We take our jobs very seriously here at BikeRadar, fairly and accurately testing bikes and equipment to the limit to provide you with unbiased and independent reviews.
But we’re also human, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with admitting we’re drawn to some bikes simply because they look cool.
With that in mind, we’ve cast an eye over the bikes of the men’s and women’s WorldTour to bring you a purely subjective overview of the bikes that make our team’s brains buzz.
Simon von Bromley – Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe’s Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8
A pro bike is a rolling advertisement board and must scream its identity from the rooftops.
Manufacturer logos should be legible from a helicopter and every angle, while the paintjob must, in all circumstances, coordinate with the team’s kit.
Nul points to Bianchi for the shameful lack of red and black on the Arkéa-B&B Hotels team bikes, then.
The Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8, on the other hand, is a perfect example of the genre.
It stands out on its own merits but still harmonises perfectly with the team kit. The sponsor logos are all clearly visible and SRAM even supplies team-only components with large chrome logos, for extra pro points.
Of course, a pro bike must also be a top performer in every aspect – and the Tarmac SL8 certainly is – but in the WorldTour, there are few bad bikes.
Everyone’s got a top-level frameset, paired with the kind of builds most riders would dream of.
That isn’t enough, though. Anyone with enough wedge can waltz into a bike shop and secure a top-spec bike.
What really makes a pro bike special, then, is its commitment to the bit.
Warren Rossiter – Team EF’s Cannondale SuperSix EVO Lab71
I love a classy lightweight all-rounder.
For the men’s WorldTour, it’s a toss-up between Team Jayco-AlUla’s TCR Advanced SL and EF Education-EasyPost's Cannondale SuperSix Evo Lab71.
On the women’s tour, I’d pick the Orbea Orca of Ceratizit-WNT or the Cervélo R5 of Team Visma-Lease a Bike.
But I have to pick one, so it’s the Cannondale SuperSix Evo.
It’s a sublime-looking bike – the impossibly slim seat tube, uncluttered front end and tight back end are all wrapped up with amazing paintwork.
It’s not just the bike – Team EF has a great attitude and is a team that looks as if it's enjoying riding and racing.
It also makes room to support brilliant riders such as Lachlan Morton to do incredible things outside the staid WorldTour, which is refreshing.
Jack Luke – Lidl-Trek’s Madone
With a whacking big hole in the seat tube, chunky tubes and a striking cantilevered seat mast, the seventh-generation Madone was a decidedly Marmite bike when it launched.
Trek-Lidl will ride the eighth-generation Madone for 2025. The tubes of this new-ish bike are distinctly slimmer than the outgoing Madone and the hole is not the head-turner it was.
I dare say it has even grown on me, if anything because it looks little like anything else in the pro peloton.
But the primary colours of Lidl-Trek’s fleet of Madones tickle a childish part of my brain, sealing the deal.
The blocky Lego-like design is really fun – a stark contrast to often po-faced ‘cool’ designs sported by other teams.
To steal Simon’s phrase, the Lidl-Trek also commits fully to the bit with fabulous kit to match the bikes – this is one of the most visually cohesive teams in the peloton.
Plus the men’s team GC contender, Tao Geoghegan Hart, can do no wrong in my eyes and I’m a Parkside tool middle aisle of Lidl ultra, so this one was perhaps a given, no matter what the bike looked like.
Robin Weaver – Team Picnic PostNL’s Lapierre Xelius DRS
I’m a mountain biker through and through, but adore road racing.
Although I’m not as au fait with road bike tech as my colleagues here, I can appreciate a good-looking bike when I see one – and my pick of the bunch is the Lapierre Xelius DRS.
I love how the seatstays extend and overlap the seat tube before joining the top tube. With its chunky tubing and ‘triple triangle’ design, it’s reminiscent of the GT Zaskar frame I lusted after in my early teenage years.
Like the Specialized Tarmac SL8, Lapierre hasn’t gone overboard with wild tube shapes and aero fairings, which I love.
I’ve no doubt the team has done its due diligence in the wind tunnel and eked out as many aero gains as possible, but it has retained a more classic aesthetic that looks stunning.
It looks like a bike I could ride without feeling out of place – as I might aboard the Colnago Y1RS.
Finally, I’ll confess, I’m into the brand.
I was fortunate enough to spend time with Gilles Lapierre – the man formally responsible for the brand, many years ago.
His passion for racing, innovation and development was contagious.
He truly lived and breathed cycling and was always keen on pushing things as much as he could.
He hired my hero, Nico Vouilloz, to take care of mountain bike development, which was an incredible move. Ever since, if a bike has the name ‘Lapierre’ plastered along its down tube, I’ll sit up and take note, even if Gilles has moved on.
Oscar Huckle – Team Cofidis' Look 795 Blade RS
A striking fusion of French and Italian fare, Team Cofidis’ Look 795 Blade RS lightweight aero all-rounder is, easily, my standout pro bike this year.
I love its unfussy tube shapes.
The down tube isn’t overly bulbous, the outward-facing seatstays are striking and I adore the way the fork crown is shaped to match the head tube without any silly steering limiters.
The titanium hardware used on the own-brand integrated front end and the ingenious way the saddle is clamped to the seatpost (with three methods of adjustment) warm my inner tech nerd’s cockles.
It’s one of a select few bikes – I can probably count them on one hand – that I’ve drooled over when it arrived for testing during my time at BikeRadar.
The 795 Blade RS also marks the welcome return of Campagnolo, after being out of the WorldTour in 2024.
The bike wears the flagship Super Record Wireless groupset, paired with classy Bora Ultra WTO wheels.
I’m hopeful Campagnolo stands to benefit and cement itself back at the top from the four-year agreement it signed with Team Cofidis.
The Mondrian colours are the cherry on top (it wouldn’t be a Look without them), but I will concede that white is hard to keep clean.
But hey, if you’re a pro and it’s going to get cleaned for you at the end of every ride, who cares?
The only other change I’d make? Getting shot of those pesky tanwall tyres…
Liam Cahill – Jayco-AlUla’s Giant Propel Advanced SL
What makes the perfect pro race bike?
It boils down to three things: it has to look like a spaceship, weigh no more than a feather and be fast.
Jayco-AlUla’s Giant Propel Advanced SL comfortably covers all three.
Its angular lines make it look edgy and cool, but Giant has done a good job of making this frame aesthetically pleasing.
The claimed weight for the team edition is a scant 6.9kg, although this doesn’t include pedals.
Even when pedals are included, this is a bike most of us would be happy to ride in the hills.
Finally, the Propel is claimed to be 2.6 per cent more aerodynamic and 9.2 per cent stiffer than the previous version. Speedy.
The defining factor that makes this my favourite men’s WorldTour race bike is its match-up with Jayco’s kit.
Clothing sponsor MAAP has gone bold for its first stab at a men’s WorldTour kit.
The purple and green jersey could have given Barney the Dinosaur vibes – like Bardiani-CSF of old – but the result is really cool.
The grey shorts complete what is a distinctive design. I like it all very much.
George Scott – XDS Astana’s X-Lab AD9
While my colleagues have chosen their bikes based on slender tube shapes, gallery-worthy paintjobs and money-can’t-buy builds, I’m taking a different approach.
As a father of a four-month-old daughter, my already inconsistent riding has taken a back seat. No big miles for me; instead, I pootle along the river here in Bristol on my trusty commuter, en-route to BikeRadar HQ, and that 10-minute ride is about it.
Still, there’s no harm in adding a new, motivation-fuelling bike to the stable – even in this hypothetical scenario. I’m realistic, though, so I’ve chosen one that matches my limited aspirations on the bike this year: I’m taking the X-Lab AD9 of 2024’s lowest-ranked men’s WorldTour team, XDS-Astana (known as Astana Qazaqstan in last year).
Now, I’m being a bit unkind to Astana. Someone has to prop up the table, after all, and the team secured one of the biggest wins of 2024 when Mark Cavendish claimed his record-breaking 35th Tour de France stage win last July.
Cavendish took that victory on the Wilier Filante SLR, but this year X-Lab joins as bike sponsor.
X-Lab is a curious addition to the WorldTour pit lane, being the first Chinese-based brand to be represented in cycling’s top division. X-Lab’s parent company, carbon fibre specialist XDS, is also coming on board as the new title sponsor of Astana.
Can X-Lab make its mark this year? And, in turn, will the brand stick it to the established WorldTour bike sponsors? Will Astana bounce back? I’ll be watching with interest and would happily join them for the journey. Just don’t expect me to ride far.
