State cycles

[wafter]

I'm actually running hydraulics on mine, I've upgraded the gravel bike to run 4 piston Hope RX4 calipers and 180mm discs. I will say that this is complete overkill for 80% of my riding, but when I'm away bikepacking and running down some long sketchy mountainous descents I really appreciate the set up.

I made the change for two reasons really, the original 2 piston SRAM calipers developed a leak during the middle of the pandemic and spares were unobtanium. So I thought what the heck and for a few Euros more than replacement Rival calipers I bought the vastly superior Hope ones. Then fast forward a few years and descending down a long rough gravel descent whilst bikepacking, the front brakes were getting really hot and a little fade was starting to creep in. I discovered how easy and cheap it was to upgrade from 160mm to 180mm, so I thought why not.

Day to day, I find the brakes are fantastic, really nicely modulated and easy to operate from the hoods, but the power is there if I really need it. On long bikepacking trips I have a lot of confidence now as well to go for big descents knowing the brakes will see me through.

It is odd that Genesis continue to fit IS mounts to their cheaper frames, given that adapters will need to be fitted to convert them to post mount, why don't they just fit post mounts straight away or more logically keep the flat mounts from the more expensive frames? Even Kona have moved away from IS mounts, I think from the 2018 model year of the Sutra LTD they went to flat mount from IS mounts.

Sounds like a nice setup! As it happens I was looking at those Hope calipers recently and they look very good; certainly a decent alternative to / upgrade from groupset-specific parts if the cost difference is insignificant. In use how do you find they differ from the (single-piston?) SRAM items; better for both modulation and outright bite?

I think my brakes have a much easier life and when new I was very impressed by both their outright stopping power and control. Having ridden the bike recently they seem less impressive (although certainly still adiquate) - not sure if this is due to changes in my perception or the brakes themselves - perhaps surface contamination from being stood in the house..

Unfortunately I think Genesis might be retaining the older features on their lower-spec frames to create breaks between models and push people towards the more expensive variants. This was certainly my experience when buying mine in 2020; the choice essentially boiling down to QR / IS / Mech. Tiagra or TA / FM / Hydro 105 for 50-60% more. Joys of hydraulic braking aside the frame was definitely a big factor in pushing me towards the more expensive bike, however back then it seemed perhaps less exploititive - the TA and FM standards being relatively new on road-adjacent bikes so it felt more like I was paying more to future-proof with new tech rather than being pushed away from old.

Regardless of the frame material I think the forks are probably the same steel across the range, so it would certainly make sense to standardise these. The frames are perhaps a different story as the planar / profile-cut dropouts on the QR frames look obviously less complex / expensive than the cast / forged / machined items on the TA frames... so this could be one reason.

I don't think the issue is existing inventory as the frames have recently changed with new geometry and (IMO questionable) dropped seatstays, so it's not like they're working through a backlog of stock.

Anyway, meh. IMO the steel CdF peaked in 2019/2020 when I bought mine, a few niggles aside I'm generally very happy with it and remain unaffected by how the brand choose to go with this model in future. It's certainly nice not to have felt the need to rush out and buy the latest variant