Gravel Grinder News: Shand Cycles Stramish Gravel Bike

The new Stramish by Strand Cycles

Note: All images and information used in this article were provided by Shand Cycles. Comments are Guitar Ted's. 

Today Shand Cycles from the United kingdom unveils its all-new version of the Stramish gravel bike. This steel frame, carbon forked bike has several new features which  should pique the interest of the adventurous cyclist. 

This bike is hand fabricated and painted in the UK and is available by order with a delivery of six to eight weeks. 

Shand says that "stramish" means a racket, or disturbance, in Scottish, and fits the intentions of this adventure/gravel bike perfectly. The Stramish uses a Columbus steel tubing for the main frame and has 50mm tire clearance. There are two sets of water bottle bosses in the main triangle, a set under the down tube, and top tube "bento-box" accessory mounts as well as the "Three-pack" style mounts on the carbon fork. Of course, it wouldn't be a UK bike without mudguard mounts and rack mounts.    

Shand is now making their own stainless steel rear drop outs and with this model the addition of a UDH hanger is also adopted. Note the split in the frame which allows the rider to choose a belt driven drive train, if so desired. 

Furthermore, the T-47 type bottom bracket shell allows for the use of a standard threaded bottom bracket or an eccentric insert, so the bike is compatible with geared drive trains, single speed, or internally geared hubs as well. This provides for a multitude of set ups using the Stramish as a platform. 

The geometry of the Stramish is ready for adventure, but not too far removed from standard gravel geometry that it looses its identity trying to be a drop bar mountain bike. The frame comes in four sizes: Small, Medium, Large, and Xtra Large.  

The Stramish is available now and starts at  £5,495/$7,245.00 USD See this bike and other Shand Cycles models at their website HERE. 

Comments: I'm fairly picky about what I choose to post here for press releases. So much of what gets slid across my inbox represents sameness or is of little relevance to gravel or adventure cycling, so it gets passed on from me. However; this bike has something unique and fits right into the adventure/ultra-distance/gravel grinder type thing which I personally find intriguing. I hope that you do as well.  

The Stramish isn't what I would term as "racy", although one could race on it. The geometry is very good, in my opinion, and stack height is neither too slammed or too upright. While I realize there are some elements of gravel riders who are not going to look at anything new without mahoosive tire clearances, I find this 50mm maximum to be quite adequate for all-around - all-road uses. If you ride on single track, mountain trails, or the like, then maybe I can see your point but there are plenty of drop bar mountain bikes now for those pursuits.  

The price is steep. Especially to get one here in the USA. However; what isn't really expensive now and what other steel bikes have the versatility the Stramish has? Stateside we have the Co-Motion Divide, a similar steel bike, and when configured to do what the Stramish could do it costs about the same. So, I think the value is certainly there with this Shand Cycles model.