‘Our bicycles are tools, not trophies. Designed for transport, recreation, exploration and enjoyment.’ That’s what the Fairlight website says, although the brand’s Strael road bike has won trophies, including two wins at the Transcontinental Race.
Fairlight Cycles is a London-based, direct-to-consumer steel bike manufacturer, founded in 2016 by Dom Thomas and Jon Reid. The Strael was its first bike, released in 2017, and as the pampered firstborn, it is still the one that takes design priority, with developments being handed down to its three siblings in the range: the Secan, the Faran and the Holt.
‘The Strael is our four seasons road bike,’ says Thomas, who previously designed bikes at Genesis
