Genesis Flyer Review - BikeRadar

Genesis are a UK-designed, Eastern-built bike brand that started in mountain biking but have now got a healthy range of road machines.

The Flyer is the cheapest in the family, but still includes some really nice details that lift it from the dependable and durable market into the definitely desirable zone.

Ride & handling: Light, responsive bike that’s great fun to carve around

You might find the Genesis's 167.5mm cranks slightly odd at first (check the saddle height by putting your heel on the pedal and holding your leg straight, rather than using your usual BB-to-saddle-top measurement). You’ll also reach for the shifters regularly until your brain eventually realises there aren’t any. Otherwise, the conventional ride position means no contortions or control compromises.

Once you’re off, the Flyer does exactly what it says on the tin. For a start, despite the shorter-than-normal cranks it’s light enough to light up easily away from traffic lights or respond to any change in ride pace or gradient without the bike feeling leaden.

The double-butted tubing, slim tapered stays and fork also take a generous amount of sting out of potholes and pitted tarmac. This gives it the much-coveted ‘spring and float’ that steel enthusiasts prize so highly compared to alloy framed bikes.

Really powerful riders will notice that there’s a slight amount of flex and distortion from the rear when you really stamp the power down. It always eases that effort back into the road as you go through the pedalling dead spot though. Again, this delivers a characteristically muscular ‘tense and relax’ feel that ferrous fans babble on about so much on web forums.

This slight give and take sticks the already good tyres to the road surface far better than a similarly priced, but stiffer alloy bike. The Continental tyres are responsive, with a less wooden feel over rough surfaces than the treads found on other bikes at this price. This lets you take full advantage of the relatively aggressive handling angles, which are perfect for dodging half-awake drivers or swerving round potholes on dark country lanes.

Quick reactions from the fork enliven the whole smooth and supple ride, making the Flyer a bike that’s great fun to take by the scruff of the neck and carve and slice around wherever you’re riding.

Chassis: Quality steel frame with lugged seat collar and fork for retro feel

The Genesis uses a Reynolds 520 double-butted chromoly steel main tube mix for a resilient, responsive baseline. The head tube gets an additional reinforcing lip top and bottom for the headset. The top of the seat tube and seat clamp is lugged (an external sleeve that the tubes plug into) rather than straight welded. The straight legged ‘stiletto’ fork is also lugged top and bottom, which looks great and will make any old-timer’s eyes mist over with fond memories.

The seatstays are a super-skinny 16mm diameter to add compliance and old-skool charm to the sky-blue paint and panel graphics looks. Tapered 19mm chainstays lead to 3D-shaped horizontal-slot Maxxway dropouts with built-in adjustable axle stops. These slim threaded bolts screw in and out on either side to keep the rear wheel correctly aligned, and stop pedaling torque from pulling  the wheel forward.

The chromed rear brake cable clips are removable if you decide to go fixed and there’s a single bottle cage on the seat tube too. While there’s no space or mounts for conventional mudguards on the frame, you’ll be able to sneak a set of Crud’s new Road Racer guards or similar clip-ons into place if you don’t want to get your arse wet.

Equipment: Simple but effective, although short cranks feel odd at first

Like the frame, Genesis have done a great job of keeping the bike simple but still making it distinctive from the first look with the equipment too. The Sugino Messenger cranks use a 46-tooth chainring and 167.5mm cranks for more cornering clearance in the fixed mode. Lower leverage does mean it needs a bit more grunt to get it up to speed though and it might feel odd if you switch between this and your best bike a lot.

The Shimano UN53 bottom bracket and 18-tooth Shimano freewheel provide legendary long-haul reliability through the cool-looking white painted chain. Formula flip-flop large flange track hubs add retro looks to durable semi-aero Alex rims. Ride quality gets a real boost from the Continental Ultra Sport tyres. They’re a super-durable training tyre with a deepened tread for confidence on dirty roads, but they still feel supple and responsive on the rim.

Conventional compact drop bars and brake lever position are comfortable and controlled. Decent quality finishing kit helps to make the complete bike significantly lighter than other models at this price too, with an all-in weight of 9.39kg (20.07lb) for our 560mm test bike.

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