Currently staring at my free custom fit report from Fairlight (brilliant marketing, btw) and agree it’s a clear winner on vibes (and likely ride quality/fun factor). Have also gone down the rabbit hole in recent days re: Wheeltop wireless shifting and the possibility of scavenging select parts from the Ritchey to do a slightly less expensive Fairlight build, buying just their frameset. Could always migrate to SRAM AXS over time. All privileged dilemmas, I realize!
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Fairlight Strael 4.0 in current issue of Bicycle Quartelrly
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I will echo what another responder said: Keeping a second bike in the fleet is great for when you tear one down for maintenance, upgrades, something breaks, whatever. I have been living with such an arrangement and routinely lend my +1 bike to friends when their one-and-only bike is not ridable.
The N-1 route (in your case, not going to three bicycles) does make a lot of sense. I cannot imagine having three bikes to meticulously maintain, keep clean, have spare parts for, etc, especially if they have different “ecosystems” (i.e., rim brakes, disc brakes, Shimano & Sram components, etc.). For my N-1 approach, I stayed on the rim brake side, allows me to put any wheel on any bike, swap brake pads, cassettes, cranksets (fewer spares to store, better adaptability to riding conditions…)
Ride on!
ooh, good tip, thanks! May be worth a single issue purchase!
Totally agree; it’s been great having that second road bike when I have the “once every 18 months” problem that puts the other bike out of commission for more than a few days. Not a deal breaker but definitely a trade-off. Also agree on not really wanting three road bikes, for precisely those reasons (too many spare parts and wearables to keep track of, slightly difference maintenance routines, etc.). I’m lazy and feel like 1-2 road bikes is the right number.
Another Fairlight Strael-er here, highly recommended. Got some Zipps for riding the fast group and a 11-28, and some 32-spoke alu rim/dynamo wheelset with an 11-34 for the other stuff.
It’s not quite as snappy as a race frame but it’s not far off and with a suitably aggressive setup it does the job very well.
With an Ortlieb frame bag and mudguards it’s a fast commuter (love the dynamo lights for unlit bike paths).
With a rack and a pair of panniers etc it’s a great workhorse and will take big-ish tyres (35 is big enough for me).
Also I had a frame replaced under warranty and the customer service is excellent too.
Super helpful, thanks! Dare I ask what the warranty replacement had to do with?? 
Seriously. I had a good ten years of everything being 2x10, 700c wheels, rim brakes, quick release, SPD cleats. It was amazing. It is loooong gone.
Sounds like you have a good plan and understand the trade-offs. Having done an analogous thing, when the fast bike is out of commission, OH THE HORROR I ride a cross bike or an audax bike for a little bit.
(Incidentally I also have a Fairlight frame on order, though it’s a Faran with a very different use case in mind).
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I have 2 sport bikes, and a commuter.
Road: Giant Revolt with SRAM Red 46/33 - 10-33. Roval CLX 50 with gp5000 32mm tyres. At the moment I’m running full length mud guards, and in summer I just take off the guards. Been to the Alps and great bike for long days. Only change I’d make is new wheels as these are getting on in age, and I would like 25mm internal rims.
MTB: Transition Spur set up more focused on XC than trail.
Those do everything that I need or want.
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Keep the old bikes. If you can get only one, the Fairlight is intriguing. Otherwise, just buy them all! But not all at once…spread them out a little. I’ve got about 30 bikes currently and they all get ridden on a bit of a rotation. I acquired each one for a reason and as long as I have the space and desire to own & maintain them, I prefer not to part with them.
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Yeah sure - a small crack appeared on the nds seatstay, starting from the drain hole above the dropout. I suspect this was from braking torque bending the seat stay forwards, and I inadequate protection from water inside the tubes (the new frame is packed with waxoyl now).
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Just a comment from one who did the “one bike for all” thing for a season. I hated swapping wheels all the time. No matter how close the tolerances and specs, there’d always be something that just didn’t land quite right. Usually it was the brake discs that’d run just enough to be annoying, but sometimes it’d be shifting, too.
It worked fine, but I decided I like having a dedicated gravel/ rain bike and a dedicated super fun road bike.
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I think one bike to rule them all is pretty hard to pull off. The geometry and gearing ideal for road just aren’t ideal for gravel and vice versa in my experience. I too really enjoy having a gravel/winter bike and at least one go fast road bike.
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Agreed, wouldn’t bother with that. This is one road bike to rule all the road biking. My gravel bike isn’t going anywhere.
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N-1 is hard to pull off, but it’s great if you can get the niggles and gripes down to a slight bit of rub on the rotors (or even between tyre and mudguard - one leaf will always find a way to make your quiet bike groan and sneeze!).
But I guess that’s just it, why we all find ourselves multiple iterations down the N+1 rabbit hole: the need for a more specialised machine for each particular terrain and use requirement. So if you can stick it with one bike, you’re doing well!
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Just to add - I run two wheel sets (Hope alu rims on Pro4/SonDelux and Zipp 404s) and haven’t had any trouble with shifting or any significant brake rub. I have the excellent RX4 4-piston calipers and wondered if these might be more forgiving to pad and rotor misalignment, but I suspect these calipers aren’t widely used - anyone else use them?