Choosing the best bike of the year 2014 was one tough task. Fifty bikes needed to be ridden, rated and cross-checked against the competition. It took thousands of miles of testing in some seriously wet weather to whittle down the group to our three surviving finalists.
Though there could only be one winner, the test team could throw a blanket over the frontrunners, which were the Cannondale Synapse 5, the BMC SLR02 and the Giant Defy Advanced 2.
Check out the Cycling Plus test team discussing the merits of leaders and find out why the Synapse 5 eventually took the top spot.
Cycling plus bike of the year 2014 - the top 3
The top three contenders in the annual Bike of the Year 2014 competition
