When I first spotted the Groadinger UG on Stayer Cycles’ website, I had come from a period riding two separate bikes - one that was ostensibly ‘road’ based and one that had a ‘gravel’ bias. After their untimely departures (being stolen by some intrepid bike thief who jumped my garden fence and jumped back out with the bikes on their shoulders, presumably) I decided to replace these two bikes with just one.
Now, while I find distinctions of ‘road’ and ‘gravel’ problematic at best, I knew that replacing both bikes was going to entail some compromise. The replacement may not have a super light and racy frame with slim tires, but should be able to be ridden comfortably on tarmacked surfaces. It would Definitely be able to take large volume tires above 40mm wide with no issue.
I was also determined to not own a bike with an explicit off-road bias. I feel like the case to own such bikes is slim and restricted to either: a) people who live somewhere like the Peaks, the South Downs or the Scottish Highlands where trails actively connect places, or b) people who ride their bikes for sport and can afford to travel to such locations solely to ride their bikes. I don’t own a car so my bikes are NOT just playthings. They have to be able to handle the daily commute, take that fun detour onto some trails, and still be comfortable on my weekend road Audax, country-splitting ride or cheeky ultra distance race.
The Groadinger UG seems to occupy this middle ground effectively. Stayer advertise the frame as fitting a maximum 2.1” tire in a 650B wheel diameter, with a head angle of 72.5 degrees, a seat tube angle of 74 and a 180mm headtube in a size XL. I’m 183cm tall but have long arms and legs, so the larger size made sense and I found the relatively high stack perfectly reasonable. A series of email conversations with Stayer helped cement this decision, with Holly extrapolating measurements from some of my existing bikes into a neat diagram confirming that yes, the XL was the size to go for. I thought the tire clearance, in particular, to be at the limit of what I felt is the average ‘gravel’ tire available today. Any bigger and I’d be pushing knobbly XC MTB territory, which is again not what I intended this bike for.
Unexpectedly, what helped the stack and head angle was my choice of fork. I built the bike on a budget so ended up with a tapered carbon cargo fork from eBay sold by Windover Cycles. This had a 195mm fork crown to axle height, which was around 10mm more than the equivalent Whiskey or Ritchey forks, offered by Stayer as build options. This in turn increased the effective head angle by 0.5 degrees. My perception was that this was for the better. A bit slower, a bit more stable, still agile enough for most road and off-road riding and comfortably upright for those long ultra rides.
I built this bike up with a pair of 650B DT Swiss G1800 wheels and a mix of Shimano Tiagra hydraulic and GRX400 components, relying on a GRX rear mech and 11-36 cassette for range and chain control via its ‘clutch’ system. I initially had 46/34 chainrings on an old Rotor 3D+ crankset, but these were swapped for 48/32 - still plenty of range but a lower bottom gear of 32-36. The cranks spin along on a Rotor T47 bottom bracket that Stayer supplied, fitted in their workshop itself.
I’ve seen the Stayer built up as an off-road biased bike with knobbly tires, but at least for the spring and summer, I suspected that it would be ridden on roads, dry trails or byways. Naturally, my tires of choice were 650x47mm WTB Byways, with a slick centre tread and shallow knobs along the edges for some traction
Immediately on starting to ride the bike, it just felt smooth. It’s always hard to isolate perceptions of ride quality to a frame or tires, but as a system I felt that this Stayer build was pampering. Most smaller road imperfections were barely perceptible under the big tires, and larger bumps felt muted. Between that and the relatively lightly treaded tires, I was able to make very rapid progress on the road. With aero bars mounted, when I rode the TransWales ultra race on the Stayer, I could maintain 30+kph on the flats with little trouble.
I also felt utterly secure on the bike. In this it reminded me a lot of my old Giant Contend road bike. I never felt like I was having to correct on the straights and could ‘pitch’ the bike into corners with confidence. I pointed, and it went, passing the No Handlebars test with aplomb. Its relative stability and comfort made the Stayer an outstanding ultra and audax bike.
I think these qualities made the Stayer a difficult bike to ride in an athletic and aggressive manner. Contributing to this is its weight. I have, admittedly, mounted three cages to the frame and run a frame bag and top tube bag at all times, but the Stayer still tips the scales at around 11.5kg unladen. It’s not a ’sprinter’ or a ‘climber’ of a bicycle, whatever the hell that even means. My movements are usually measured and gradual, and climbing is a gentle spinning affair helped by the low gearing. A few spec choices would probably help - perhaps some of Stayer’s own carbon disc wheels, or a lighter electronic 1x groupset. I, for one, am perfectly content with its relaxed character.
Off road, I found these traits suited the bike enormously and it is an easy companion to ride on twisting trails, towpaths or moderately techy singletrack. I think the great limiting factors are the tires. While their relatively large volume mitigates high-speed impacts on all kinds of off-road surfaces, the Byways simply don’t provide enough grip on loose or wet surfaces, something I found to my detriment when riding the alternately sandy and sloppy trails during the Brother in the Wild event in the Purbeck hills. Thankfully, this proved to be a case of wrong tires rather than wrong bike; once the Byways were worn, I swapped them for Teravail Rutland 650x47 tires that Stayer themselves favour on many of their own builds. With their mud-grabbing tread, these have been much more confidence-inspiring without really sacrificing any speed on paved surfaces.
Others have praised Stayer for the incredible work they do continuing the art of framebuilding from their tiny North London workshop. I know this is subjective, but as a handbuilt, welded metal artefact, the Stayer is truly stunning. I shall never tire of looking at the exposed brass and silver welds on my ‘rawR rawR’ clear coated frame. This level of artistry and personalisation is evident in their customer experience too - Holly, Sam and Ev from Stayer spoke to me in extensive detail every step of the way, helping with everything from geometry to what braze-ons I wanted (the answer: several). More subjecively, they are just good people, which from a perspective of customer experience both during and post purchase simply cannot be discounted.
Having put nearly 5000km into the Stayer since April, I feel thoroughly vindicated in my choice. While I purchased this bike as a compromise, I suffer very little compromise in the real world and can ride on a wide range of surfaces with comfort and confidence. It’s a beautifully made and reassuringly polished machine from a small maker, and should be celebrated.
Comments