Cycling Plus set to reveal their Bike of the Year

31 comments
By BikeRadar, UK | Thursday, Feb 16, 2012 8.00am

Next month, Cycling Plus magazine will reveal the best kept secret in road cycling – their 2012 Bike of the Year. To whet your appetites, we'll be running reviews of some of the contenders here on BikeRadar every day from now until the mag hits shops on 2 March.

This year, the testing team have focused on bikes in the core £1,500 to £2,000 price range (roughly US$2,350-3,150). However, manufacturers were allowed a bit of leeway in case they had a bike that didn't quite fit within those limits but they felt was worthy of contention. 

As a result, the 26 shortlisted bikes range from the £1,399 Pinarello FP Uno ($ TBC) to the £2,199 Forme Thorpe Comp 1.0 (not available in the US). And the reviewers have been impressed. The trickle down of technology means some bikes in this price range now come with Shimano's electronic Ultegra Di2 transmission or SRAM's flagship Red groupset, while others use the same carbon frames as current ProTour machines – although aluminium is by no means obsolete.

Video promo: Cycling Plus Bike of the year 2012

At the end of the day, it's the ride that's most important, not how good a bike looks on paper. To ensure consistency, each contender has been tested by senior technical editor Warren Rossiter on an 82-mile route through Wiltshire, England. They've then been passed on to other members of our the team for further testing.

"Deciding on our Bike of the Year has been the toughest call to date," says Warren. "There isn’t a dud bike among the 26 we’ve tested. Don’t by any means discount any of these great bikes, especially if you shop around in pursuit of the best price."

L-R: mechanic george ramelkamp, cycling plus editor rob spedding, senior technical editor warren rossiter (behind rob) and bikeradar staff writer john whitney put four of the contenders through their paces on exmoor : l-r: mechanic george ramelkamp, cycling plus editor rob spedding, senior technical editor warren rossiter (behind rob) and bikeradar staff writer john whitney put four of the contenders through their paces on exmoor

The contenders

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User Comments

There are 31 comments on this post

Showing 1 - 30 of 31 comments

  • Toughest call... Yeah right cannondale caad 10 all the way. Second isn't even close,,,

  • What about the Ibis HD?

  • At least half of those have already been reviewed in C+ in the last 6 months.More repeats than DAVE !

  • Galatzo

    We can't really leave out the good 2012 bikes we've already reviewed if they fall into the relevant price bracket can we?

    Rob

  • So why not the two enigma bikes you reviewed which goy 4 and half stars? Is it because they are just over the 2 grand mark, al though that hasn't stopped you before?

  • dakkar, all the bikes in this test are 2012 models; the Enigmas that got 4.5 stars were both 2011 models. (The frames may not have changed but the components will have.)

  • For me it's a straight fight between the Ridley Orion and CAAD 10.

    Orion gets my vote.

  • Forme Thorpe Comp 1 is very strong. In the past I owned bikes from Cannondale, Giant, Look, Kuota, Merlin and Ribble and from those the Forme Thorpe Comp is definately the most faultless bike I have ridden because it is the complete package with full Easton finish kit and wheels as well as a super light frame and Ultegra group all for 2 grand! Sorted!

  • seconded, maybe thirded on the caad10. test rode a fair few of these when i did my new bike shopping and had a total max budget of 2.5k. plumped for the caad 10 as it was a cut above the rest.

    it may not be carbon but with a 1150g frame and a 410g fork its easily as light as the mid price carbons. and i cannot describe how much power it puts down. rode it for 4 hours the other day with a charge knife fitted and its perfectly comfortable.

    even tried a supersix and couldnt justify the excess money, and my huge saving meant spangly shoes, a bsplattering of ultegra , some decent riding kit and a garmin edge 500 all done for under £1600. sold the standard wheels for 90 quid and threw on some ultegra 6700 wheels.

    BUY ONE its the best £ for £ bike you can buy and sooooooo pretty

  • not a great list. i would suggest a ktm. take yer pick there is loads in this price bracket. ktm strada 5000 beats these bikes hands down

  • I just got my CAAD 10 ultegra- What a machine! It gets my vote. But then I haven't ridden any of the others. I went for this after a long wait for a supersix last year. Really glad I cancelled and waited. Cheers.

  • Not sure why you went for the aluminium Canyon (in fact I'm gobsmacked at the error) all that's showcasing is the electric groupset, the carbon framed CF 8.0 would be a much better contender. It's one of the best frames I've come across, I ride a Cervelo R3 and the CF is at least its equal.

  • Some lovely bikes in there. Pleased to see Raleigh back in that list. That SP range is surprisingly great value.

  • belgravedave...Well it's an interesting point. Yep, the CF 8.0 is excellent but I can assure you we haven't made an 'error'. There are a lot of riders out there who'll love the idea of electronic shifting for under £2K and, as the posters on here raving about the Cannondale CAAD 10 prove, there are plenty of people who reckon aluminium frames can compete on a level playing field to carbon!

    Rob

  • I hope all of the bikes that are only available in matt black are automatically deducted 3 points!

    Bike colour schemes are getting as bad as cars these days - drab, drab, drab...

  • Rob Spedding... It's a shame you feel the need to pick a bike just because your readers are interested in a new groupset rather than how good the bike is in it's price range. If I were the chaps from Canyon I'd be be disappointed that you hadn't picked the best bike they make at that price. As for all the CAAD10 lovers well I've not ridden one but I used to own a CAAD8 and loved it but compared to the CF's frame it's nowhere, it really is exceptional and thats why it's such a shame it's not in the shortlist.

  • What about the cube agree pro serious spec for the price is it because it's aluminium a great ride

  • I've got the 2011 cube agree and it has everything. great frame and great kit. top 3 at least

  • I would have a 1-50 score with 20 points for the frame, 20 for the wheels and 10 for gears and finishing kit... seems to me that a lot of these bikes have good quality frames but the wheel spend is sacrificed for a bling groupset

  • @edhornby - that's always been the problem at this price range, as seen too in previous bike of the year tests . Manufacturers are nearly always going to spec better groupsets at the expense of wheels as most potential buyers wrongly think that's more important. In some ways I think it would be better if BotY focussed on a higher price bracket, say £2800 - £3800. That way you would get the same bikes often as not but with better wheels that would reveal the potential of the frames more. Ok, the prices might be above the target of the average buyer, but in many cases the same bikes would be available at lower spec for less money, with the potential existing to upgrade or swap the wheels for already-owned ones.

  • Come on Raleigh! We want the SP Race to get 1st place this year! (came 4th last year). It is the shizzle dizzle (that's a technical term in case you were wondering).

  • Why do you put a Trek 3.1 up aginist bikes that have so much better kit? Why not pick a the model nearest to the price limit?

    I feel bad you fellows on the other side of the pond. In the US we can get the Trek Madone 5.2 for $3150, which sould fit under 2000 pounds.

  • The reviews of the bikes so far haven't exactly been sparkling. I know the star system requires a super computer to work out but surely the reviews would be better for bikes shortlisted for bike of the year. 4 stars and above maybe or has the star system changed again, maybe we need to give to NASA to work out.

  • Everybody's talking about the CAAD 10 as the best bike for the money but how about the Canyon Ultimate AL 9.0 SL? I'm still hesitating between the two on which one to buy (I want to buy a bike this year for less than € 1900,- and with a weight of around 7 kgs)

  • If anyone out there has any views on the Focus Izalco Pro 3.0 I'd love to hear them - am test riding one at Sigma Sports tomorrow.Also @Rob - I paid my years subscription renewal for Cycling Plus weeks ago and haven't had an issue yet - not sure what's going on there. Keen to have the issue with BotY review in it.

  • Cannot believe you did not even consider CERVELO !!!

  • which ones have UI2?

  • I know the result got the magazine through the post yesterday. The winner is a lovely bike, I would defo have one.

  • No spoilers from subscribers please!

  • love the CR1 <3

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