Bike test: Mason Resolution and Shand Skinnymalinky steel road bikes

Despite the increasing affordability of carbon fibre and titanium, steel remains an excellent material for a road bike. It’s seldom the lightest option and it’s not necessarily the cheapest. But if you want a durable, comfortable, year-round bike for club rides, audaxes, sportives, training, commuting, general road riding and even light touring, a steel road bike can be ideal.

The new Resolution from Brighton-based Mason Cycles is a fine example of a contemporary steel road bike, using the latest steel tubing and bristling with modern details, including disc brakes and internal cable routing. From Scotland's Shand is the Skinnymalinky, a more traditional take on the genre.

Both bikes share the same ability to accommodate 28mm tyres with mudguards, and both focus on year-round comfort and versatility.

Frame and fork

Shand’s Skinnymalinky uses a mix of Reynolds 853 and Columbus tubing, with small diameter round tubes and a non-tapered 1 1/8in head tube. It’s very traditional in its appearance, but the quality and detail are first class.

The headset and bottom bracket use external bearings and the gear cables are routed externally, though the rear brake cable is routed inside the top tube. There are neat Breezer-style hooded stainless dropouts and eyelets for a mudguard and a rack.

The test bike was fitted with a US-sourced, mudguard-compatible WoundUp carbon fibre fork. Its slender blades are very much in keeping with the appearance of the Shand frame. A steel fork is an option.

The Mason’s frame could scarcely look more different. A mix of Columbus Spirit and Life tubing has been extensively profiled into oversized proportions. An oval-shaped top tube and D-shaped down tube combine with a tapered head tube and beefy carbon fork to maximise lateral frame stiffness.

Mason has routed all cables and brake hoses inside the frame, with interchangeable ports that can be swapped to adapt the frame to any number of groupset configurations, including Di2.

Unlike the Shand, the Resolution is a disc-specific bike, Mason reckoning that discs are a requirement for year-round cycling. Like the Shand, the Mason Resolution features a 27.2mm seatpost, a 68mm threaded bottom bracket, and mudguard and rack eyelets. It even has a chain pip on the driveside seat stay.

Aside from the visual differences, there are some key differences in the sizing. The Skinnymalinky is available in five standard production sizes or you can get a made-to-measure frame for no extra cost. The bike pictured is a 56cm and the geometry is quite traditional, with a short 140mm head tube producing a low front-end position and conventional 73.5/74 head/seat angles and a slightly sloping top tube.

The Resolution is available in six sizes, but the Mason geometry differs. It’s intended to offer a more relaxed fit, with the 54cm bike I tested featuring a taller (155mm) head tube and a reach that, with a change to a 120mm stem, is comparable to the larger size Shand. Both bikes offered me a good fit and a comfortable position for long rides.

Components

The Mason is equipped with a Shimano Ultegra 11-speed mechanical groupset with matching hydraulic disc brakes. It’s a good package, one I’ve ridden before and got on well with.

For the wheels, Mason has collaborated with another young Brighton-based company, Hunt Wheels, to develop an aluminium clincher wheelset. It has a 23mm wide (external) tubeless-ready rim, with 24 triple-butted spokes and Shimano’s Centrelock disc rotor mounting system.

A Fabric saddle with carbon fibre rails adds bling and is mounted to a Mason-branded carbon seatpost, with a Deda RHM02 aluminium handlebar and Zero2 stem.

The Shand has a Campagnolo Athena 11-speed groupset and, like the Mason, a compact 50-34 chainset with a middling-sized cassette – 12-27 on the Shand, 11-28 on the Mason. Shand offers some customisation, such as the colour-matched stem atop the Chris King headset.

I liked the reach of the Ritchey Comp Streem aluminium handlebar but I’m no fan of the wing-shaped tops. Wheels are a combination of Hope RS Mono hubs, with their distinctive clicky freehub, and black Mavic Open Pro rims, and proved reliable and durable.

Both bikes use Continental tyres: 28mm Grand Sport Extra on the Mason and 25mm Grand Prix 4Season for the Shand. The Skinnymalinky will take 28mm tyres with SKS mudguards, but the PDW mudguards fitted to this bike limit tyre width to 25mm.

Both companies include mudguards for a small cost. Shand goes the extra mile and will paint them to match the frame.

The most obvious feature that sets the bikes apart is their choice of braking systems. On the Mason, braking is done courtesy of Shimano’s RS685 hydraulic brakes with 140mm disc rotors. The brakes have a firm lever feel but I did detect a bit of squealing in the wet test conditions.

The Shand is fitted with TRP RG957 long-reach callipers, with a predictable performance and impressive braking on some of the steeper hills I tested the bike on.

Ride

I tested both bikes over a mix of rolling lanes and steep hills in my local corner of the Cotswolds, searching out some of the most challenging road surfaces and sweeping descents. I rode them over the same routes to get a feel for each bike in equivalent conditions and at similar speeds.

Despite the similarities in frame material, the bikes felt quite different to ride. The Mason is a step away from road bike norms. The longer trail figure, a result of the 71.5-degree head angle, and long wheelbase, create a bike with impressive high-speed stability.

It’s composed on faster descents: the bigger tyres provide more cushioning and the high level of frame and fork stiffness giving confidence-inspiring steering. Through fast sweeping bends, it’s a lot of fun.

At lower speeds, it can feel bit ponderous, the steering a touch on the heavy side. It took me a few rides to acclimatise.

The Shand’s steeper head angle means less trail than the Mason. Combined with its shorter wheelbase, this results in more lively handling.

The steering is lighter and the bike easier to turn, making slow speed agility very good. It’s an easier bike to move around the road at a wider range of speeds than the Mason, which is more comfortable at pace.

The Shand’s shorter head tube gives a riding position that suited me better; I immediately felt at home on it.

The Skinnymalinky offers a smoother ride over rougher road surfaces, its 3mm narrower tyres notwithstanding. The Mason’s beefier fork and frame tubes are stiffer, which riders heavier than me (I’m 66kg) might appreciate more, but it’s at the cost of compliance.

Verdict

Both bikes are good examples of why steel survives in this modern era of carbon fibre. They look lovely, as you’d expect at these prices. The finish and attention to detail are astonishingly good.

Each bike offers a ride that’s quick enough and comfortable enough for anything from fast Sunday club rides to all-day audax events. Since both are designed for frame-fitting mudguards, you could ride either bike in any weather. Add a rear rack, and either would serve as a light tourer or everyday commuter too.

Both bikes are good examples of why steel survives in this modern era of carbon fibre… The finish and attention to detail are astonishingly good

David Arthur

The Mason offers a more contemporary package, both in terms of its adoption of disc brakes and the stiffer ride that results from the oversized and profiled tubes and the beefy carbon fork. But the overall ride feel isn’t as nuanced as the silky-smooth Shand, which is a delight to ride.

It might lack the modern details of the Mason and perhaps isn’t as visually interesting, but it rides like a really good steel bike should. Add in the lighter handling and you have a bike that is easy to live with every day.

First published in Cycle magazine, April/May 2016 issue. All information correct at time of publishing.