£2635-£3649 STEEL BIKES ROAD TEST STEEL YOURSELFAre premium steel bikes the ultimate retro renaissance ride or all show and no go? We test six iron alloy flagships from the timeless to the stainless and from racers to recreational all-rounders to find out Steve Behr 50 | August 2015 | CYCLING PLUS CYCLING PLUS | August 2015 | 51 £2635-£3649 STEEL BIKES ROAD TEST THE bikES ON TEST MASON RESOLUTION ULTEGRA GENESIS VOLARE £3399 HYDRO £3195 Genesis is relatively new several seasons of pro race to the steel game but development and despite Mason might be a new Resolution. This frame’s built in few designers talk tubeset being the second cheapest brand but former Kinesis Italy but disc brakes, big tyre evolution with the passion bike on test here, it’s the only designer Dom has put all his clearances plus mudguard and and fanatical detail of brand one with a stainless steel experience and fresh ideas into rack fixtures potentially make manager Albert Steward. The tubeset and a Di2 electric the detailed, future-proofed this the ideal UK all-rounder. Volare is the direct result of shift groupset. A steel ride can be a really enjoyable one, CONDOR SUPER ACCIAIO £3410 ENIGMA ELITE HSS ST UNION and lets you make a bold statement Legendary London shop The custom Columbus tubeset is JACK LTD ED £3649 Condor Cycles is another a masterpiece of multi-section brand that’s been developing metal manipulation and The Elite HSS ST translates plumbers Columbus. Anyone steel frames under its pro race Condor’s online builder allows all the company’s titanium who wants a responsive ride team for years and it shows in you to create exactly the bike building experience into a from their steel steed should the notably aggressive character you want from this beautifully triple-butted Spirit Niobium take note that Enigma’s cracked tubeset from Italian prestige the code on fast ferrous style. teel ruled supreme even the distinctive subtly sprung, of the new Super Acciaio frame. finished, UCI approved frame. for the first century of road-smoothing resilience of a YOUR TESTER RATINGS bike building before Guy Kesteven premium steel frame is very hard to ExpLAINED S aluminium and then Tester distinguish from some softer carbon carbon fibre frames Guy learned to ride road frames, and we’re not ★★★★★ bikes when steel broke its grip. Now it’s in the midst of ruled the world and necessarily talking expensive carbon ExCEPTIONAL a renaissance powered by riders who he’s tested every either. With the frames here costing A genuine class leader want to break the carbon mould. possible frame from between £1200-£2700 The stark truth is that even the material including economy isn’t a strong point either. ★★★★ a few he’s glad he’s most advanced steel frames cannot The ideal bike isn’t always about forgotten. Getting VERY GOOD compete with carbon ones in pure back onto a full set speed and value though, and when One of the best you can buy performance terms. Steel fabricators of steel bikes it’s done right steel interacts with can pick statistics to make it look raised a whole the road and rider in an inescapably ★★★ new set of comparable but even the lightest enjoyable way, gliding along with the questions for Guy GOOD steel frames are 50 per cent heavier and his ultra- warmth of a summer evening and It’ll do the job very well than the lightest carbon frames. If experienced effortlessly rolling a gear round like a COLNAGO MASTER X-LiGHT PEGORETTI DUENDE CiAVETE you want to maintain the signature northern test crew. childhood hero. An experience that’s ★★ £3512 test bike build £2635 frame and fork smoothness steel is prized, but they about savouring each moment, not BELOW AVERAGE won’t be as stiff or precise as a being a slave to post-ride uploads or An iconic bike from one of together with traditional lugged Whatever it said on the age of steel bikes. The legend’s composite frame. As a result Strava virtual leader boards. If you want to Flawed in some way the most storied brands in construction and semi-chromed frames Dario Pegoretti endured and you’re looking at a performances we logged on these make an individual statement rather the bicycle world, and hand- stiletto forks and pencil stays was the brilliant Italian builder several month waiting list for ★ made in its Italian headquarters. has been setting the benchmark behind some of the most even the most affordable bikes were comparable to the £1000 than following the herd no other POOR A cross-section tubeset held for steel beauty for 30 years. successful riders in the golden Duende model. carbon ones we tested last issue. material attracts craftsmen builders If you take off your rose-tinted or lends itself to ostentatious artistry Simply put, don’t bother retro glasses and put on a blindfold like steel either. 52 | August 2015 | CYCLING PLUS CYCLING PLUS | August 2015 | 53 £2635-£3649 STEEL BIKES Below Shimano disc brakes with 140mm rotors keep the Mason under control Bottom MultiPort inserts make for neat internal cable routing You still get the signature steel surge of speed like the turbo kicking in on a diesel car M ASON RESOLUTION ULTEGRA HYDRO £3195 › Can the youngest bike here compete with classics? ason is so young as plates for singlespeed or single-ring the ride confirms it’s genuinely a company that our running. Ironically these seemingly SPECIFICATION special. Granted, the weight of the Resolution sample tiny touches required the most Weight 9.16kg puncture-reinforced Gran Sport still wasn’t quite a intricate design and Italian hand- (54cm) Extra tyres is obvious in the first M Frame Mason perfect production building skill to get them to work few pedal strokes and there’s a bit Columbus Spirit/ example, but it throws down a new with the thin wall Columbus steel Life custom disc of bounce in those long rear stays, challenge to the steel status quo. tubing while still adding minimal Fork Mason but get the gear turning and you still The obvious difference with the weight. Slightly extended chainstays Aperture carbon get steel’s signature surge of speed Gears Shimano Resolution is the fact it’s disc brake and raised placement of the hooped Ultegra 6800 like the turbo kicking in on a diesel specific. The rear callipers bolt into seatstay bridge make the Resolution 50/34x11-28 car. Switching to lighter GP4000S II replaceable brass thread details compatible with full guards with the Brakes Shimano rubber released the potential of the 785 hydraulic disc, inside the kinked dropouts and the 28mm tyres fitted or up to 32mm 140mm rotors Resolution to punch up the steeper hydraulic hoses vanish into down- tyres without guards. Wheels Mason sections of our Dales test loops and/ tube and fork leg to keep lines clean. At this point you’d be forgiven Hunt 4 Season disc or roll a big ratio over the summit. Finishing kit Deda Mason’s unique MultiPort alloy for thinking the Resolution is just Zero2 and bar, Don’t get hung up on the overall inserts give equally neat internal a particularly neatly designed Continental wheel weight either as that includes routing of full outer, split outer or utility/light touring bike with Grand Sport Extra the weight of the 140mm Shimano 28mm tyres electric cable runs or plain blanking plenty of existing parallels but Centerlock rotors. CYCLING PLUS | August 2015 | 55 ROAD TEST The custom Columbus tube mix screens out chatter and stutter from rough surfaces HIGHS Beautiful blend of buoyantly responsive ride, The 4 Season wheels are a surefooted control light and smooth riding without close collaboration with another and next level any worrying twang or flutter detailing ‘UK upstart’ brand – Hunt – and when you anchor hard. The wheels a perfect complement to the LOWS are tubeless tyre compatible if Resolution. They’re responsively Lighter tyres you add a sealing strip and valve, low weight, without sacrificing the release more of adding another level to the existing the Resolution’s stiffness needed to get maximum survivability and smoothness underlying GOT MORE CASH? precision and longevity from the responsiveness advantages of the Resolution’s tyre huge amounts of fingertip control compatibility. The way the Mason MASON RESOLUTION DURA-ACE Di2 from the hydraulic brakes. The BUY IF shrinks the miles adds credibility to HYDRO £5595 Mason’s flagship uses the MultiPort all-weather control of the discs is You want an the latest ‘bigger is faster’ rubber utterly practical inserts to create a slick aesthetic for its backed up by a slacker than usual all-rounder you’ll testing results. electric shifting, steel superbike. head angle, which combines with still be begging to Mason has teamed up with UK the longer chainstays for a stable ride all weekend contact point specialist Fabric for and confident descending feel. A maximum bar tape and carbon railed relatively short stem keeps steering saddle comfort to complete the keen and lively, so if you decide to go excellent ride complementing spec. off piste you’ll have a good handle on grip in loose gravel conditions. As you’d expect if you were paying £1459 for a steel tubeset, the THE VERDICT ON A BUDGET? custom Columbus tube mix screens All weather confidence, all purpose utility MASON DEFINITION ULTEGRA £2695 out chatter and stutter from rough HYDRO and ultra detailed style. This delivers the same outstanding surfaces. Unlike many disc sets the fork, disc brake specific MultiPort and full carbon Mason Aperture fork is guard detailing in an alloy tube format.