TL:DR – if you’re considering buying a Brother Cycles Big Bro, just do it. It’s perfect.
I’ve had this bike for about 18 months now, and it’s been set up in a few guises but this current set up is working like a dream. I wanted a bike packing adventure work horse, that was still fun to ride flowy and technical singletrack. I wanted a bike to do everything, with minimal fuss.
I’ve considered going down the Mehteh/gravel route a few times, but a bikepacking overnighter this weekend has made me realise that the Brother Cycles Big Bro does gravel so well that it outweighs a gravel bike’s limitations ten-fold.
I was riding with Dan and Dan on their 29er gravel/touring bikes (albeit, one of them was a second bike thanks to a ripped tyre before leaving). At no point on the route, that was 75% gravel/road did I feel as though I couldn’t hold my own, even with 2.5 inch Teravail Ehlines.
Yet when I take the bike up to the Forest of Dean, or round my local woods, nor do I ever feel anymore out of depth than I have done on the Whyte 901 that I had. In fact, I feel more stable and planted on the Big Bro than any other bike I’ve ever ridden, even more so than Yetis, big Marins and even big downhill bikes.
Obviously it’s horses for courses to a degree. I’m not implying the Big Bro should ever find itself on a downhill track, more, pro-rata, the bike’s combination of stiff yet supple, durability yet lightweight, responsive yet planted just makes it my favourite bike that I’ve ever owned.
There’s plenty of reviews that technically echo these sentiments, but take it from me, as a real dad-bod, lazy, diesel (cake and beer) powered, half blind rider that misses the days of 90’s simplicity – the Brother Cycles Big Bro is the dependable, reliable work-horse that you’ve been looking for.