What Is The Best Road Race Bike In 2024?

[@bikeradar]

What would your winner be? 👇

[@BranoFrk]

Izalco Max for sure! ;)

[@IvanMalechko]

Whoever pays more, obviously.

[@buildingreno]

Trek Madone. Cervelo R5. Pinarello Dogma. Cannondale System 6.

[@JNorth87]

Whoever spent the most money on ads at my publication

[@권용대-b5v]

Imo the best bike for amateurs like us is the one that looks prettiest. Bike technology has surpassed our physical ability long ago, and none of us really needs the latest tech. Cycling has become a hobby too expensive for younger generation, and I’d like to see more entry-level bikes introduced with realistic price.

[@joonas4126]

2020 you were able to buy ultegra carbon ultimate with 2500. Prices have doubled 😂. 3000€ gets you an entry level carbon roadbike now, this needs to stop.

[@michaelmechex]

Complete bikes are stupid expensive now, but groupsets are 50% off pretty much across the board and the choice of framesets and wheelsets is bigger than ever. That's the way to go right now.

[@twatts4436]

If you've got a disc frameset, definitely upgrading groupset is the way to go. Ultegra DI2 is excellent and easy to install.

[@h1n1worm]

say thx to covid business plan.

[@adamkubiak1933]

I was thinking about exactly the same thing.

[@alessiob8700]

And manufacturers wonder why they can't sell shit.

[@pierrex3226]

A friend just bought a van rysel, the fancy carbon version like the tour riders, SRAM force axs, 50mm zipp wheels, 4k EUR from decathlon, new. How is that not crushing these bikes that cost 50-100pc more?

[@broady666]

£5500 in the UK. Still a good price but not 4k

[@davidmurphy9151]

@@broady666 Take the boat over and buy one in France.

[@broady666]

@@davidmurphy9151 just checked and the Force AXS one is 7k euro, 4k man is telling porkies

[@chriotte]

£4k is the price he told his wife 😂

[@pierrex3226]

He paid 21000 Ron in Bucharest four weeks ago for the rcr force axs, in black. That's 4.2k euro. You don't need to believe me, doesn't change the facts.

[@tinoschneider6350]

Canyon is NOT selling other handlebar lengths to their customers even if you are begging the customer service. The forums and Ebay are full of people who are trying to get other cockpit dimensions. It's absolutely beyond me how such a big brand won't sell crucial parts like this.

[@SonnyDarvish]

Oh how many times I spent hours choosing a Canyon bike and deciding against them because of their proprietary cockpits. They are willing to sell 20% cheaper, but not touch the crank arms length or the cockpit.

[@edymarkonthego4096]

Wise man say “The best bike every year is the one you already own.” Don’t buy upgrade. Ride upgrade.

[@sutsut5157]

The smart move is buy a alu frame or 2nd hand carbon frame (good condition) then slap some compo you like to it. It is more cost effective and let you pick the bits you really like.

[@markrskinner]

Always good to see a bike that isn't boring black.

[@gypana]

It's crazy to think Canyon doesn't have a custom option for those willing to spend extra for a spec that's suits them better.

[@Zorzek]

Because it would cost them more, if they offered this option.

[@bikeradar]

I agree that sounds like an ideal solution - though, as others have commented, perhaps it doesn't make financial sense for them. Cheers for watching! Simon

[@hifoad]

Were you choosing among all-rounders, climbing bikes, or aero bikes? How did you narrow down your selection to these three? I have so many questions!

[@Berserker26]

They have been paid. Have you ever seen a Bike Radar comparison that doesn't have a Canyon included??

[@bikeradar]

Hi, that's a great question, thanks. The simply answer is that we ask all of the major brands who have new or recently updated models to send us their latest bikes (for all categories in BOTY), but in the end we can only test and include what we get sent. In this case, I also tested a fourth bike, the Handsling A1R0evo, but as it didn't make the top 3 we decided to cut it from the video. If you're interested, you can read that review here: www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bikes/road-bikes/handsling-a1r0evo-classified-powershift-road-bike-review It's a difficult one for us, because of course we'd love to test all of the latest bikes for this test, but ultimately if a brand can't or won't send us their bike - whether because they don't have confidence in their bike or they simply don't have stock of the right size/spec available - then we can't just review and include it based on spec sheets and marketing alone. To be clear, none of the brand's included in this test paid for it. BikeRadar's reviews are 100% independent, they always have been and they always will be. As noted in the video, our sponsor for this test was MET helmets - their support helped make this project viable for us, but hopefully you can appreciate that this wouldn't have had any impact on the bike reviews. Hope that helps and thanks for watching. Simon

[@Yorktimer]

Great bike, useful review. The Schwabie one tubeless tyres came second-best in your least rolling resistance test. I’m surprised you see them as needing changing. You also mentioned in the rolling resistance test that you and your colleagues have lots of experience with them and little to complain about them . i’m bit confused!

[@bikeradar]

Hi Simon - the confusion here is that we tested the Schwalbe *Pro* One TLE in our rolling resistance test, which is a more expensive (and, in my opinion, much better) tyre than the standard Schwalbe One TLE tyre. It's a small but significant detail - just that small change costs a lot of watts! Hope that clears it up. Simon

[@Yorktimer]

Hi Simon, absolutely thanks for clearing that up. Simon.

[@Gianniz27]

Canyon cocpit probkem is solved, on the newest Aeroad. U can customize the stem length from 70mm to 140mm. Also width and height is adjustable, without touching the hydraulic brake line. The Ultimate will get the same system soon.

[@schoebelski6602]

Thanks for the comparison. How is the comfort / compliance of the Focus vs Ultimate and Tarmac? Thank you.✌️

[@bikeradar]

Hey, I would say it's fairly equal across the three bikes to be honest - how much air you put in the tyres is going to be the biggest variable. If you're concerned about a race bike being too harsh, then I'd look for one with bigger tyre clearances so you can run wider tyres (at lower pressures), but on decent roads I think all three here are more than comfortable enough. Cheers for watching! Simon

[@GrouEEf]

The izalco max is not aero (performed extremely poorly in tour wind tunnel test). It is not light. It's not stiff. I don't get this choice.

[@awildcyclistappears]

TCR for life yo.

[@odarge]

yes 😅. I got mine

[@bikeradar]

Love a TCR (I own two!) but unfortunately we couldn't get hold of that latest model in the right size, so we weren't able to include it in this year's BOTY test. Would imagine we'll look to include it next year, though! Cheers for watching! Simon

[@loeffelm]

6:06 this is what Origine Cycles do in France: custom specs. Delivery takes a while (could be months) but you get a 100% custom bike for less money than most brands. And their bikes are great by the way.

[@DerekGreen123]

Seeing the Thumbnail of this YT video on my subscriptions feed, reminded me that if you can't see logos on the Frame + Wheels, it's actually quite hard to tell which 'make' of bike is being looked at! (with the modern trend towards 'aero but light' design, it's very understandable that a lot of bikes looks exactly the same).

[@pierrex3226]

Yep. Looks like an OEM Chinese frame

[@tmp1k]

lovely bike, looks good. I like the paint job. minimalist for the win. Been looking to get a white bike. the greay accent colour is pretty cool. is there a rim brake option?

[@bikeradar]

Afraid not. Most mainstream brands simply aren't putting resources into making rim brake versions anymore as - they tell us - people simply weren't buying them. For me, I've got bikes with both rim and disc brakes and while I love the simplicity of rim brakes, the performance of disc brakes is hard to beat IME. Cheers for watching, Simon.

[@Vismux69]

You forget to mention weights ;) that's is also important

[@bikeradar]

Fair point - in this case, they're all fairly similar (since they all have similar builds), and I don't think it makes much difference to performance... But you're right, it would have been useful to mention the weights. Here you go: - Focus Izalco Max 9.8: 7.9kg (size 56cm) - Specialized Tarmac SL8 Pro: 7.46kg (size 56cm) - Canyon Ultimate CF SL 8 Aero: 7.83kg (size M) As always, you can head to our website for detailed reviews and specs - here are links to each full review: www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bikes/road-bikes/focus-izalco-max-9-8-review www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bikes/road-bikes/specialized-tarmac-sl8-pro-sram-force-etap-axs-review www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bikes/road-bikes/canyon-ultimate-cf-sl-8-aero-review

[@tmp1k]

i don't get the whole fast vs slow tires. i currently run the schwalble pro one tube type addix tires. are they slowing me down then? can it really make that much of a difference? apparently my budget helmet isn't aero so i guess that's slowing me down too. no wonder i can't seem to improve my average speed.

[@bikeradar]

The Schwalbe Pro One is a great tyre so there's probably not much headroom for you to upgrade. If you're going from a cheap/slow to a fast tyre, though, the differences can be very noticeable - both in terms of speed and ride feel - in my experience, anyway. My general point with these bikes is that it feels annoying to get mid-range tyres when you pay a lot of money for some of these bikes - I'd much rather have high-end tyres than an integrated cockpit, for example, as the difference in performance would be far more noticeable in the real world. Cheers for watching, Simon

[@HeySers]

Still go with my Van Rysel RCR Pro. Love this beast

[@pigupigu]

I'm not against Focus. I have a Focus MTB. Great bike. But realistically, how much did Focus pay you for this video?

[@bikeradar]

Hi, none of the bike brands included in test (or any other) paid anything for it. BikeRadar's reviews are 100% independent and always will be. As always, any sponsored content on our website, channel or podcast will always be clearly marked as such. In this instance, our sponsor was MET helmets. Support from sponsors in this manner helps make these big group tests financially viable, but this had no impact on the bike reviews. Thanks for watching. Simon

[@ricardorusso1462]

The best race bike but can’t find it in any race lol

[@3ull]

Not yet 😜

[@jaimehpaiva]

What I found interesting was that you seem to have spent more time talking about the canyon than the focus

[@bikeradar]

Hey Jaime, that's a fair observation but I wanted to spend time analysing those specific points around the Canyon's handlebar as it's a unique design and it poses some specific fit limitations. Hopefully you found my take on it helpful! Cheers for watching, Simon

[@brockjennings]

Buying the best bike is wonderful thing until you are dropped by someone on a rusty Huffy.

[@bikeradar]

You're not wrong - but that's not something we can help you with 😅Cheers for watching, Simon

[@edvanard]

I owned Focus izalco max 2018 version. ut di2 11speed. still going strong after 50k km. not much difference with the new Izalco..

[@Philippe-ke3sk]

Same for me with a 10y old izalco❤️

[@petef15]

Me and the bots just vibin'

[@aidanmasterson50]

It would be lasts in my list. There is a reason why you didn’t do a weight comparison.

[@Thomas-fy9yc]

Cute bike that Focus but thats no where to be found in the USA…Probably would stick with the Supersix Himod, SL8, TCR, Cervelo, etc that available worldwide without a risky order from overseas. Also, as many Canyon customers have found, it’s nice to have a LBS that is a service rep for warranty work. At that price range, I don’t think most customers will quibble over spending +/- $500 to get the bike they want. Not sure why Cannondale always gets left off the European list, the bike is stellar and has been for a long time, I assume they don’t spend enough on advertising there?

[@bikeradar]

Hi Thomas, it's got nothing to do with advertising spend. The SuperSix is a great bike, but it was actually one of our main contenders in Bike of the Year last year: www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bikes/road-bikes/cannondale-supersix-evo-hi-mod-2-review Obviously we don't have unlimited time and resources so we try to focus our efforts on testing bikes/specs we haven't previously tested, rather than re-testing a load of bikes we've already reviewed. Cheers for watching! Simon

[@TikkanenP]

The businessmodel used by Canyon is soon going to be seen in other brands. I the high end brands want to survive the prices has to go down - and direct selling is the way to do that.

[@Sutlore007]

Can Canyon's handlebars be easy for packing in a bike bag? But, yeah unable to adjust stem length really is an issue.

[@pierrex3226]

If you have enough wiggle room for the brake houses so that you don't have to disconnect them, yes. So... Probably?

[@elleffeff]

The Focus looks best!

[@ariffau]

If you want to customise this and that, Orbea is the way to go. 👍

[@ariffau]

Ribble too

[@yonglingng5640]

Orbea frames are made in Spain, right?

[@ariffau]

@@yonglingng5640 depends on how you look at it. LOL. But to me, if you’re not riding a Time, Look, Sarto or a Festka, does it even matter? 😂

[@Intrud0r]

How did you narrow it down to those three bikes?

[@petef15]

Whichever brand pays the most.

[@maxbucky24]

Looks like a copy of a Scott Addict

[@veins91]

i thought thats what it was lol

[@louis_sharp]

Yeah, rear end is pure V4RS, especially at the seat stay- post junction

[@bikeradar]

They do look very similar at a glance to be fair, although you could argue nearly every brand is using a similar formula (truncated aero tubes, dropped seat stays, etc.) these days. Cheers for watching! Simon

[@industryrule-4080]

Seems like most road racers are preferring the Canyon Aeroad over the Ultimate these days.

[@3ull]

Looks like an awesome bike of the year!

[@StephanieHughesDesign]

I own an older Focus Cayo which when it was built was a great bike. Then Focus stopped making it. Why? It was a good TCR killer. I love the TCR. Then Focus decided not to sell or ship any of their bikes in the Americas. WTF! If you live in the Americas you simply cannot buy one.

[@universe-juice]

Im in the states. I suggest looking at Felt bikes if you are in the states. If you can find one?

[@bikeradar]

Hi, we love Felt but it hasn't released a new road bike since the latest AR in 2020 (if I remember correctly), which we included in our 2020 and 2021 Bike of the Year tests, though: www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bikes/road-bikes/felt-ar-ultegra-di2-review When Felt releases a new bike, we'll be sure to try and get hold of one to test.

[@universe-juice]

@@bikeradar there are new bike available. New vrs and new frs, but they are hard to get. I wish that wasnt the case. Anyway, you can find them but you really have to dig

[@bikeradar]

@@universe-juice Good spot - we hadn't heard anything about those, but you're right. Thanks for the heads up, we'll keep those in mind for future tests.

[@universe-juice]

@@bikeradar thanks buddy. Felt sponsored athletes are racking up win after win on new felt bikes. Kindof exciting, Felt being my favorite brand and Kindof the underdog. Everyone loves a good underdog! Keep up the good work 👍

[@e.anthonyi8054]

Canyon always best bang for the buck 👍

[@HeatBloodUncle]

Focus is just look like my Roadmachine😮

[@26eightysix]

I wonder how much Focus paid to BR

[@bikeradar]

Hi, Focus didn't pay us anything - nor did any other bike brand included in our Bike of the Year test. BikeRadar's reviews are 100% independent and always will be.

[@dandicristina1389]

They sell focus in the us as well

[@rdr33]

"The best bike is the one by whoever pays us the most." There, I corrected it for you. You're welcome, BR.

[@bikeradar]

Hi, that's simply not true. None of the bike brands included in test (or any other) paid anything for it. BikeRadar's reviews are 100% independent and always will be. As always, any sponsored content on our website, channel or podcast will always be clearly marked as such. In this instance, our sponsor was MET helmets. Support from sponsors in this manner helps make these big group tests financially viable, but this had no impact on the bike reviews. Thanks for watching. Simon

[@highfived]

The bike looks boring and very unattractive

[@LuiisSiilvaa]

Giant TCR should have been there

[@TheFlyRyGuy]

It’s his fave bike, everyone. Christ!!! Go write essays about your fave beer.

[@NeoPayneHK]

is focus made in taiwan now?

[@cleftoftherock6797]

Please, everyone of those frames is probably made in Taiwan. The Focus looks exactly like my BMC road machine. I'm not knocking Taiwan. They build to tremendous ISO Specs and they are as good from Taiwan if they had come from France, Switzerland, the US, Italy or Germany. And the components are either SRAM, Shimano or Campagnolo. It's all very good. I'd take any one of them but really they are so close. The skill of the rider determines what's best. Not the bike. I love my bike but I'm no Tadej Pogacar. No one is except for Jonas Vingegaard.

[@stevenkates4876]

E N V E Melee.

[@tonyg3091]

the best race bike is the one Pogacar rides 😂

[@wingtip76]

It is not the best bike but yes Colnago is a good bike with a rich history. Would be my third choice after Pinarello and Bianchi.

[@tonyg3091]

@@wingtip76 No, no it is not like this. You put Pogacar on a Pinarello or Bianchi or my daughter’s trike and it immediately becomes the best race bike in the world.😂

[@wingtip76]

@tonyg3091 True I see what you mean. 👍

[@ACMEpowersports]

Absolutely predictable pick of choices to go against the Focus. Showing bikes that are not even available in the states? I can name 6 brands that should have been on test. Flawed.

[@tenispro81]

That’s bs. I can keep up with my friends on fancy carbon road bikes that cost triple of my Giant Revolt 0 aliuminium with Hunt gravel wheelset and grx group set and gravel Tufo tires. And I don’t even need to do that many more watts. Eff expensive bs bikes.

[@bikeradar]

No one said the bike was more important than the rider 🙂Totally agree that the rider makes the biggest difference. As always, a posh bike is optional - if you're happy with what you've already got, then that's great. No one needs to buy a new bike if they don't want one. Cheers for watching, Simon

[@Richard-ro5oe]

How about the trek madone

[@bikeradar]

Hi Richard, we reviewed the latest Trek Madone SLR as part of last year's BOTY test - you can read my review here: www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bikes/road-bikes/trek-madone-slr-7-gen-7-review As noted elsewhere, we try to focus our efforts on testing bikes/specs we haven't previously tested, rather than re-testing a load of bikes we've already reviewed. That does mean not including some obvious bikes but we don't have unlimited time or resources so we have to be smart about how we go about things. Cheers for watching. Simon

[@nathandan7079]

All the great and no idea unless you are cat 1 or elite rider you don’t need any of these 😂

[@turner02]

bike prices are insane

[@spinnetti]

8k for a bike? Absurd. Y'all out of touch with normal people. 105 Mechanical plenty good enough for me, and some cheap carbon hoops make a decent ride.

[@mrjoszua]

The handling comments based on geometry are nonsense. You would change the fit based on your preferred reach/height, etc. Come on.

[@vadusa]

Not yet. I think best bike available yesterday, today and tomorrow Specialized Aethos S-Works ( 565g frame) and total - less than 6kg.😊

[@bikeradar]

I am SO with you 🫡 Liam

[@rawjunk]

This bike did terrible in Tour Magazin aero tests.

[@einundsiebenziger5488]

Which of the multiple bikes featured in this video is "this" bike?

[@bikeradar]

Tour Magazin is a great publication and we'd love to be able to do some of the aero testing they do - it's valuable info. However, I also think it's fair to say that aero performance isn't everything when it comes to a bike. Maybe the Canyon is 'more aero' than the Focus in isolation, but if you can't adjust your bike fit as well then it might not be once a rider is on it, for example. Likewise, handling and ride feel also make a significant difference and you can't learn about those things inside a wind tunnel. Again, not saying aera data isn't important - it is - but it isn't the only thing that counts, in my opinion. Cheers for watching, Simon

[@DiomedesChinaski]

❤

[@chrispig7748]

Colnago V4rs

[@cyclingchainsawchap9822]

Merida bikes are far better than that in my opinion.

[@einundsiebenziger5488]

The Specialized is made by Merida.

[@cyclingchainsawchap9822]

@@einundsiebenziger5488 if you stick that “S” brand on it you add £££,€€€,$$$ to the price of the bike.

[@cyclingchainsawchap9822]

@@einundsiebenziger5488 putting the “S” logo on adds£/€/$ to the price though.

[@bikeradar]

Merida bikes are great, but we've tested all of their current models already. When it releases a new bike, we'll be keen to test it! As noted elsewhere, with BOTY we focus our efforts on testing bikes/specs we haven't previously tested, rather than re-testing a load of bikes we've already reviewed. That does mean not including some great bikes, but we simply don't have unlimited time or resources so we can't test everything every year. Cheers for watching. Simon

[@ignus16]

beautiful looking bike but, in 2024, no bike should be coming with a press-fit bottom bracket.

[@pierrex3226]

If the bike is manufactured properly, they're fine. I've done over 20k km on such BBs, as long as it's not a Cannondale bb30, it's probably fine.

[@ignus16]

@@pierrex3226 i could not disagree more - i have never had a press-fit bb that didnt cause issues. i replaced the press fit bb on my bike for the third time this weekend when it started creaking - it has less than 10,000km on that bb.

[@yonglingng5640]

​@@ignus16 What bottom bracket did you use? A pure Press-Fit one?

[@bikeradar]

Hate to break it to you, but press-fit is a better system than threaded for BBs 😉 kzbin.info/www/bejne/iIa3nZZris2kb5I

[@ignus16]

@@bikeradar ill remember that next time im listening to my bottom bracket creaking :/ you guys really missed the mark with this one.

[@datdudeinred]

Atleast choose a bike that's available all over the world.

[@JackMott]

That doesn't LOOK like a Sir Velo S5!

[@einundsiebenziger5488]

Cervelo* S5 - never trust your speech-to-text.

[@JackMott]

@@einundsiebenziger5488 No sir, I typed Sir Velo out quite deliberately

[@openwheelracing88]

not much of a race bike if it doesn't carry bottles.....

[@stevenpike7530]

Bull shit…you need to get out more often…Argonaut, Prova, Baum, Bastion, Time, Festka…another shill blurb to your advertisers…

[@louis_sharp]

Teammachine R.

[@wchu702]

You "get a lot of bike for the money"??? No you DO NOT.

[@wchu702]

You get a lot of bike but it's for a lot of money. There's no value to be had.

[@endtimeslips4660]

focus is not a bike for people love speed. it sluggish it not responsive enough. i think this video can deceive people if they not understand the frame used in focus.

[@MrSzwarz]

Why is the best? Next channel claims the other brand is the best!

[@bikeradar]

I explain in the video - did you watch it??? Simon

[@edwardjap1775]

looks alike V4RS

[@rayc4543]

Say`s who !

[@45madone]

Giant propel advanced pro 0 anyone?

[@bikeradar]

Hi, that bike won our Aero Bike of the Year category last year: www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bikes/road-bikes/giant-propel-advanced-pro-0-axs-review As noted elsewhere, each year, we focus our efforts on testing bikes/specs we haven't previously tested, rather than re-testing a load of bikes we've already reviewed. That does mean not including some great bikes, but we don't have unlimited time or resources so we can't test everything every year. Cheers for watching. Simon

[@45madone]

@@bikeradar I bought it off the back of your review. Fantastic bike

[@Andy_ATB]

Road race bikes are only suited for the pros, like racing cars are best driven by pro drivers. Everybody else is kidding themselves.......

[@ozgurinsan]

are you really serious?

[@SuperBoxer1975]

Das beste ist das, das ich mir Leisten kann. Und Räder ab 6000,- könnt ihr euch behalten!😡

[@Daniel-ynuhnunu]

Hello❤

[@youtube_chose_word_for_you]

untrue focus are such a boloc. it slow but put premium price for it. this thing is another factor vam 😂 do not buy it. it slow bike.

[@dougpence3862]

Winner cannot be made in China, sorry.

[@edwingomez4141]

😅😅😅ohh boy