Goldhawk Rodax

On paper, a £1,400 handmade Reynolds 520 steel flat-bar bike with a 1x SRAM drivetrain and matching hydraulic brakeset is pretty enticing. In reality, the Goldhawk Rodax is as close as you'll get to the perfect off-the-shelf urban speed machine. With a ride that marries quick control with instant power transfer and – believe it or not – impressive levels of comfort, all it needs is to be set up to your personal preference and then... enjoy.

• Pros: Fast, exciting and comfortable ride, perfect spec, astounding value
• Cons: 580mm handlebar is just a tad narrow, 32mm tyres might be better than the 28s fitted

The Goldhawk Rodax is probably the most exciting and fast flat-bar bike I've tested since the (aluminium) BMC Alpenchallenge first appeared half a decade ago. The two bikes themselves couldn't be more different, but the fact that the (steel) Rodax shares the same eagerness to get up to speed is, in itself, quite an achievement. Factor in a forgiving, smooth and sublime ride, as well as that responsive performance under power, and you have an experience that is almost unbeatable.

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Of course, that smoothness is down to one major ingredient: steel. Steel bikes might not be as instantly reactive as aluminium (although this one gets pretty close), or as clever as carbon, but for an all-round bike that you can live with, it's hard to beat. In this case, the insulating quality of the steel frame deals with lumps and bumps very impressively. It handles big hits and potholes particularly well – you can't ignore them but you're not left counting your teeth. Meanwhile, small surface imperfections do rumble their way up the front, which is noticeably stiffer than the rear end, but this could be assuaged with a slight increase in tyre size (we'll come to that later).

The Rodax can't quite match the best high-speed cruisers in terms of out-and-out stability – it's far more of a Spitfire than a Lancaster bomber – but I don't think that matters in the slightest. This isn't a bike designed for all-day spins through the open countryside; it's a bike made for sprinting from traffic light to traffic light and weaving through traffic. Combine faultless front control with that effective power delivery, and you've got a machine that is more exciting than you'd probably imagine a flat-bar steel bike ever could be.

Frame

Most of the flat-bar bikes I test come with a good dose of PR babble that invariably calls them an 'urban attack machine' or something similar, when it's clear to anybody with eyes that they're just a reconstituted hardtail, or a road bike with a flat bar, or a leisure hybrid painted black. The Rodax is different and was designed from the outset as an effective and fully resolved city bike, albeit with a dash of style.

The frame is made from Reynolds 520 steel tubing and looks fantastic in its retro-inspired colourway. There are some nice details, too, such as the internal routing for the rear brake and even the front brake line disappears into the crown of the sexy, straight-bladed carbon EVO CX fork.

Add in hooded dropouts, bottle cage, mudguard and rack mounts, and you've got a bike that's about more than just aesthetics or pure pedalling performance.

Oh, and when I say steel frame, this isn't some picked-from-a-catalogue effort. It's been designed by Goldhawk founder and former oil industry engineer Jeff Rutland here in the UK and is built by hand in one of Taiwan's best factories, as recommended by Reynolds itself. On a bike that isn't short on nice touches and thorough design, the hand-enamelled head tube badge is very much the proverbial cherry on top.

The geometry is reassuringly old school, with an almost-level top tube, while the choice of tubing increases in diameter as you head from back to front: skinny tubes for the stays; medium tubes for the seat, top and down tubes; and a monster tube at the head tube.

Such a traditional frame shape gives the impression of it being a big bike so the fact that it tips the scales at 11kg seems fair. It's not too light to be delicate; not too heavy to prohibit a spot of manhandling.

Drivetrain and brakes

I'm a big fan of 1x setups and the Rodax is testament to their efficacy. Do you want to ride fast, without compromises and limit the faff? Simple: there's a shifter at your right hand to go up and down the cassette. That's it. No feathering the front mech, no dodgy chainlines. You always know what's happening with your gearing without even having to think about it.

The Goldhawk/First RT1 two-piece hollow design chainset is a particular talking point in this setup, as its Narrow Wide 48t chainring has been custom made for Goldhawk. Combined with SRAM Apex gears, everything works nice and smoothly but there's a sense of sturdy reliability, too.

Because I'm lazy, fat and I live among the hills, I'd be tempted to fit an 11-42t cassette instead of the 10-36t that comes as standard. (Let me be clear, this isn't criticism, I'm just mentally making this bike perfect for my personal requirements!) But the 36t is ideal for city riding and it'll quite happily get you up urban slopes.

The SRAM Level T-A1 hydraulic disc brakeset is a speccing choice that is hard to fault. It offers excellent outright power, nicely weighted modulation, and the dinky little levers add to the overall sense that you are riding a piece of precision engineering.

Components

For a new brand, it's hard not to be impressed by the finishing kit. I particularly like the custom Goldhawk branded saddle and the highly polished black alloy seatpost, stem and handlebar. It all gives the Rodax a real quality feel. I must confess, I barely noticed the wheelset – it did its job without interfering with the Rodax's other qualities, which is good enough, considering the value of the rest of the package.

If I had my sensible hat on, I'd say the 580mm handlebar is too narrow and, practically at least, a wider bar might make more sense. Emotionally, though, I'm not so sure. Certainly there's a lot of fun to be had with the narrow bar, you quickly get used to it, and it seems to fit with the front end's very agile and precise demeanour. Weaving around at speed, the Rodax feels like a well-honed instrument.

The argument for tyres wider than the fitted 28mm is a little more compelling, and I think a small increase to 32mm would add enough extra cushioning to really fine-tune comfort without upsetting the Rodax's overall eagerness. That said, the 28mm Continental Gatorskins are decent bits of rubber that offer plenty of grip even in damp spots, without feeling like you're using all your energy battling against rolling resistance.

Value and conclusion

I love this bike. In fact, if it cost twice as much, I think I could still make a fairly convincing argument (at least, I reckon I could convince myself) that it was still great value. The fact that you can have a handmade Reynolds frame that looks fantastic and is fitted with a spec that really works for just £1,400 is quite amazing.

Of course there are plenty of handmade steel bikes out there, and plenty of off-the-shelf steel fixies, singlespeeds and drop-bar options. There are also things like the Cinelli HoBootleg Interrail Bike or the relatively new Pashley Morgan models, and other even more niche options. But as a fully resolved urban flat-bar bike, there's nothing that comes close, I don't think, short of a custom build or putting one together yourself.

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Essentially, my thoughts about the Rodax can be summed up like this: it's the best aspects of old school style and quality, combined with the best aspects of modern tech and performance. And it rides simply fantastically. Offer all that at a price within range of people who perhaps never thought they'd be able to stretch to a fairly exclusive handmade steel bike, and Goldhawk might have to reconsider its current plan to manufacture in only limited numbers.

Verdict

Fantastic flat-bar urban bike with a superb handmade Reynolds 520 frame and ideal spec for £1,400. It's a steel steal!