Once again, our annual Bike of the Year mega-test has proven itself a mighty task, with our expert reviewers whittling a dauntingly long list of bikes down to 24 candidates before crowning the Giant Defy Advanced Pro 2 as our overall winner.
In 2024 – the 16th instalment of Bike of the Year – we’ve seen a richly varied offering across our endurance, race, gravel, budget and urban ebike categories.
The bikes on test cost from £800 to £8,000. Some are new versions of familiar names, with the Domane, Defy and Roubaix all present and correct. Elsewhere, a swift look at the Handsling A1R0evo and Lauf Úthald will highlight innovative designs from the newer kids on the block.
It’s time to reveal our 2024 winners
As last year, when the Vitus Venon Evo took the top honours, our 2024 overall road bike winner comes from the endurance bike category.
The Giant Defy Advanced Pro 2 is, in the words of BikeRadar’s Warren Rossiter, a “class leader”, delivering exceptional performance while also keeping a close eye on value for money.
Check out our in-depth review of the Giant Defy Advanced Pro 2 to find out why we think it’s the best road bike in 2024.
Elsewhere, we’ve got worthy winners across the rest of our categories and will be publishing reviews of those, and every bike in the test, over the next month. You can find everything in our 2024 Bike of the Year hub.
- Overall and Endurance Bike of the Year – Giant Defy Advanced Pro 2
- Race Bike of the Year – Focus Izalco Max 9.8
- Gravel Bike of the Year – GT Carbon Grade Pro LE
- Budget Road Bike of the Year – Trek Domane AL2 Gen 4
- Urban Electric Bike of the Year – Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0 EQ
Make sure you also go and check out our 2024 Mountain Bike of the Year winners, with categories for trail, enduro, eMTB and budget mountain bikes.
What we tested
There were five categories in our road and gravel Bike of the Year test this year, with a shortlist of 24 bikes put under the microscope by our experienced test team.
While the Giant Defy Advanced Pro 2 emerged with the trophy in our endurance competition, we ran the rule over a wide spectrum of bikes in our other categories.
Over the next month or so, you’ll find expansive reviews of all the leading contenders – from top-spec road race machines to entry-level road bikes and motor-assisted urban commuters, via a varied selection of gravel bikes.
Everything from established market leaders and newcomers are represented and there should be something in our field of two dozen to suit every budget.
Thanks to…
Thanks to our sponsor, MET helmets, for its help in making Bike of the Year 2024 happen.
Introducing our Road Bike of the Year, the Giant Defy Advanced Pro 2
Having spent more than 1,200 miles in its company, Warren Rossiter, one of BikeRadar’s senior technical editors and a bike journalist with more than two decades of testing under his belt, emerged deeply enamoured with the Giant Defy Advanced Pro 2.
He described this five-star machine as offering a pure “road bike experience”, blending performance, value and comfort.
The Defy just about saw off the challenge of the almost equally impressive Canyon Endurace CF SLX 8 Di2, but in the end, Warren couldn’t look elsewhere.
We’ll leave it to the man himself to tell us why it’s our overall Bike of the Year winner…
Warren Rossiter’s verdict
“Point-to-point, over varied terrain, the latest-generation Defy is about as quick as they come.
“It handles as quickly as a race bike, but layers on stability and compliance. This translates into ride confidence and, therefore, real-world speed.
“As an endurance bike focused on the road, it's almost without peer.
“This light and fast bike is a class leader and outstrips rivals costing much more. If you're seeking your next endurance road bike, I can’t think of a better place to start (and finish) looking.”
Endurance Bike of the Year contenders
We’ll be bringing you reviews of the other four bikes in our Endurance Bike of the Year category over the next month.
- Canyon Endurace CF SLX 8 Di2
- Cinelli Pressure ADR 105di2
- Giant Defy Advanced Pro 2
- Lauf Utald Force
- Specialized Roubaix Comp
Meet the tester | Warren Rossiter
BikeRadar and Cycling Plus veteran Warren rode more than 1,200 miles / 1,931km in testing our five endurance bike contenders.
Each bike was given an initial two-hour shakedown ride before being put through its paces over a diverse 82 mile / 132km route in a range of conditions.
His verdict came down to an assessment of handling characteristics, how well the bikes are equipped, their value for money and, ultimately, how much fun he had riding them.
The best of the rest…
The Giant Defy Advanced Pro 2 may have claimed the overall victory, while also seeing off four strong contenders to win the endurance bike category, but there are four other category winners deserving of your attention.
Race Bike of the Year – Focus Izalco Max 9.8
The Focus Izalco Max 9.8 is the winner of our Race Bike of the Year category.
Our tester, Simon von Bromley, described the Izalco Max 9.8 as an “excellent all-round road racing bike”, finding little to criticise and hailing its elegant design, great handling and impressive spec.
We’ll be publishing full reviews of the other bikes in this category over the next month.
- Our review of the Focus Izalco Max 9.8 will be published on Saturday 11 May
Race Bike of the Year contenders
- Canyon Ultimate CF SL 8 Aero
- Focus Izalco Max 9.8
- Handsling A1RTO Ultegra Di2
- Specialized Tarmac SL8 Pro
Meet the tester | Simon von Bromley
Whether you’re sprinting for town signs or finish lines, the ideal road racing bike needs to be fast on all terrain with responsive yet predictable handling.
To put this year’s race Bike of the Year contenders through their paces, Simon, BikeRadar’s senior technical writer, rode them back-to-back on the rolling hills of south Bristol.
With its rough, twisty roads, this terrain shows which bikes have what it takes to match your competitive ambitions.
Beyond pure performance, Simon also considered the value proposition presented by each bike. Most amateur racers must pay for their own equipment, after all.
The bikes in this category all feature high-end builds with electronic groupsets and components designed to elicit maximum performance from each frameset.
Gravel Bike of the Year – GT Carbon Grade Pro LE
The popularity of gravel bikes shows no sign of abating and once again this proved a fiercely competitive category.
After some vigorous and varied off-road testing, Warren eventually plumped for the GT Carbon Grade Pro LE, giving this “singletrack ripper, dressed in Lycra” a 4.5-star rating.
You’ll find full reviews of every bike in the gravel category on the site in the coming weeks.
- Our review of the GT Carbon Grade Pro LE will be published on Sunday 12 May
Gravel Bike of the Year contenders
- Canyon Grail CF SLX
- GT Carbon Grade Pro LE
- Merida Silex 7000
- Orbea Terra M41E Team IX MyO
- Santa Cruz Stigmata
Meet the tester | Warren Rossiter
Our ever-busy senior technical editor once again ran our gravel category in 2024, putting a competitive field through more than 800 miles / 1,280km of demanding riding.
Warren kicked off with a shakedown ride of 20 miles / 32km, taking in towpaths, light gravel roads, singletrack and a technical woodland trail descent.
He then got down to business on one of his favoured test loops, a 50-mile / 80km route spanning tarmac, towpaths, trails, wooded and sheep track singletrack, plus gravel and doubletrack forest roads.
This test route was designed to represent the widest variety of gravel riding possible, in search of a true all-rounder capable of tackling almost anything in front of it – and putting a smile on your face at the same time.
Budget Road Bike of the Year – Trek Domane AL2 Gen 4
Tester Ashley Quinlan, senior technical editor on BikeRadar, described the winner of our budget category as one of the best budget bikes you can buy for £1,000 today.
Ash found the aluminium Domane to be “adaptable, cost-effective and with plenty of room for upgrades”, making it a tremendous first road bike and a deserving Bike of the Year victor.
Reviews of each bike in the Budget Bike of the Year test will appear on site in the following weeks.
- Our review of the Trek Domane AL2 Gen 4 will be published on Monday 13 May
Budget Road Bike of the Year contenders
- Cube Attain Pro
- Pinnacle Laterite 2
- Specialized Allez
- Trek Domane AL2 Gen 4
- Vitus Razor Disc VR
Meet the tester | Ashley Quinlan
Seasoned journalist and roadie Ash took charge of our Budget Bike of the Year cohort, setting the price point at £800-£1,200.
Each bike was subjected to the same test routes Ash undertakes for all of his road bike testing, meaning performance was assessed against higher-spec bikes as well as the rest of the field.
Recognising that upgrading is part and parcel of the enthusiast cycling experience, he paid attention to how easy it would be to upgrade these bikes to a significantly higher level.
Urban Electric Bike of the Year – Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0 EQ
This year, we’ve shone a light on urban mobility by including an urban electric bike category in our Bike of the Year test.
We strongly believe that electric bikes have an important part to play in the future of our towns and cities, for both experienced cyclists and newcomers looking to rely less on a car or public transport.
The Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0 EQ is our no.1 urban ebike for 2024, with ebike veteran Warren enthusing about its near-perfect marriage of practicality and speed.
We’ll be publishing reviews of all of the urban ebike contenders on BikeRadar in the next month or so.
- Our review of the Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0 EQ will be published on Tuesday 14 May
Urban eBike of the Year contenders
- Cannondale Compact Neo
- Merida E-spresso
- Ridgeback ARCUS 3
- Specialized Turbo Vado SL 5.0 EQ
- Tern NBD S5i
Meet the tester | Warren Rossiter
Warren’s third but by no means least important Bike of the Year category saw him test a varied sample of electric commuter bikes.
The aim here was to find a bike that’s easy to ride, a pleasure to live with and versatile enough to replace a car.
Each ebike was used for Warren’s commute to the BikeRadar office (on average, 27 miles / 43km each way), as well as for weekly chores in an urban and suburban landscape.
The bikes were ridden from 100 per cent battery to empty, to get a proper comparison of their expected range, while their load-carrying capacity also came under scrutiny.
Warren switched to everyday clothing for each test, leaving his padded shorts at home, and used the provided flat pedals.
Previous Road Bike of the Year winners
The Giant Defy Advanced Pro 2 joins an illustrious list of Bike of the Year winners.
It becomes the fifth Giant bike to take the overall title and the second Defy, after the Advanced 2’s victory back in 2013.
2023
Vitus Venon Evo RS Aero
2022
Giant Revolt Advanced Pro 0
2021
Boardman SLR 9.4 AXS
2020
Cannondale SuperSix EVO
2019
Rondo HVRT CF0
2018
Giant TCR Advanced 2
2017
Specialized Roubaix Comp
2016
Cannondale CAAD12 105
2015
BMC GF01 Disc 105
2014
Cannondale Synapse 5 105
2013
Giant Defy Advanced 2
2012
Focus Izalco Pro 3.0
2011
Storck Scenero
2010
Cannondale Six Carbon 105
2009
Giant TCR Advanced 3
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