Rejoice one and all – after a short unplanned hiatus due to a well-known global event, Bike of the Week is back once again, and we’re excited to share with you a roster of some of the hottest bikes to land at BikeRadar HQ.
We have a delectable line up of bikes to come over the new few weeks and, starting things off right is this handsome Mason Resolution steel endurance road bike.
Mason is based in Brighton on the south coast of the UK and is headed up by Dom Mason, who is approaching two decades of bike design after a long and successful stint at Kinesis Bikes.
As a brand, Mason lives by its #FastFar and four-season design philosophies – producing bikes focused on efficient long-distance riding that are suitable for all conditions.
To give some context, the Mason lineup shapes up as follows:
- InSearchOf – steel adventure bike
- Bokeh – alloy gravel bike
- Definition – alloy road bike
- Aspect – titanium road bike
- Resolution – steel road bike
As mentioned, the Resolution is the brand’s steel endurance road bike. The frame is constructed from a mix of Columbus Spirit and Life tubes and is welded by Mason’s contractors near Venice. Each bike is then assembled to spec at Mason’s base in the UK.
We ran a full in-depth look at the bike at the time, but, as a brief reminder, in 2018 the Resolution was brought up to date with 12mm thru-axles, flat-mount brakes and custom modular dropouts designed by Bear components.
The overall geometry of the Resolution sits firmly in the ‘endurance’ end of the road bike spectrum – on our 56cmm test bike, the position that isn’t racy-long (369.7mm reach) but, equally, isn’t overly lofty at the front end (532.1mm stack).
What is Bike of the Week?
Every Tuesday, we’ll bring you a detailed first look at one of the latest bikes to arrive for review – from road to commuting, gravel to enduro, and anything in between.
This is our chance to introduce the bike and everything that makes it unique before hitting the road or trails.
As is well-known at this stage, wide low-pressure tyres are key to ensuring a comfortable and efficient ride on imperfect surfaces. On the Resolution, tyre clearance is a generous 35mm, or 30mm with mudguards.
This is more than enough for all but the worst roads but also builds in a bit of gravel-friendly versatility that will be welcome if you like to indulge in the odd off-piste adventure.
As mentioned, the bike – and, in fact, all of Mason’s bikes – has mounts for full-cover mudguards.
Distressingly few road performance road bikes come with mudguard (or, yes – ‘fender’ if you must) mounts these days, so this is a very welcome move.
The bike will also take rear panniers if you prefer to eschew frame and bar bags in favour of a more traditional approach when carrying kit on long rides.
The fork also has provision to fit a dynamo light onto the crown of the fork. Newer versions of the bike also feature internal routing for the dynamo light cable.
With the Resolution, Mason strikes a neat balance between versatility and a classic silhouette that is unsullied by excessive mounts or gaping tyre clearances.
The Resolution is available in six different build options and two frameset options.
Resolution builds start at £3,140 for a 105-equipped bike, rising to £6,340 for a SRAM Red AXS build. A rolling chassis is also available at £1,855 and a plain frameset at £1,595.
The pictured SRAM Force eTap AXS build weighs 9.05kg on the nose without pedals. Our particular test bike has been upgraded to include a set of Hunt 34 Aero Wide Disc wheels and Schwalbe Pro One TLE tyres set up tubeless. In this guise, the bike would set you back a cool £4,970.
No dodgy secret handshakes or initiation ceremonies are required to get into the Mason owner’s club – you can simply buy the Resolution directly from Mason, where you have the option to customise your build, including bar width and stem length.
It is also possible to contact Mason and go for an entirely custom build if the standard customisation won’t fulfil your requirements.
Mason Resolution SRAM Force eTAP AXS specs
- Frame: Mason Resolution2 Columbus Spirit/Life performance, 56cm
- Fork: Mason Aperture2 full carbon thru-axle / flat mount fork
- Groupset: SRAM Force eTap AXS
- Wheels: Hunt 34 Aero Wide Disc wheelset
- Tyres: Schwalbe Pro One TLE 30mm
- Handlebar: Deda Zero 100
- Stem: Deda Zero 100
- Seatpost: Mason Penta carbon
- Saddle: Fabric Scoop
- Weight: 9.05kg
- Price: £4,970 as pictured with wheel and tubeless upgrade