Spa Cycles Elan 725 F+F (aka a cheap sort-of Secan) - steel frame and full carbon fork - 54cm - sparkly - £SOLD

My foray into the world of nice steel and carbon has been very short lived - just can't get used to the feel of a non-steel fork. This has done maybe 300km at most, stored indoors and cleaned after every ride. Will get some nice photos of the frame in the daylight but for now here's a photo of it built up. It's a lovely frame that Spa fails to advertise at all well, and is a bargain even at the £505 I paid.

Geometry wise, the 54cm is not far off the 56T Fairlight Secan, which is why I went for this.

Key details:

• Reynolds 725 steel main triangle with 44mm oversized head tube
  
• Full carbon fork with 30cm of steerer (uncut) - this is the tapered version of the old Croix de Fer one
  
• Takes 42mm tyres happily
  
• FSA Orbit ITA headset
  
• Post mount disc front, IS mount rear (post mount adapter fitted)
  
• Spacing is 100mm front, 135mm rear - both standard QR
  
• Lovely subtle sparkly blue paint with ED internal coating (anti rust)
  
• Three pairs of bottle cage mounts
  
• Mudguard eyelets front and rear, rack eyelets rear
  
• BSA threaded BB and 27.2mm seat post diameter
  
• Fork is drilled for a dynamo light
  
  

Looking for £350. Can post from Nottingham at cost or will be down in Bristol in a few weeks if that works for someone.

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this is a deal and a half, if only i was a bit taller..

It looks lovely, but much to small for me.

Idle curiosity:

1. what is the thing on the rear brake bridge? (I realise that you aren't going to put a brake there)
   
2. the rear derailleur cable seems to run under the head tube rather than in front of it - is that a common approach to routing it? (Currently re-cabling a bike and haven't seen it done that way before).
   

PM,d

Idle curiosity very welcome!

1) That's a Brompton rear light bracket that I use to mount a rear dynamo light. It's far from perfect but it works well enough.

2) That cable you're seeing is the wiring for that same rear dynamo light. The derailleur cables are standard and run to stops on the downtube.

Edit: just realised what you mean, and yes that is the rear mech cable running under the head tube... I threw the bike together late one lockdown night and messed up the cable routing there. I was intending to fix it but obviously never got round to it before dismantling the thing. Can't imagining doing it this way would be overly detrimental but it wasn't intentional.

Pm'ing now!

Provisionally sold to @lancelothamlyn (pending payment)

Thanks for the expose :-)

Any chance you have a picture of this side on? I was looking at buying one a while ago and still may.

Thanks Andy

Yup, no problem - here you go. Please ignore the dodgy spacer stack, wasn't ridden like this...

In general a really nicely finished frame - neat welds, paint is immaculate, and Spa faced everything perfectly. Not convinced the gusset is entirely necessary but can't hurt.

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Sold!

Another question, if you don't mind answering. Because there is a lack of info or experience about spa frames on the web in general.

On the spa website it says clearance for 50mm tyres without guards, do you think this is true?

shit this was a great deal. gutted i missed it

Good question - there's definitely room in the forks for 50mm but not so sure at the back. The photo in the OP shows it with 42mm Supremes, so I wouldn't be confident recommending bigger than maybe 45mm. Short answer is maybe, tyre dependent.

Another nice thing about the Elan is that the decals aren't under a clear coat, so they peel off without even using a heat gun. There's apparently new colours coming soon, too.

These do seem really well priced, considering what a boggo frameset sells for atm. Decals and rear dropouts pretty horrible though.

Edit: just saw your comment on the decals.

Good point about the dropouts - certainly fine but could definitely be a little nicer. They remind me of the CdF ones somehow.

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These are nice and the geo is good... And Spa are ace. I've been tempted.

How tall are you OP? I have a 52cm on order but second guessing myself over the sizing.

Are these Spa frames really 1.6kg? Seems very light?!

Think that is for the Ti version

You would hope/expect 1.9-2.2 kg for 725nin my experience, depending on the gauge of tubes used. The QR dropout will be lighter than thru axle

thanks

I checked with Spa recently on these - the Ti version will be offered in thru-axle soon/now but no plans to make the steel one thru axle.

I agree with this - don't find the need on the rear. I remember Cotic feeling the same way before going thru-axle on MTBs - they bemoaned the added weight/need to shave weight elsewhere. But I do prefer flat mounts, if you're going to squeeze the caliper inside the rear triangle.

I was very close to one of these but would want to use a steel fork and don't like the look of the steel fork with a 44mm headtube. It would also drop the stack a bit with the ZS44 cup.

Yeah I think they look good value, but its interesting there are no pics of it with the steel fork (which I'd be wanting)...

My inclination would be to use a Hope/similar crown race adapter seat, making the steel fork effectively tapered, so you can still use an external headset cup for looks and maintaining the geometry.

https://www.google.com/search?q=hope+crown+race+reducer&rlz=1C1GCEA_enGB905GB905&oq=hope+corwn+race+re&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0i13.5496j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&safe=active&ssui=on

There are 44mm external lower cups with bearings for a straight 1 1/8th steerer, but I think they are harder to come by. Worth checking with Spa which of the 3 solutions they would use.