ALL-CITY ZIG ZAG £2,750

You’ll have to save your pennies and break the bank for All-City’s new Zig Zag, the American company’s first bike with disc brakes. That mix of oldschool steel and new technology continues with the Zig Zag’s handmade frame featuring thruaxles, hydraulic disc brakes and tubeless tyres – showing steel doesn’t have to be retro.

As with many steel bikes, AllCity’s Zig Zag is also available as a frameset for £1,300 or as a complete bike for £3,550 with Shimano Ultegra hydraulic and an upgrade to Halo Carbaura carbon wheels. The Zig Zag may have endurance geometry, but it absolutely romps along at an almost indecent lick.

Theoretically, the 30mm tyres may be slower than 25 and 28mm tyres but you’d never notice it, and whereas we’re normally happy to spin along on the flat at around 20-24km/h for much of the time, this accelerates effortlessly up to 30km/h and well beyond, letting you watch the world whizz by.

The handling is impeccable. On a sweeping descent at 65km/h our riding line to hit the apex of the bend was taking us near a deep, dangerous-looking pothole that we wanted no part of. Minimal steering effort and a little braking took us safely into a much better line while still keeping us away from the black articulated lorry behind us. Straight-line speed is excellent and, living up to its name, it zigs and it zags with the best of them.

CLASSY TOUCHES

The combination of a steel frame neatly TIG welded in Taiwan and with a lovely, classy seat collar, carbon fork and Schwalbe’s 30mm tubeless tyres maximises the comfort of the Zig Zag. The groupset is full Shimano 105 hydraulic (with an upgraded Ultegra chain). It’s fabulous, and we appreciate the 34t sprocket on the wide-ranging 11-34 cassette. Gear changes are slick, the

braking is powerful and controlled. And Halo’s handmade Devaura Disc RD2 wheels are a decent call for a £2,750 bike.

The Devaura wheel’s 19mm internal width rims will take tyres from 25 to 38mm, they’re a semi-aero 30mm deep and have Aero Racing bladed spokes. Weight is a reasonable, if not super-light, 1,760g per pair. They gain speed quickly and are virtually silent until you freewheel, when the rear’s 120-point pick-up fires up the chainsaw. They come supplied already tubeless with tapes and sealant and are paired with Schwalbe’s excellent 30mm Pro-One tyres. If you want to go wider, the Zig Zag will accommodate tyres up to 35mm wide.

DO-IT-ALL APPEAL

All-City’s Zig Zag is great fun. It’s fast, stylish (though that may divide opinions) and with some lovely finishing touches. Who doesn’t love a classy headbadge, brazed seat collar and even – retro touch alert – a pump peg? Large tyre clearances and mudguard mounts add oodles of versatility.

Yes, it’s going to be heavier than a similarly-equipped carbon bike, but we never noticed this. A strong wheel and tyre pairing, flared bar and an unobtrusive saddle complement the comfort of the steel frame and carbon fork. Thru-axles and Shimano 105 ensure the braking and gearing will never let you down.

Overall, we found very little to criticise All-City’s Zig Zag for – apart from the price. It’s not wildly out of kilter for a bike of this quality and with such an appealing all-round ride, however, nearly three grand would buy you a lot of carbon. But being steel, you should get a lifetime of fast commuting, endurance training sessions or whatever your favourite riding is.

It’s another hard test to call, with the Venn diagrams of our two bikes covering slightly different ground – but each shows that steel is still very much a contender. It’s in the world of the all-round, road-cum-endurance bike that steel more than holds its own against aluminium and carbon interlopers. Where an all-out low weight is much less important, steel’s other qualities – including comfort, durability and reparability – come to the fore.

The Cambridge-designed The Light Blue is a very pleasing street machine with the appeal of an old-fashioned steel all-rounder that nearly everybody rode at one time, these days transformed out of all recognition with compact frames, wider tyres, greater gear range and the massively-superior braking that today’s hydraulic disc brakes offer.

All-City claims its Zig Zag is ‘what a modern road bike should be’. And it is. It’s fast, it’s fun, it handles impeccably and it’s beautifully finished. Yes, we’d have appreciated a lower price but it’s a massively-versatile machine. Great handling, top looks, excellent kit, and a ride you’ll never grow tired of.