Like most people with young kids, I don’t ride as much as I used to these days.
Invariably, I’m too short on time or – more often – too tired to subject myself to the kinds of adventures some of my younger and more care-free colleagues get up to.
Nevertheless, working at BikeRadar means getting to test all manner of bikes and kit, and this year was no different.
I’ve swung my leg over one of the worst bikes I’ve ever ridden five days a week (a cheap electric commuter bike that I will emphatically not be recommending in this article), spent plenty of time aboard expensive road-racing bikes, logged many hours on Zwift and even discovered gravel.
In the end, though, making my picks for this list was fairly easy. While five-star reviews are rare on BikeRadar, I awarded three products a perfect score this year, and my favourite bike was – unsurprisingly – the one I built myself.
With that in mind, let’s get straight onto my first pick.
Kinesis GX Race gravel bike
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Of all the bikes I’ve ridden this year, my Kinesis GX Race gravel bike has without doubt been the most fun.
All the usual clichés apply here – like all the best gravel bikes, it has enabled me to shake up my usual riding and have some adventures, rather than just sticking to familiar roads.
It’s been upgraded with Fulcrum Wind 42 wheels, a set of 700x40c Hutchinson Caracal Race TLR tyres and, more recently, a GRX Di2 RX825 groupset, since I first built it last winter – all of which I’m in the process of testing.
In spirit, though, it remains unchanged – it’s still built like a road bike with chunky tyres, and I’m happy with my choice.
After all, I’ve found I invariably spend a large percentage of ‘gravel rides’ on the roads and bike paths linking off-road trails, so having something that doesn't make those sections feel like a slog is critical.
Granted, this makes any technical off-road sections trickier to handle, but I’ve no desire to take on proper MTB trails, so it hasn’t been a major issue.
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Favero Assioma PRO MX power meter pedals
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Having been a relatively unknown company just a few years ago, Favero has quickly established itself as the leading manufacturer of power meter pedals.
Its most recent release, the Assioma PRO MX pedals, would be my first choice for a groupset-agnostic off-road power meter.
Providing the same accurate and reliable data as the brand’s Assioma Duo road pedals, the Assioma PRO MX pedals have raised the game with a refined form factor and impressive durability.
I reviewed them in February of this year and am happy to report they’ve remained trouble-free since then.
When they’re on the bike, I can essentially forget they’re power meter pedals and just go about riding as I would with my set of trusty Shimano Deore XT SPD pedals – there’s no need to molly-coddle them.
To top it all off, the Assioma PRO MX pedals undercut the competition on price, at only $759 / €750 compared to £959.99 / $1,199.99 / €1,099.99 for Garmin’s Rally XC200 pedals or £999.99 / $1,099 / €1,099 for Look’s X-Track Power pedals.
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JetBlack Victory smart trainer
Put simply, the JetBlack Victory is the new undisputed champion of mid-range smart trainers.
It has a flawless spec sheet, including features such as WiFi, Race Mode and automatic calibration, alongside excellent ride quality, easy setup and low noise levels.
It also produces impressively accurate power and cadence data, rivalling trainers that cost far more.
Like Favero’s PRO MX pedals, the JetBlack Victory also undercuts much of the competition on price, with an RRP of only £399 / $399 / €449.95.
In comparison, Wahoo’s Kickr Core Zwift One costs £449.99 / $499.99 / €499.99, while the Elite Suito will set you back £499.99 / €549 (ignoring the incredible Black Friday deal that saw it on sale for just £274.99 for a few days).
The only problem is, as noted in my review, whether you’ll be able to get one this winter. At the time of writing, JetBlack says UK customers can pre-order for delivery in February 2025, but that might understandably be too late for those looking to improve their indoor training setup right now.
If you’re prepared to wait, though, there’s nothing else currently available with features, performance and pricing as attractive as the JetBlack Victory.
Van Rysel FCR helmet
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If you want a piece of equipment raced at WorldTour level, you typically have to pay through the nose to get it. With Van Rysel’s FCR helmet, though, that’s simply not the case.
Despite costing only £99.99 / €100 (its price appears to have risen £10 since I reviewed it, but it’s still an absolute bargain), it’s a full-on aero road helmet with a sleek profile and wind-tunnel sculpted design.
Based on our own wind-tunnel testing, aero helmets can offer a tangible performance improvement compared to vented ones, making them a good-value aero upgrade, and the cost per watt saved would likely only improve with this helmet.
The internal channelling is admittedly more basic than on some fancier helmets, which contributes to it feeling slightly stuffier than the most expensive options, such as the Specialized Evade 3.
For nearly a third of the price, though, I suspect most people will be able to live with that.
That my colleague, Liam Cahill, also selected the FCR helmet as one of his Gear of The Year picks should speak volumes about how impressive it is.
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