Storck Scenero named 2011 Bike Of The Year

Cycling Plus have revealed the winner of their 2011 Bike Of The Year test, where 25 road bikes priced between £1,000 and £2,000 were pitted against one another in a bid to find the best combination of comfort, agility, speed and value for money.

After hundreds of miles and some fierce debate, it was the Storck Scenero that emerged victorious, with the 15-strong test team describing it as "a classic road bike, albeit a very, very exciting one with a real spark".

"It's hard to find a bad bike if you're spending more than £1,000 but that just makes the purchasing decision tougher," said Cycling Plus editor Rob Spedding. "Any of the 25 bikes in our test will make an excellent buy, but the Storck Scenero stood out. It's just what we look for in a bike – perfect for long days in the saddle, but a ton of fun when you decide to put the hammer down."

Cycling plus's testers put 25 top £1,000-£2,000 road bikes through their paces before deciding a winner: - Cycling Plus

The testing team put 25 bikes through their paces and covered hundreds of miles on A-roads, B-roads and country lanes

The £1,000-2,000 price range was chosen because, according to the British magazine's latest reader survey, that's how much the average road cyclist is planning to spend on their next bike.

The initial list of 25 contenders was whittled down to a final four, with the Cannondale SuperSix (successor to the 2010 Cycling Plus Bike Of The Year), Raleigh SP Race and Specialized Roubaix narrowly failing to make the final cut.

You can see details of the top four bikes below. For reviews of all 25 machines, see issue 247 of Cycling Plus, out now priced £3.99, which comes with a free Bike Of The Year pullout. To subscribe to Cycling Plus, click here!

2011 Bike Of The Year

The storck scenero has been named bike of the year by cycling plus: the storck scenero has been named bike of the year by cycling plus - Cycling Plus

Winner: Storck Scenero

Price: £1,999.99
Groupset: Shimano 105
Wheels: DT R1800
Weight: 8.14kg (55cm)

Verdict: "Fast, engaging, exciting, inspiring – the Scenero has got the lot"

“Direct and purposeful”… “every input translates into urgent acceleration”… “utterly engaging experience”… “a ride with a spark”… “very, very exciting”… “delivers the excitement of the higher performance Storcks”… “class-leading comfort for a £2,000 bike” – just some of the phrases testers used to describe the Scenero.

It might be Storck’s ‘entry-level’ carbon bike, but it’s no cheap branding exercise. It has plenty of the German company’s signature touches such as rear facing all-carbon dropouts, and oversized chainstays which help your pedal power get to where it needs to. The tubing is size specific, so a 63cm frame will ride in exactly the same manner as a 47cm.

The brilliant Stiletto carbon fork weighs less than 400g and would set you back £300 on its own. In fact the sum of the Scenero’s parts is close to £2,500, so even at two grand the Cycling Plus Bike Of The Year 2011 is actually a bit of a bargain.