tacky bar tape. Both have a comfortable and quality feel.

Wheels & tyres

As standard this build comes with a set of Hope 20Five Pro5s, which are described as durable road/gravel and CX (cyclocross) wheels. They have 25mm-deep aluminium alloy rims with a 20mm internal width, and the 32-spoke build (Sapim Race) front and rear adds to their overall strength, giving a 130kg weight limit, which is higher than most.

They are tubeless compatible, and are machine built before being hand finished.

Panaracer's GravelKing tyres always give an impressive performance and that is no different here. They come in a huge range of tread patterns, with the SK model fitted here being perfect for hardpacked trails and looser surfaces, as long as things aren't too muddy.

Value

Looking at how the Secan 2.5 compares with similar bikes, off.road.cc reviewed the Windover Bostal gravel bike back in July, and Patrick was very impressed overall. The frame is built from Reynolds 853 steel tubing, with a 653 head tube and a carbon fibre fork. The GRX 600 1x11 version is priced at £2,950 compared to £2,499 for the equivalent Secan. A Bostal frameset is £1,450.

It wouldn't be a Fairlight review without comparing it to offerings from Mason Cycles, because they both create similar kinds of bikes. They do things in slightly different ways, but they both focus on incredible attention to detail in terms of frame design, ride quality and the amount of extras you get, including mounts for accessories.

The latest Bokeh 3 from Mason is aluminium alloy rather than steel, but in a lot of ways it is very similar in terms of quality and how it behaves on the trails. It doesn't have the tyre clearance of the Secan, though.

As a frameset the Bokeh is available for £1,450, which includes the headset and seatclamp, or £3,300 with GRX 820 12-speed.

Conclusion

Fairlight has created a stunning bike here. Everything is just top notch – the way it behaves, the ride quality, the way it looks. It is one of the best bikes I've ever ridden, and I don't mean just on the gravel either. The geometry gives you a bike that feels pretty much custom made, and when you take everything into consideration, I believe the Secan offers a good return value-wise on your investment.

Verdict

Simply stunning from every aspect and hugely versatile for all kinds of gravel riding, and even road