00:00The Colnago Y1 RS. Latest Cervelo S5 and Ridley Noah Fast 3 all joined the ranks of the Pro
00:07Peloton in 2025, with aero bikes being used in pro cycling more than ever. But if you've got
00:13your eye on a new aero bike in 2026, what is the best one out there? Well, I've been lucky
00:19enough
00:20to ride lots of the latest offerings and these are my top picks for 2026 and a few which I
00:26would
00:26personally avoid. If you want ultimate speed then look no further than the recently updated Cervelo
00:34S5. I was recently invited along to the Cycling News aero bike mega test and this was one of the
00:41fastest of the day both without a rider on it and more importantly with a rider on it too.
00:46This latest version only sees some minor tweaks over the previous generation so I'd keep my eye out for
00:52some bargains of that one too, but Cervelo has almost perfected its aero bike. Sure, it's not
00:58as quite as light as some, for example this build weighs in at 7.55 kilos, but it comes with
01:05some
01:05lovely kit on it, for example the reserve wheels are excellent and it handles like a dream. In fact,
01:11I got many Descent PRs and even a KOM on my first few rides on this bike, so I think
01:17that's pretty
01:17good proof that it's easy to feel confident on it. I was initially worried that this chunky front end
01:23would mean it was a bit of a bone shaker, especially on less than perfect roads, but it takes this
01:29kind of abuse with well far more grace than a lot of other aero bikes out there. The Van Riesel
01:33RCRF
01:34for example has a much firmer front end. There are a few negatives with this bike though. A it will
01:39be
01:39expensive to get the fit you want as different bar widths are going to cost you extra and I'd personally
01:45go
01:45for a 2x groupset as the 1x test bike had just two bigger gaps in between the gears. If you
01:51want
01:52to see more on that then there's a video up there. Now if you want an aero bike that no
01:58one on your
01:59local group ride is likely to have but don't want to compromise on performance then my pick for 2026
02:05would be the Ridley Noah Fast 3. Now I must admit I wasn't too enamoured by the looks of this
02:10bike
02:11when it was released and I also thought that the low stack height and super steep seat tube angle
02:17would make it too aggressive for non-pro riders. Well having ridden it I am happy to admit that I
02:24was wrong. Kind of. For me this bike was the best surprise of 2025. It rides exceptionally well. It's
02:32tested fast which is little surprise as Ridley has invested a lot of time and money into its own wind
02:37tunnel in Belgium and it rides like an absolute tank. This is one of the most stable aero bikes
02:44that I've ridden and actually I rode this back to back against the Colnago Y1RS and the difference
02:50was stark. The Y1RS which you'll notice isn't in this list felt just a little bit disjointed and
02:56floppy at the front end whereas you can absolutely nail this Ridley down anything. If you want an aero bike
03:04that is fast on bumpy roads as well as in the wind tunnel then look no further. Now before we
03:10take
03:10a look at my picks for the best value aero bike for 2026 and the best overall aero bike please
03:16make
03:16sure you're subscribed to the channel to support what we do and so that you don't miss any of our
03:21upcoming aero bike reviews. Some riders used aero bikes for every stage of last year's Tour de France
03:29with many now tickling the UCI weight limit. The bad news is that very often to get both aero and
03:36low
03:36weight you need to remortgage a house but you can get almost as much performance for a lot less.
03:42It might not be as flashy but the sensible money is probably on this. I've scoured brands ranges in
03:49both pounds and dollars and if I thought with my head and not my heart my money would be going
03:54on a
03:55Giant Propel Advanced Pro 1. Carbon wheels? Tick. Electronic groupset? Tick. Integrated routing?
04:01Tick. It has everything an aero bike should and yet it is less than half the price of the ones
04:07being
04:08used in the world tour. There's not much else to say about it I'm sure you can all argue with
04:12all my
04:13other decisions for all the other categories but you just can't argue with Giant they really do know
04:19what they're doing when it comes to making bikes and they might not quite get your heart racing like an
04:24Italian Thoroughbred but it just works.
04:35Sometimes aero bikes can come at a premium compared to climbing bikes. I guess you're getting a bit more
04:41carbon fibre and I imagine R&D time for your money. But if you search around then there are some
04:48options
04:48which buck this trend. Just as a reminder we review all of the bikes at RRP so don't forget to
04:55see if
04:55you can pick up one in the sales and we'll pop some links down below. At RRP if you're looking
05:01for wind
05:01cutting ability without the astronomical price tag then I don't think you can beat this. This is the
05:08Boardman SLR 9.0. It's got 12 speed mechanical Shimano 105, Goodyear tyres and a full carbon frame and fork
05:15that's been designed using CFD but the key bit it's spent time in a wind tunnel to validate that.
05:22It's also under 1800 quid or 2400 dollars and is proof that you can get an excellent aero bike for
05:29less than some world tour wheel sets. Now very almost taking the top spot for best overall aero bike is
05:37the Canyon Aeroad CFR. I've thought long and hard about this. This is of course the bike of Jasper Philipsen
05:43and
05:43Mathieu van der Poel and I believe when it released Canyon claimed that this was the fastest bike in
05:49the peloton. Now with most of our test bikes I'm usually quite excited to get back on my own bike
05:54by the end of the review period. With this one though I actually got in touch with Canyon to see
06:00if I could hold on to it for a bit longer. I liked it that much. Now Canyon has been
06:05slowly refining their
06:06aeroad aero bike over the last four generations and although not a lot has changed aesthetically
06:12it's bang on the money when it comes to weight, speed, ride feel and maintaining the thing. And
06:18for me this is the right amount of aero without compromising so much comfort and weight that you
06:25don't want to use it on a lumpy group ride. Now with Canyon's new custom program there are more
06:32options than before to make your bike look a little bit different to everyone else's because I know that
06:36was a criticism of Canyon before and well I'd happily have one of these back again. Please Canyon.
06:44You're gonna hate me and I can feel the angriness in the comments already.
06:48I think the best aero bike for 2026 is the Specialized Tarmac SL8. Now I don't know if you would
06:57strictly even class this as an aero bike it's the obvious choice. I hate Specialized we've heard it
07:02all before in the comments but as it is one of the lightest bikes in the peloton but also fast
07:07enough
07:08for the team sprinters to use I'm counting it. It's comfortable, it's stiff, it's physics bendingly light
07:15and it's unquestionably fast. Now whether you like Specialized or not they've got the resources
07:21and the know-how to make some excellent bikes and right now I think that it's the best in the
07:26world.
07:27Would I buy one? Well no I've got an SL7 and if rumours are to be believed then the SL9
07:33might be
07:33with us in June. Even so this is still the benchmark for others to be in 2026. The current generation
07:41of
07:41Cannondale Super 6 and the Trek Madone they just haven't managed to pull it off. So come on bike
07:46brands, 2026 is your year to finally dethrone the tarmac. Bring it on. It certainly looks like another
07:53exciting year for aero bikes. We've already spotted new options from Factor. I really want to get on
07:58that new Argon 18, new Merida Reacto and hopefully we'll be able to get our hands on all of them.
08:04Let me know which one of these bikes you'd go for in the comments below and we'll see you next
08:08time.
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