The Genesis Equilbrium remains one of my favourite all purposes, all seasons, road bike – however that needs to be caveated with the admission that I’ve still never ridden one.
I know I’m far from alone in liking this bike as my original post on the 2011 model has had over 10,000 views and seems to regularly sit in my top 10 posts at any time. Owners love them too, whenever I read reviews or discussions on bike forums people speak incredibly warmly about them. I’ve been following the bike since 2010 and it’s still a bike I’d really like to try.
For 2014 the range has evolved just a little more. There are new colours and improved specs with the prices staying the same. The Equilibrium remains a fine choice for someone who wants a steel bike with classic yet modern styling and wants a bike for riding all year round. Equilibriums make fine commuters, winter trainers (thanks to mudguards), long distance bikes – thanks to the comfort of steel and sportive bikes. Being steel they’re a bit heavier than aluminium or carbon bikes but supposedly bring a lively and pleasing ride quality. No rack mounts, so not ideal for touring.
Here some photos of the new models with an overview of the tweaks:
Equilibrium 20 £1299
The Equilbrium 20 has a new colour for 2014 after apparently a mixed reaction to the fantastic copper colour of 2013. It’s now cream with gold accents and should look pretty classy. The wheels have had some upgrades – new lighter rims and double butted spokes, which bring the weight down (one of the few criticisms of last years model). The bike also now has a 105 compact crankset – so shifters, mechs and cranks are now all 105. The brakes which are long drop are now a Shimano model and the bike has upgraded bars, stem, headset and saddle.
The Equilibrium 10 £1099
The 10 also gets the same wheelset upgrade for 2014 and is now a full Tiagra groupset except for the long drop brakes which are the Shimano R451 like the Equilibrium 20 has. The colour is now a metallic green, which looks quite old school in the flesh.
The Equilibrium 00 £899
As before the Equlibrium 00 has Reynolds 520 steel making up the frame in place of the 725 of the 10 &20 but the big news for 2014 is that it gets upgraded to the carbon fork of the more expensive models – with no change in retail price. This should help sales quite a bit. It’s a 9 speed Sora spec and has what look like last years wheels (a bit heavier than the more expensive models) but should be a fine (if not particularly light) bike for the money. The colour has also changed from white to a blue.
Other Equilibriums….
The Equlibrium Ti £2,249
The Ti Equilibrium has had some interesting changes for 2014. The 2013 version was criticised as being too stiff and to a certain extent having lost some of the lively springy ride quality the Equilibrium was reknowned for. For 2014 Genesis have slimmed down the tubing including dropped the seatpost size to 27.2mm to bring back some of compliance. I think this is a great move and I’ll really look forward to hearing how it reviews. I don’t think stock of these arrive for a while yet though.
Disc brakes anyone?
Genesis have also released an Equlibrium Disc for 2014. It uses Reynolds 631 steel , has a steel disc fork and interesting looking wheels featuring H Plus Son Archetype’s which are a wide rim. Designed as a mile muncher – it looks fairly weighty but should ride well with the Equlibrium geometry. If you’re a heavier rider and looking for one bike, this could be very nice.
Audax?
The Equlibrium 853 at £749 frame and fork is another twist on the Equlibrium formula – also for the high mileage rider but without the discs. Using 853 steel and a steel fork, this model is a bit more of an audax style ride and would suit someone riding big mileages but not trying to smash out top speeds either.
For most people the Equilibrium 20, 10 or 00 will remain the best choices for this classic bike. As I said at the start – I’ve not ridden one but I hope that this will change one day. A friend has just found a run out frameset from 2013 and is about to build one up – so I’ll look forward to his thoughts at least.
More info here: http://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/
UPDATE: I now have a 2014 Genesis Equilibrium 20 here for review. First thoughts on it are here: http://girodilento.com/2014-genesis-equilibrium-20-first-look-review/
Thanks for reading.