Don't just take our word for how great these products are, here is what the experts say
2021 GENESIS FUGIO 30 (AS TOLD BY CYCLIST.CO.UK)
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The 2021 Genesis Fugio 30 is bold, brash, shouty and ready for pretty much anything.
If you were lucky enough to have got your hands on the limited edition Rapha x Palace riding kit in October, this is the bike to wear it on – and not just because of its astonishingly good purple/pink paint fade (although, of course, this will be a major influencing factor).
It’s about time the paint schemes on adventure bikes reflected the sheer enjoyment of riding far, wide and remote with everything you need for survival hung off the frame. And this is exactly what the Genesis Fugio 30 makes you want to do.
Classic and classyThere’s something about a classic, straight-tubed steel-framed bike that just looks ‘right’. And Genesis manages to get it spot-on with the Fugio 30.
The Reynolds 725 tubing is mandrel-butted, as opposed to using the more usual method of folding the tube ends for strength at their junction points. The internal diameter of the tubing (a heat-treated 0.3% carbon steel alloy) is formed by pushing the individual lengths on to a cylindrical shaft before being turned and extracted.
What you’re left with is a thicker internal diameter at the end of the tubing than along its length, allowing weight to be shaved without sacrificing strength.
The ride quality of the resultant frame is harder to discern off-road than on billiard table-smooth tarmac, obviously (where steel tends to ‘sing’), but neither my hands nor behind were battered too badly by the local trail centre’s fireroads – where most of the testing of the Genesis Fugio 30 took place.
However, although I’ll generally take a medium sized frame, the 385mm reach and 594mm stack of this size M test bike were at the upper end of my favoured ergonomics. Straight tubing, a 1,045mm wheelbase and 165mm headtube make it a rangy old beast, too, but this does lend it very welcome surefooted handling.
All the gear The gravel-specific 11-speed Shimano GRX groupset worn by the range-topping Fugio 30 is a doddle to get your head around. While the Sram 1x system relies on that particular manufacturer’s double-tap shifting at the levers, the Shimano single chainring and 11-42 cassette array are operated by an altogether more friendly-feeling lever and paddle setup on the right-hand side of the bars.
Gearshifts are applied with precision, just without the sometimes alarming clunk of a Sram set-up. They’re also slotted home simply, with the Genesis alloy bars supplying an easy reach to the lever whether riding on the hoods or the flared drops.
A 40-tooth chainring allied to that 11-42 cassette will struggle to supply the momentum that you might be used to on the road, but for off-piste riding, it’s a near-perfect pairing.
You can take it with you With the Genesis Fugio 30, you’re just one luggage shopping trip away from weekend freedom.
The mounts for load-lugging are many and well thought through; besides the standard down tube bottle mounts (of which there are three), you’re also treated to fork leg mounts on each side for cases, a top tube mount for a frame bag, as well as a rear rack mount and an underslung mount beneath the down tube near the bottom bracket.
If you can’t fit what you need on this bike, you’re not packing cleverly enough.
Terrain is no issue, with the Fugio 30 rolling on 650b wheels wrapped in 47c WTB Venture tyres. Tread at the centre and shoulder of this adventure-ready rubber will shrug off 90% of anything you dare to ride over, and when running lower pressures, comfort is right up there in the ‘floaty’ category.
Being tubeless-ready, the fitment of tubeless valves and goo will narrow your chances of pinch-flatting.
I like to move it move it - Yes, the Genesis Fugio 30 can still shift, especially on bigger-circumference 700c rims, but when you’re not on a lads’ or lasses’ weekend away and are in the mood for simple, childlike hoonery, the bike also has you covered.
It’s lightweight and well-geared enough to tackle uphill switchbacks when lapping the trail centre, solid and suitably equipped in the tyre department to takes jumps on, but I would question the need for a dropper seatpost.
Back in the day, serious mountain bikers would manually drop their seatposts with a quick-release before taking on the downhills, but the hydraulic dropper post took that onerous task away from them, allowing the seatpost to retract into the seat tube with the press of a button to give more room for rearward body positioning on steep, technical descents.
Are many people considering buying this bike going to use it for that? I’ll put my neck on the line here and say no. That said, it does operate as it should, and is simply raised and lowered by way of the left-hand gear lever.
If you were lucky enough to have got your hands on the limited edition Rapha x Palace riding kit in October, this is the bike to wear it on – and not just because of its astonishingly good purple/pink paint fade (although, of course, this will be a major influencing factor).
It’s about time the paint schemes on adventure bikes reflected the sheer enjoyment of riding far, wide and remote with everything you need for survival hung off the frame. And this is exactly what the Genesis Fugio 30 makes you want to do.
Classic and classyThere’s something about a classic, straight-tubed steel-framed bike that just looks ‘right’. And Genesis manages to get it spot-on with the Fugio 30.
The Reynolds 725 tubing is mandrel-butted, as opposed to using the more usual method of folding the tube ends for strength at their junction points. The internal diameter of the tubing (a heat-treated 0.3% carbon steel alloy) is formed by pushing the individual lengths on to a cylindrical shaft before being turned and extracted.
What you’re left with is a thicker internal diameter at the end of the tubing than along its length, allowing weight to be shaved without sacrificing strength.
The ride quality of the resultant frame is harder to discern off-road than on billiard table-smooth tarmac, obviously (where steel tends to ‘sing’), but neither my hands nor behind were battered too badly by the local trail centre’s fireroads – where most of the testing of the Genesis Fugio 30 took place.
However, although I’ll generally take a medium sized frame, the 385mm reach and 594mm stack of this size M test bike were at the upper end of my favoured ergonomics. Straight tubing, a 1,045mm wheelbase and 165mm headtube make it a rangy old beast, too, but this does lend it very welcome surefooted handling.
All the gear The gravel-specific 11-speed Shimano GRX groupset worn by the range-topping Fugio 30 is a doddle to get your head around. While the Sram 1x system relies on that particular manufacturer’s double-tap shifting at the levers, the Shimano single chainring and 11-42 cassette array are operated by an altogether more friendly-feeling lever and paddle setup on the right-hand side of the bars.
Gearshifts are applied with precision, just without the sometimes alarming clunk of a Sram set-up. They’re also slotted home simply, with the Genesis alloy bars supplying an easy reach to the lever whether riding on the hoods or the flared drops.
A 40-tooth chainring allied to that 11-42 cassette will struggle to supply the momentum that you might be used to on the road, but for off-piste riding, it’s a near-perfect pairing.
You can take it with you With the Genesis Fugio 30, you’re just one luggage shopping trip away from weekend freedom.
The mounts for load-lugging are many and well thought through; besides the standard down tube bottle mounts (of which there are three), you’re also treated to fork leg mounts on each side for cases, a top tube mount for a frame bag, as well as a rear rack mount and an underslung mount beneath the down tube near the bottom bracket.
If you can’t fit what you need on this bike, you’re not packing cleverly enough.
Terrain is no issue, with the Fugio 30 rolling on 650b wheels wrapped in 47c WTB Venture tyres. Tread at the centre and shoulder of this adventure-ready rubber will shrug off 90% of anything you dare to ride over, and when running lower pressures, comfort is right up there in the ‘floaty’ category.
Being tubeless-ready, the fitment of tubeless valves and goo will narrow your chances of pinch-flatting.
I like to move it move it - Yes, the Genesis Fugio 30 can still shift, especially on bigger-circumference 700c rims, but when you’re not on a lads’ or lasses’ weekend away and are in the mood for simple, childlike hoonery, the bike also has you covered.
It’s lightweight and well-geared enough to tackle uphill switchbacks when lapping the trail centre, solid and suitably equipped in the tyre department to takes jumps on, but I would question the need for a dropper seatpost.
Back in the day, serious mountain bikers would manually drop their seatposts with a quick-release before taking on the downhills, but the hydraulic dropper post took that onerous task away from them, allowing the seatpost to retract into the seat tube with the press of a button to give more room for rearward body positioning on steep, technical descents.
Are many people considering buying this bike going to use it for that? I’ll put my neck on the line here and say no. That said, it does operate as it should, and is simply raised and lowered by way of the left-hand gear lever.
