The SL Disc is snappy, responsive and begs to ridden at Mach ten. So, how does it ride? Almost exactly the same as its rim brake cousin! The bike also gets front and rear 12mm thru-axles, although the rear dropout is convertible by removing a 5mm bolt on either side you can remove the lower half of the dropout if you’d like to run a QR wheel - the fork doesn’t get the same treatment.

The front of the SL Disc sees a 135mm headtube (in a size medium) and allows for a very aggressive position should you be flexible enough - if you’re looking for an upright endurance machine, don’t be fooled by the discs, this is a racer through and through. The geometry is almost a mirror image of the rim brake SL, bar the additional 5mm of chainstay length to accommodate the wider disc hub spacing and make for a straighter chain line at either end of the cassette. There is quite a bit going on at the back of the bike Colin Levitch/Immediate Media The SL Disc also gets its own version of the I-Beam fork, which sees a reinforcing rib that runs the length of the fork blades in an effort to resist flex, as well as the size specific tube diameters, head tube angle and fork offset to create a standard ride quality and handling characteristic no matter the frame and rider size. The frame itself is made using Fuji’s second tier C10 carbon fibre, and although only the top-end frames receive the brand’s High Compaction moulding, the frame does benefit from only having four bonded joints thanks to improved manufacturing techniques that allow the seatstays and chainstays to be made as two one-piece assemblies, rather than four individual parts. Objectively, the SL 2.1 disc is a bit pudgy, but when you compare this with other mid-range, Ultegra spec, disc equipped roadies like Ridley’s new Fenix SL Disc (8.4kg / 18.5lbs), Merida’s Scultara Disc 600 (8.46kg /18.65lbs) and BMC’s Roadmachine (8.17kg / 18lbs), it’s actually on the lower end of the spectrum.

While Fuji doesn’t offer a claimed frame weight for the 2 Series frames, my medium SL 2.1 Disc tipped the scales at 8kg / 17.63lbs - the SL 2.1 with rim brakes weighs 7.43kg / 16.38lbs. The top-tier SL Disc 1 Series frame is said to weigh 900g vs. The SL disc gets Fuji’s I-Beam fork with the internal rib Colin Levitch/Immediate MediaĪdding discs isn’t as simple as bolting them onto a standard frame, more material is required to withstand the additional forces from the brakes, and more material means more weight.

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