It’s just days until we roll into 2015, so today we’re looking back at some of the most significant, gorgeous, weird and interesting cycling gear stories of 2014.
Garmin Edge 1000
The Edge 1000 was well received here at BikeRadar
The Edge 1000 might be more evolution than revolution, but with this addition to its head unit lineup, Garmin has continued to hone in on bike data and navigation perfection. The unit was launched at Sea Otter in April and it was quickly on US editor Ben Delaney’s bars. In our review, we said it has superb navigation with detailed mapping, plus a deep feature menu and modern connectivity. The only downsides are size and battery life. It’s certainly one of the most important new pieces of bike gear we’ve seen this year.
Check out our Garmin Edge 1000 review as well as the other units in the current range – the Edge 810 and Edge 510.
Specialized McLaren S-Works Tarmac
Specialized mclaren
Video: Specialized McLaren S-Works Tarmac
The new £16,000 / US$20,000 Specialized McLaren S-Works Tarmac saw cycling and motoring behemoths join forces for a stunning, cutting-edge bike. Production of this bike was limited to just 250.
Using software McLaren developed for its F1, supercar and hypercar designs, the company re-engineered the Tarmac to use 300 per cent more high-modulus carbon. The Roval wheels have had a similar weight-saving treatment and the whole bike is finished in gorgeous black and orange.
Read the full McLaren S-Works Tarmac story, check out our video above and have a look at our 2015 Specialized mega gallery!
Pinarello cracks down on 'Chinarello'
Pinarello closed 16,000 auctions for counterfeit bikes in just three months in 2014
One story that captured readers’ imaginations this year was the proliferation and subsequent crack down of fake Pinarello bikes that have been bought in from the Far East. Often made with extraordinarily shoddy quality control, they’ve been known to be lined with newspaper and crack with little provocation.
Pinarello had managed to close 16,000 auctions for counterfeit bikes in just three months, but it’s not just this brand that's affected - there are thousands of dodgy copies out there, it’s just 'Channondale' doesn’t really have the same ring to it.
Read our Pinarello cracks down on 'Chinarello' story.
Lance Armstrong movie bikes
Can you tell the difference between the replicas and the originals?
Speaking of bikes with dubious heritage, a massive selection of bikes used in the upcoming Lance Armstrong biopic (based on the damning book Seven Deadly Sins by David Walsh) went on sale, leaving us all to play a game of ‘guess the brand’ between the Condor-made replicas and the decal-stripped originals.
View the full gallery in our Lance Armstrong movie bikes story.
Cannondale Synapse Carbon 5
Cannondale synapse carbon 5
Video: Cannondale Synapse Carbon 5
No gear round-up would be complete without mentioning Cycling Plus magazine’s Bike of the Year and the honour of that title went to the Cannondale Synapse Carbon 5 in 2014. We’re sometimes criticised for giving Cannondale bikes good reviews (check our mountain bike reviews and you’ll see it’s not brand bias) but when a bike is as genuinely great as this we want to shout about it.
If you want speed and comfort, it’s hard to beat. It’s not just the Synapse 5 that’s worthy of praise though – the whole range is fantastic.
Read the Cannondale Synapse 5 review and don’t forget to check out our extra special immersive feature on the bike’s design.
Tour de France gallery: weird and wonderful
The Tour de France always offers us a sneaky look at gear that might soon find its way to the consumer market and 2014’s edition of le grande boucle was no exception.
Perhaps most interesting of all though was all the weird and wonderful tech being used at the race, making this all-encompassing, manic event seem even more eccentric.
See our full Tour de France weird and wonderful gallery as well as our time trial tech galleries.
Caterham Duo Cali
Caterham duo cali video
Video: Caterham Duo Cali first-ride impressions
It’s not just Specialized and McLaren who were blurring the cycling and motoring lines in 2014. Working with renowned German fabricator AX Lightness, Caterham produced the achingly beautiful Duo Cali – a snip at €15,000!
A complex five-piece mould is needed to create such incredible lines, while adding in Campagnolo EPS keeps the exotica going in the spec. The more you look at it, the prettier it gets.
Check out our Caterham Duo Cali preview.
Power meters
With more brands joining the power party, single-sided units giving a leg up and falling prices across the board, the power meter market has grown significantly in 2014.
We gave several units the head-to-head treatment in our best power meters review to head to let you know where you should spend your cash, but there’s an incoming crop of power meters that could be winners.
Read out best power meters review as well as our Infocrank preview and watch our video below of five of the top power meters on show at Eurobike earlier this year.
Top 5 power meters at eurobike
Video: Top five power meters
Our picks
This is the gear that the BikeRadar writers loved this year
This year our writers ‘got all subjective’ about the gear they adore and the reasons for their infatuations. From bikes to pedals, USB dongles and bibs, there’s a bit of everything from our team around the globe.
Check out all our editors’ picks.
2015 gear
One of the big thrills for all bike nerds in any given year is finding out what gear goodies are in store for the following season – and that means it’s showtime! Around August, virtually the world’s entire bicycling press converges on Friedrichshafen, Germany and Las Vegas, USA for Eurobike and Interbike, the planet’s biggest trade exhibitions.
Each year we round up the most eye-catching bikes and gear in our galleries. Check out our Eurobike galleries and Interbike galleries as well as our pick of some of 2015’s most exciting road bikes below.
Top 5 most exciting 2015 road bikes
Video: top five most exciting road bikes
So, there are some of our gear highlights for 2014. It's been a good year to be a roadie – roll on 2015!