Isen Race Ready Road review

Based in Mitcham, London, Isen is the offspring of Hartley Cycles and Talbot Frameworks, bespoke builders founded by Caren Hartley and Matthew McDonough respectively.

Both are award winners in their own right, but back in 2015 the pair hatched a plan to start a small-batch bike brand together to cater for a wider audience.

It was out with custom geometry and custom tubesets, and in with off-the-peg and stock geometry sizes. Hence the small-batch bit.

Because the process is standardised, Hartley and McDonough are able to build bikes in batches, thereby cutting time and costs. A custom Hartley or Talbot frame, for example, could run north of £4,000, whereas Isens are nearly half that.

For more on Isen bikes, visit the brand's website here.

And this is Isen’s road bike, which for legal reasons is technically only ever known as the Road Ready Race, but which I will henceforth refer to (as Isen does in-house) as the Isen R3. Sorry Cervélo.

Stock options

Just because sizes are standardised doesn’t mean the build kit is, and this build is as exotic as it gets.

The seatmast topper is made in-house and fitted out with an Enve clamp system. The Sram groupset is bejewelled with a THM Clavicula chainset replete with carbon rings.

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The wheels are Black Inc Thirty, and stopping them is a Cane Creek eeBrake at the front and a Shimano Dura-Ace 9110 under-BB brake at the rear.

The cranks alone are some of the priciest on the market (€1,149), full carbon and incredibly light at a claimed 302g without rings.

Likewise, that front eeBrake weighs just 86g without pads. It’s parts such as these that help keep this whole bike down at 7.8kg, remarkably light for steel.

Maybe I’m making too much of the expensive parts and weight, but there are two things you can’t escape when falling in love with a bike: looks and that initial feel. The R3 delivers both.

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First, look at it. That paint is just glorious, a spangly multi-tone blue that shimmers near gold-like in certain light. The TIG welding is so smooth it could have been brazed, and then there’s the asymmetric shaping of the bi-lam seat tube lug, the flourish of the bridge between the seatstays and bronze sculpted headbadge.

I didn’t meet a single person when I was testing the R3 who didn’t compliment its looks. And then there’s the ride.

I have always had a soft spot for steel; it lends itself to a zingy ride feel because the narrower tubes tend to be more flexy than carbon.

In this ‘steel feel’ the R3 does not disappoint, but it was the lightness of touch that impressed me most to begin with. This feels like a deliciously feathery bike that’s rapid off the mark, nimble through the bends and a dancer up climbs.

I had high hopes based on weight alone, but the R3 exceeded those comfortably.

That said, there is a lack of ‘pop’ compared to a stiff carbon bike. However you cut it, a steel rear end that isn’t insanely overbuilt is apt to flex much more than carbon, where chainstays can be twice the size as steel and for less weight. Steel just can’t compete. But what steel can do is offer superb cornering abilities.

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Image 5 of 8

There’s one corner on my standard test route into which I can carry about 40kmh, but which is surfaced like a construction site on the Moon.

The R3 shone, palpably flexing and twisting with the road. Paired with 28mm Conti tyres, the overall effect was one of startling grip.

For more on Isen bikes, visit the brand's website here.

The bike is also supremely comfortable, but there is just one thing the R3 and I cannot agree on – its rear brake. I don’t care what anyone says, putting a rim brake under the bottom bracket is a bad idea.

The Black Inc Thirty wheels have a textured brake surface that zizz-es under braking, and because of this it’s possible to hear brake rub. Indeed I did when climbing hard or sprinting, and it’s the same with every bike I’ve ever ridden with a brake under the BB, carbon or steel.                  

OK, so there’s barely any power lost to friction, the brake rub only happens in extreme instances, and the brake position here really appeals aesthetically. But the other thing is underside BB brakes just don’t work very well.

They need to fit a smaller gap so have a compromised linkage system, giving way to impoverished leverage and worsened modulation. 

So to judge this bike on looks and feel, it’s a solid 10, but as long as that brake is where it is, I’ll be asking Isen if they can build me an R3 with the calliper in the regular position. Or with discs, which they already do.

Pick of the kit

Suplest Edge+ Road Pro shoes, £320

I have long been a fan of Suplest shoes. I find them comfortable enough to wear every day, and I’m pleased to say these updated shoes are no different.

The shape suits my feet well – wide across the metatarsals, deep and grippy at the heel, with a high-ish instep courtesy of some decent insoles from Solestar. The headline update here is a larger, wraparound tongue that does a fine job of distributing Boa dial tension, and a stiffened sole.

Weight is 230g a shoe, and the overall feel is both light and supple.

Alternatively…

Rough it

If you fancy a bit of off-road riding, the Isen All Season (£1,999 frameset) boasts disc brakes, wide tyre clearance, mudguard eyelets, rack mounts… the list goes on. Available in titanium and steel.

Even rougher

To venture even further off-road, the Mountain G.O.A.T (£1,999 frameset) goes into full MTB territory. It maintains Isen’s handbuilt steel aplomb, with some clever engineering and sharp paintwork.

Spec