Genesis Croix De Fer 20 2021

The Genesis Croix de Fer 20 is a go-anywhere bike, based around a smooth-riding steel frameset with large tyre clearances and a huge array of mounting points for accessories to aid your commuting or adventure rides. The braking power leaves a bit to be desired on descents, but at least when it comes to the climbs you have low enough gears to get yourself to the top.

The Croix de Fer is designed for everything from commuting to riding around the world, and provided you aren't in a hurry it's a very pleasurable place to be. By that I mean its 11.94kg (26.3lb) weight isn't going to be setting your world alight, but that's not really the point.

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The Croix de Fer hasn't been designed as a fast road bike – it hasn't even been designed as a fast off-road bike – so just kick back and enjoy the ride, which you can do because of the comfortable frame built from Reynolds 725 tubing.

Ride

During the first few rides I will admit I did find the Croix de Fer a bit on the sluggish side. The weight is an obvious factor in that, but I just had to adapt my riding style a bit and make full use of the spread of gears provided by the Shimano GRX groupset. After that, I became much more 'in tune' with the Genesis, enjoying my adventures down unknown byways and gravel tracks.

I've ridden quite a few Reynolds 725-tubed frames over the last four or five months and I've grown to love its ride qualities. It's that typical steel smoothness that seems to take out high-frequency road buzz, and although there is a fair amount of weight in the CdF it never feels like it crashes over rough surfaces or through potholes.

If you like heading out into the wilderness, chances are you'll need to ride on the road to get there or to join up the trail sections of your chosen route. The Genesis' geometry lends itself well to that. Other than the slackened head angle of 71.5 degrees, which makes the handling more predictable on a loose surface, the 561mm top tube and 155mm head tube on this medium size still feel quite 'endurance roadie' in terms of the position.

The steering isn't razor sharp, but this isn't the bike you are going to buy if nailing technical descents is your thing. The planted feel of the CdF, thanks to the combination of its weight and the long wheelbase of 1,035mm, means there's an air of confidence about it that allows you to thread the bike from apex to apex.

Get to the rough stuff and that composed ride continues, helped a lot by the 40mm wide Kenda BoosterPro tyres. They are a little more aggressively treaded than many gravel tyres, and with more pronounced knobbly bits on the shoulder there is some extra bite when you are cornering quickly.

With decent comfort and that easy riding style, I enjoyed heading off-road on the CdF. It's a very capable bike and when loaded up with frame bags, a seat pack and handlebar bag, the handling wasn't affected – it continued to feel just as stable.

Long climbs can become a little ponderous with the weight, but when you do have to get out of the saddle you are rewarded with plenty of stiffness around the bottom bracket junction. It's no sprinter's machine, but any flex is kept to a minimum.

I've mentioned that the Genesis handles well going downhill, but the only real fly in the ointment is the lack of power from the cable-operated disc brakes. I had a few sketchy moments when switching from test bikes that had hydraulic stoppers to the CdF, and forgetting how much earlier you need to plan and start your braking to bring it to a stop.

Things did improve after a bedding-in period, but the overall performance is night and day when compared to even, say, Shimano's lowest level hydraulic brakes.

On the whole, though, the CdF is a very comfortable and easy bike to ride.

Frame and fork

Just like the Genesis Equilibrium that I reviewed recently, the CdF 20 uses a steel frame and fork. Reynolds 725 is a chromoly steel, based on the 4130 grade steel alloy which is then heat treated.

I really like the way the CdF looks. The slender tubing and fork give it a classic style that works well with the wide, chunky tyres and simple black finishing kit.

The paintjob is flawless when you get up close, and the welding is very neat indeed.

Genesis has increased the tyre clearances over previous models, with 45mm achievable at the rear and 50mm for the fork. That's for 700C wheels, but it's pretty much the same if you want to swap in some 650Bs.

The CdF has been designed to be a load carrier, with three bottle positions and mounting points for mudguards, racks and fixings for Anything cages on the fork legs.

The top tube also gets a mounting position for a bento box.

The bottom bracket shell is threaded for a standard outboard bearing setup, and the brakes are flat mount.

One thing I'm not too sure about is that the CdF still uses quick releases for wheel retention. Admittedly you aren't going to suffer with fork twist from the power – or lack of it – from the front brake, but for riding on rough surfaces thru-axles bring so much more security as they'll rarely vibrate themselves loose.

Being quick release also limits access to some of the best gravel wheels, should you want to upgrade. Many companies do offer adaptors to make their thru-axle wheels run with quick release, but it's often extra expense and faff.

Geometry and sizing

There are five frame sizes in total, which Genesis reckons will cater for anyone between 1.5m and 1.94m tall, give or take. The medium, as I mentioned, has a 561mm top tube and 155mm head tube, a 530mm seat tube, 1,035mm wheelbase and a bottom bracket drop of 73mm. That gives a standover height of 808mm, and the fork has an offset of 50mm.

Stack and reach figures are 593mm and 385mm respectively, and alongside the 71.5-degree head angle is a seat angle of 73.5 degrees.

Groupset

When it comes to the gearing, the CdF 20 is based loosely around Shimano's entry level gravel groupset, GRX 400. I say loosely as it only uses the front mech, rear mech and chainset.

Unlike the higher level GRX 600 and 810 line-ups, which are 11-speed, 400 is 10-speed and sits at the same level as the road-based Tiagra 4700 groupset. Hence why the Genesis uses the mechanical STi levers from that group.

The GRX chainset has smaller rings than road versions, 46/30-tooth, which Genesis has paired with an 11-34t cassette. I found this a capable set of gears for the majority of the terrain I rode on, with only the steepest climbs becoming a bit of a chore.

If you want something even lower then the GRX 400 rear mech will accept a 36-tooth sprocket, which can be achieved by using a CS-HG50-10 mountain bike cassette from Shimano.

On the whole the groupset works well together. The shifting is crisp and light, and it copes well when covered in muddy water and grit, typical UK winter conditions.

I've already mentioned that the TRP Spyre-C mechanical brakes didn't enamour me that much, but saying that, I have used worse. They just lack the bite of hydraulic setups, though of course they are much cheaper. A set of Tiagra hydraulic shifters and callipers have an RRP of over £400, which would impact on the Genesis' overall price.

I've used Spyre-Cs a fair few times on different bikes with varying success, but I think the main problem here is the weight of the CdF, especially when you start adding frame bags and the like. Include the rider and all of the kit and that's a lot of weight for a braking system to deal with.

Finishing kit

When it comes to the contact points and so on, it's all Genesis branded kit, and I certainly wouldn't be looking at an upgrade any time soon.

The medium size frame comes with a 42cm handlebar, my preferred width for the road, which keeps the handling nimble, but you do get a 16-degree flare which gives you a wider stance when in the drops for more control at speed.

The stem is a little shorter than I'd expect on this size frame, at 100mm rather 110mm, but that also helps the ride on gravel and rough stuff as it gives a little bit more of an upright position – you can shift your weight around for control on loose terrain, and with your arms less stretched out you have a more relaxed grip on the bar.

I also got on well with the Genesis saddle. The padding has enough give in it without being too soft and causing pressure points.

Wheels and tyres

I mentioned earlier that I like the Kenda tyres the CdF comes fitted with. They offer great grip off-road and they zing along pretty well on the tarmac too.

Punctures weren't an issue, and although the Genesis arrived with inner tubes, both the tyres and the Jalco rims are tubeless ready. All you'll need are some tubeless valves and gloop, and you're ready to go.

The wheels offer a strong and reliable ride. I didn't take any prisoners out on the trails and tracks, and they stood up to plenty of abuse from rocks and tree roots.

The test period was wet as well, and a few times I found myself out in mud nearly axle deep while exploring a new trail. The hubs showed no sign of grumbling about it, although admittedly four weeks is too short a time to really check for durability there.

Value

At £1,499.99, the CdF 20 is priced a bit higher than some. The Ragley Trig Gravel, for example, is £1,199. While it gets a carbon fibre fork and is around 300g lighter, the Ragley has a 4130 chromoly frame and doesn't have as big tyre clearances as the Genesis. It's based around a Tiagra groupset but has a 48/32 chainset and an 11-32 cassette, which means its gearing isn't quite as low as the Genesis.

> How to get ultra low gearing for your gravel bike adventures

If you want a steel 'do everything' machine, but don't require the kit-carrying capabilities of the CdF then the Ribble CGR 725 is another good choice. The Tiagra build I tested was a lovely bike to ride although it was heavy – heavier than the Genesis, at 12.25kg – which did hamper it a bit. Its £1,299 price tag does leave some wiggle room to go for some lighter tyres, though, which it really needed.

> off.road.cc's Best Bikes of 2020/21 – Gravel Bike of the Year

Jon tested the gravel-focused version of the Ribble too, which came with 650B wheels and a SRAM Apex 1x groupset for £1,549, and he found it to be superb.

Conclusion

At its heart the Croix de Fer 20 has a beautiful frameset which is a real joy to ride. It's so easy to live with and delivers on comfort, which makes it a great bike for long-distance rides. It's versatile too, and with a spare set of wheels and slick tyres it'll make for a very capable winter trainer and/or commuter. If you are used to a lightweight road bike you will notice the extra heft, but it's not exceptional when you compare the Genesis with similar bikes and builds.

Verdict

Stunning ride quality and sorted geometry makes for a fun, multi-terrain machine, though the braking isn't brilliant