Genesis bikes got a number of their new 2020 steel Volare & Equilibrium bikes a bit earlier than expected so they are rolling them out right away. Plus, a few updated builds drop for their Fugio & Croix de Fer gravel & adventure bikes, including a new full carbon aftermarket fork for the CdF or really any 1 1/8″ bike looking to head out into the backcountry, now with updated axle-to-crown stats…
2020 Genesis Volare steel performance road bike frames
Steel road bikes are definitely some of the most popular that Genesis produces, and a new Volare 931 frameset is the epitome of that. While many companies (even Genesis themselves) put a lot of effort into building new carbon wunderbikes with disc brakes, little attention is paid to classics in steel. (Last season you could only get the Volare with disc brakes.)
The returning £1700 Volare 931 frameset is a shout out to cyclists who love a mix of modern & classic tech. The frame sticks with rim brakes, classic external routing, and understated polished looks, but is built from premium butted Reynolds 931 stainless steel with modern geometry, a replaceable derailleur hanger, a tapered headtube, full carbon fork, press fit BB86 & even adding internal Di2 routing.
In addition to the top stainless model, the £900 Volare 853 frameset offers much of the same steel ride character at almost half the price. Built from seamless, air-hardened, heat-treated Reynolds 853 steel, the frame gets all of the same tech details as the 931.
2020 Genesis Equilibrium steel endurance road bikes
Just like the fast road bikes get updates for 2020, so too does the endurance Equilibrium family. The workhorse Equilibrium Disc 725 frame gets just a small update beyond the fancy new purple paint.
Keeping the same £850 pricetag for the frame set, it adds some extra clearance for up to 32mm road tires.
That same 725 frameset with its extra tire clearance also gets built up into a revised 2020 Equilibrium Disc complete bike that actually gets £200 more expensive. But that extra cost is probably worth it. Besides new paint it also moves to a complete Shimano 105 R7000 hydraulic disc brake groupset, vs. the previous bulbous non-series levers & brakes.
Maybe even prettier is the updated 2020 Equilibrium with rim brakes. On paper the £1400 complete rim brake endurance road bike looks unchanged. But it is a new deep blue paint job, and a shiny all silver kit that really makes the 105 build stand out.
2020 Genesis Croix de Fer & Fugio steel adventure gravel bikes
For next year, the only thing that looks to change with the £1550 Fugio 20 is a new color option for the Apex 1 powered 650b gravel bike.
The Croix de Fer itself doesn’t really look set to change either (both bikes were updated for 2019 anyway). But a new slate blue flat bar build does give riders another option for a do-it-all-bike with an upright riding position. Theflat bar build saves a £100, down to £1000 thanks to the inclusion of more simple, lower priced Sora Road flat bar 2×9 shifters. The move to a flat bar also has the side benefit of upgrading the brakes from mechanical Spyre calipers to trusted Shimano MT200 hydraulic disc brakes.
2020 Genesis CGR1 Croix de Fer 1 1/8″ carbon gravel touring fork
Last of the early releases and maybe the most interesting is an all new full carbon aftermarket fork for the gravel & adventure bike market. Designed to offer a lightweight yet functional upgrade for the steel Croix de Fer family, the new CGR1 fork might appeal to many other cyclists looking to upgrade their ride. The 1 1/8″ straight steerer & 50mm offset means it will fit on a ton of existing bikes. No word yet on axle-to-crown length, but in the past the CdF had a relatively short 387mm length, meaning this probably won’t be a suitable upgrade for most older cross bikes.
Update: OK, so we got the official detailed feedback on the CdF CGR1 fork, and its axle-to-crown measurement is 397mm. That should make it an ideal fit for a huge number of 1.125″ steerer cross and early mixed-surface bikes out on the market. Come to think of it, I have a couple of old steel CX bikes that would do well with an adventure ready, thru-axle full carbon gravel fork!
For a pretty high £350 price though, you get a full-featured 400g claimed full 24T carbon fork with a 12mm thru-axle & flat mount brake attachment. It includes internal routing for your brake line & hub dynamo wiring, plus a ton of braze-ons for a rack, full coverage fenders, and anything cages on both legs. It’s not yet available like all of the other new 2020 bikes above, but is expected to ship out in August 2019. A quick release version is also expected later in 2019.
