- 7 hours ago
In 2025 you can get a lot of road bike for under £1,800 or $2,400, here's the best road bikes that we've reviewed under this budget. Whether you're looking for the best value road bike, a road bike under £1,000 or $1,000, the best budget all-road bike, best aluminium road bike or best rim brake road bike in 2025 then one of these is sure to fit the bill.
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00:00If you're bikeless like me and have £2,000 to spend then you are rather
00:04spoilt for choice. Whoa! But at this price point what is the best bike for you? Do you go for a
00:12carbon frame and sacrifice on groupset? Do you go for one of the big brands? Do you go for something
00:17a little bit cheaper? Well we're going to answer all of that and whether you get more for your
00:22money now than you did a decade ago. Let's get into it.
00:30We'll kick off with the best option for under £1,000 is this, the Tribun 520 with Shimano
00:37105 shifting. Now Tribun is of course a Decathlon brand and they've managed to absolutely cram
00:42some serious spec into this not so large price tag. The aluminium frame now comes with, well it's got
00:49a carbon bladed fork, it's also got disc brakes that come from TRP's well-regarded HYRD mechanical
00:56offerings and amazingly for a bike of this price you also get Shimano 105 as I said earlier so the
01:02shifters and the mechs. Now the frame's geometry places the 520 clearly in the endurance commuter
01:11kind of light tourer camp. Think generous stack height, a slightly shorter top tube but if you're
01:17looking to get long and low then this probably isn't going to be the bike for you. However if
01:23you favour comfort and stability over speed and need a bike that can handle the trifecta mentioned
01:29above then the 520 is well worth consideration. It really is a versatile machine and in fact you can
01:36fit 36 mil tyres in the frame and it's also got rack and mudguard mounts and some nice easy gears for
01:44getting up all that steep stuff. Right so the Alley name has been absolutely synonymous with the back
01:56door into high performance road bikes for years. If it has the Alley name it has that legacy to live up
02:04to and I was a little bit fearful about this one because they seem to have kept the Alley branding
02:09quite well it doesn't hardly says it anywhere but it does say it here and luckily it does live up to
02:15that name. So let's just get this straight the Alley is not just a bike that is pretending to be a
02:21tarmac. In fact with this version Specialized has started with the geometry off of their Roubaix
02:28and then tweaked it and to be fair its judgment has been absolutely spot on. No it's not as lively as the
02:36Alley of old but the balance sensations remain and it is a fun and eager little bugger to ride.
02:43The wheelbase is slightly shorter than that of the Domane that we'll see in a minute and this combined
02:49with the responsive frame really does make it feel performance focused. In fact out of all the bikes
02:55here I think that this one definitely has the best aluminium frame and it would be this one that I chose
03:00if I wanted to upgrade it over time so if you wanted to buy one bike and then potentially upgrade
03:06the crankset or upgrade the wheels and the tyres. This Alley retails at £1600 and it's got Tiagra 10
03:14speed mechanical, it's got a 50-34 crankset at the front which is from Praxis, it's got an 11-32
03:20cassette at the back and it's obviously a 2x. Most of the other parts are from Specialized in-house brands
03:27which helps to keep the costs down without ruining the performance. Now whether you're a rider who
03:32wants some excitement from your road bike or you just crave practicality we're pretty sure that either
03:38way you'd be very happy with the Alley and yes it is well worthy of that name on its downtube. That's a seat tube.
03:48Now I think that you will agree with me that this Boardman SLR9 is a good looking bike. Potentially
04:00the best looking in this test. Yes that helps but the main appeal of this bike is its spec sheet which
04:07is quite simply exceptional for a bike at this price point. This frame and fork is carbon fibre. It's been
04:16wind tunnel verified with one eye on aero performance and it manages to pull it all together in a package
04:22that includes 105. Not this bit though, that's a non-series chainset but even so it's a very good
04:29value package. Yes this is the most expensive bike in this roundup but it's also the only one with a
04:37carbon fibre frame. Now finishing kit is often a very personal choice but there's little skimping that's
04:44gone on here. It's got a pro logo scratch m5 saddle and Goodyear sport tyres in a size 30 mil which
04:52fair play Boardman good choice and the frame it's got space for 36 mil tyres so if you wanted to take
04:59it on some light gravel then then you could. It really is a bit of a road bike all-rounder.
05:03Are they hydraulic brakes? Yes Ed they're hydraulic brakes. The wheelset is an Alex setup and I think you'll
05:13agree that they look the parts with their 30 mil deep profile. They are aluminium but yeah a bit
05:18deeper than some on the other bikes which I think works well with this aero frame. They rolled smoothly
05:24and remain true throughout our testing and that does indicate that the build quality is well at the
05:30very least decent. They're also tubeless ready which is a big plus. There's also d-shaped seat post so
05:37you can't put it wonky and it's all quite nicely finished and the frame is really compliant. There's
05:43two layback options on this as well which I think that's also a nice touch. So you can see this the
05:48saddle clamp you can move it back depending on your on your fit preference because whatever one of
05:54these bikes you go for the difference between the bikes will make very little difference to your
05:59performance whereas getting comfortable will make a huge difference to your performance. So it's
06:05touches like this that are actually far more valuable than the paint job for example. Now there's a lot
06:12to like about this bike. It's even got hidden mudguard mounts. I do have some bad news for you though and
06:18that is that Boardman is a UK brand. They're relatively small compared to some of the other big hitters
06:24like Specialized or Giant and you might struggle to get one of these in the US. So sorry you guys.
06:35Prec talks up this Domane AL4 as being both speedy and versatile and it certainly is the latter. With
06:45a Shimano 10-speed Tiagra route set and bosses for well everything you might need including racks and mudguards
06:52this is a great bike on which to take on a big sportif or go on an adventure on where reliability,
06:59practicality and comfort are needed. And that is why it's our recommendation for the best budget
07:06all-road bike. Either way the handling is self-assured and well straightforward I guess. It's
07:13not exciting but it is exactly as it's designed to be. It's all very confidence inspiring especially
07:21when you're in the market for a bike that's going to expand your road cycling experience. Actually scrap
07:26that cycling experience. When you buy from a big brand you also get lots of its parts and this
07:33is no exception. So Bontrager absolutely dominates the spec sheet. You get Bontrager's Paradigm SL
07:40wheelset which is pretty bomb proof and even a copper with a stinger would probably struggle to
07:46puncture these Bontrager R1 hard case light tyres. Also fair play to Trek there's some pretty cool details.
07:54Just look at these bottle cage mounts. The thru axles they're also gold and that headset spacer
08:00also matches. And this generation also gets semi-integrated cable routing which actually
08:06we don't like that. It does kind of make things or everything a lot more complicated. Issues with
08:12routing aside once set up you can ignore that and it is a very competent, compliant, incredibly practical
08:20and pretty good looking bike. That should make it easy to live with, ride and enjoy in a whole variety
08:26of different settings. We are of course well aware that plenty of people aren't all that keen on disc
08:36brakes and would rather rely on something with rim brakes. Rim brake bikes are becoming less and less
08:42common but our pick of the now limited bunch has to be this Cannondale CAD Optimo 4. Put simply it's
08:49good value, has stable and predictable handling and reliable components. It's built around a frame
08:55that uses Cannondale's SmartForm tech which is designed to balance strength and weight with the
09:00addition of a carbon fork to hopefully reduce some of that road chatter. There are dropped seat stays here
09:06too. Again used to add some compliance although in reality the ride quality probably isn't the the high
09:12point of this frame but we still think that it's a bike that is well suited to those buying their first
09:18drop bar road bike or any cyclist operating on a tight budget. You've watched this far and your reward is
09:29what we think is the best new bike that you can buy for under 1800 pounds. In a market where many
09:36direct to consumer brands can offer carbon frames it's easy to overlook the value of a well executed
09:42alloy road bike. The Giant Contend SL1 is just that showing that there's life left in aluminium yet
09:49if it's done right. Retailing for £1,649 that's $2,100 and weighing in at 9.5 kilos this is a bike that
10:00offers a thoughtful spec solid performance and real world versatility without trying too hard to
10:05be something it's not. Built around Giant's Alux SL grade alloy frame and matched with a full carbon
10:12fork the Contend SL1 has a balanced geometry that straddles the line between sporty and endurance.
10:19It's quick without being twitchy, composed without feeling dull and Shimano's mechanical 105 12 speed
10:26groupset provides smooth and reliable shifting. Giant provides much of the finishing kit itself including
10:32the saddle, wheels and tyres and the result is a package that rewards input without punishing you
10:38for missteps. Looks wise the Contend plays it safe but cleanly. Internal cable routing helps and the
10:45paint job is solid. Mudguard mounts add practicality without visual clutter and in short the Contend SL1
10:52proves that you don't need carbon to have a good time on the road. It's not flashy but it's well built,
10:58nicely specced and just plain enjoyable to ride. For riders who want reliable performance without
11:04breaking the bank or sacrificing versatility it's really hard not to recommend this bike.
11:12So there you have it I think you'll agree that you can get a hell of a lot of bike for under 1800
11:18pounds but which one is best? Well as always there's something for everyone but Andy, Cycling Weekly's
11:24tech editor has been out riding all of these bikes back to back and reckons that the Giant Contend is
11:30the bike that he would have. It just keeps things simple but executes it brilliantly. So well in fact
11:37that it's already buggered off to the next reviewer. So second question, do these bikes offer you more
11:43than you could get 10 years ago? Well this is a debate that we've also been having here at Cycling Weekly
11:48and the simple conclusion is yes. Contrary to what we often hear you do get more for your money now.
11:56Full carbon forks and carbon steerers have improved weight and steering responsiveness.
12:00Wider tyres make them quite a lot more versatile. Hydraulic discs are now the norm and in some cases
12:08you can even get 12 speed shifting. Worries about harsh ride characteristics are also less of a worry now
12:14than they used to be as every bike in this test proved ably. And anyone who says that one material
12:21is infinitely better than another, well I just don't believe them and don't think they've tested many
12:27good bikes. As always let us know whether you agree or disagree with us in the comments below. Make sure
12:33you're subscribed to the channel for lots more bike stuff and we'll see you next time. Now which one
12:38shall I take home? Where's my trolley?
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