With a new steel tubeset made in collaboration with Reynolds, the Fairlight Strael 4.0 promises the same great strength at an even lighter weight. Fairlight’s newest all-road model also gets several small but significant quality of life improvements, potentially making it something truly special. For more on the Strael 4.0, dive in here…

The all new Fairlight Strael 4.0 is the storied British bike manufacturers latest take on their “all-road” model. With improved tire clearances up to 39mm, a new post-welding bottom bracket relief, and slight alterations in geometry, the Fairlight Strael 4.0 boasts a series of subtle changes that add up to something pretty significant. As shown in their numerical naming convention, Fairlight takes an iterative approach to bike design. Within that process, the Fairlight Strael 4.0 primarily improves upon their already stellar Strael 3.0 through a new zonal tubing process in collaboration with Reynolds.

  • Fairlight Strael 4.0
  • Fairlight Strael 4.0
Fairlight Strael 4.0
  • Fairlight Strael 4.0
  • Fairlight Strael 4.0
  • Fairlight Strael 4.0

Double zonal butting, or DZB, is a practice with origins in mountain bikes that seeks to pinpoint specific areas that face high stress and reinforce them to allow other parts of the tube to be even thinner. Fairlight saw an opportunity to stretch the strength to weight ratio of the Strael through the DZB process, reinforcing specific stress-risers and creating what Reynolds says is both a lighter and stronger tubeset for the Fairlight Strael 4.0.

Fairlight Strael 4.0

As with any new release, the Fairlight Strael 4.0 comes with a series of upgrades that have become all but compulsory with any new Fairlight model. With a Modular dropout design that accounts for ever-changing electronic shifting standards, minor quality of life changes through improved hardware in the external routing guides and elsewhere, and a new Anraed 4.0 carbon fork that supposedly improves compliance at the same light weight as the one supplied on the Strael 3.0, Fairlight have made small improvements almost everywhere.

  • Fairlight Strael 4.0
  • Fairlight Strael 4.0

Fairlight Strael 4.0 Geometry

Size 51R 51T 54R 54T 56R 56T 58R 58T 61R 61T
Effective TT Length 533 532 546 548 562 564 575 578 588 592
Reach 380 370 386 378 394 386 402 394 410 402
Wheelbase 992 992 998 1001 1005 1007 1016 1019 1029 1033
CS Length 419 419 419 419 419 419 419 419 419 419
Effective ST Angle 74 74 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72
ST Length 510 514 532 536 545 557 564 575 583 592
HT Angle 71.5 71.5 72.5 72.5 73 73 73.25 73.25 73.25 73.25
HT Length 106 137 124 157 140 176 158 195 177 216
Fork Length 381 381 381 381 381 381 381 381 381 381
BB Drop 74 74 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72
Stack 530 560 548 580 566 600 584 620 602 640

While I’d argue 39mm doesn’t quite qualify as an all-road rig—Fairlight even states, despite the improvement in tire clearances, these tubes are categorically designed for going fast on pavement—it’s always incredible to see just how much attention and care they put into their bike design. The Strael 3.0 was already a well-thought-out road bike, but asking Reynolds to further push the limits and improve their incredibly light and strong 853 tubing profile is the kind of innovation I can get behind. The fact this frame passes the necessary ISO standards at a paltry 1,640g (54R, without bolts or mounts of any kind) is pretty impressive.

Fairlight Strael 4.0
  • Fairlight Strael 4.0
  • Fairlight Strael 4.0
  • Fairlight Strael 4.0

The video below offers a peak into the minds behind Fairlight and their close relationship with the famed British tube makers that have allowed for so many of our favorite bikes. Again, it’s easy to gloss over a development like DZB as just another marketing term, and perhaps it is, but to continually try to push the bounds of a design material and process that has been around for so long is genuinely interesting. As Dom of Fairlight says, it’s a small but important aspect of bike design that keeps it fresh.

The new Fairlight Strael 4.0 is available in three colors—Stealth (black), Ochre, and Monchrome (white)—and their typically specific 10 sizes. US pricing is $1,530.00 for framesets with builds starting at $2,675.00 featuring 105 12-speed mechanical (said pricing does not include tax and shipping). UK pricing is £1499 for framesets with builds starting at £2599.

Fairlight Strael 4.0

For more on the new Fairlight Strael 4.0, visit FairlightCycles.com.

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