This year is shaping up to be the year of the endurance bike. We’ve witnessed the launches of the exceptional new Canyon Endurace CF SLX, the fast Ribble Ultra-Road, the premium Pinarello Dogma X and the stripped-down Cervélo Caledonia.
This week, we saw the launch of a new Trek Domane, which goes back to the 'roots of endurance riding' but fits very contemporary 40mm tyres. We also saw Cube launch the latest Attain, which appears to be even better value than the previous version, which I said had an amazing spec for the money.
Before this year, we already had a strong range of endurance bikes – from the forward-thinking Cannondale Synapse and the race-bike light Giant Defy, through to the Specialized Roubaix with its aero shape combined with comfort-enhancing tech.
But this doesn’t mean every brand releases perfect endurance bikes. I think there are four crucial elements the best endurance bikes must get right – and you should keep these in mind if you’re looking to invest in one of these comfortable, versatile machines.
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Road manners
While ‘all-road’ is a good selling point for a brand’s endurance bike, I don’t think off-road performance should come at the expense of great on-road manners. So, forget about slackened angles and long trail figures – these will dilute an endurance bike’s primary function too much.
Any road bike can handle a light gravel excursion, or in many cases a long one. The first time I rode the Strada Bianche chalk gravel roads in Tuscany at L’Eroica, it was on a 1958 Bianchi Campione Del Monde with 18mm tubular tyres.
Pros today ride the Strade Bianche, Flanders and Roubaix on aero race bikes, so don’t tell me an endurance bike with 30mm tyres can’t handle a bit of rough.
Mudguard mounts
I’m all for big-volume road tyres – Continental’s GP5000 in 35mm is my current favourite road tyre – even if it won’t fit more than half the bikes I own. But what I want is big tyre clearances and mounts for mudguards.
There’s nothing worse than a soaked backside or spraying your ride companions with water and dirt for hours on end.
It could just be because I live and ride in the UK, where it’s often wet, but it’s a shame great endurance bikes omit mudguard mounts. Pinarello’s Dogma X gets ample tyre clearance but doesn't have fender mounts – nor does Vielo’s clever, sprightly and comfortable R+1.
Fortunately, the Canyon Endurace SF SLX, Ribble Ultra-Road and the new Trek Domane come with mounts to save you and your riding buddies from road spray.
Storage options
I’ve made my thoughts on saddle packs clear in the past and I think endurance bikes should come with down-tube storage. This is something we first saw on mountain and gravel bikes, and it was only a matter of time before it came to endurance bikes.
The Canyon Endurace CF SLX and Ribble Ultra-Road both take advantage of their broad, aero down tubes to give you generous storage space away from the elements, while retaining clean, sleek aero lines.
Our 2025 Bike of the Year winner, the Cannondale Synapse, also does this brilliantly with enough space to house a battery to power the gears, front light and rear radar light.
Although I prefer down-tube storage compartments, it’s also good to see brands such as Trek offering gravel-style bento box mounts on the top tube. Solutions such as this can be smart, and they shouldn’t be limited to gravel.
Attention to detail
Although they might not appear at races such as the Tour de France, endurance bikes still need to be designed with the same level of detail as a brand's pro race bike.
Early renditions of ‘endurance’ or century bikes did little more than take the race-bike template, and increase the stack and shorten the reach. They did nothing to cater for cyclists who may not race, but ride seriously.
Brands used to be almost apologetic for making an ‘endurance’ bike, instead marketing and pitching them as ‘Classics’ bikes. The Specialized Roubaix even takes its name from one of these races.
Thankfully, most brands now do endurance right and understand that these are great bikes for all riders. And, not surprisingly, for the likes of Giant and Cannondale these are the biggest-selling road-going bikes they make.
This year, we’ve seen Canyon imbue the Endurace CF SLX with aerodynamics worthy of a WorldTour bike. Ribble has done the same with the Ultra-Race. Aerodynamics matter at any speed. The margins may be smaller than brands tell you when talking about riding at 50kph, but research has shown aero matters just as much at 30kph.
Pinarello’s Dogma X is built from the most premium carbon materials, the same as you’ll find on the pro tour Dogma F. That means you’re getting the same level of precision building, care and attention as Pinarello puts into its bikes for professionals.
Cannondale has the Lab71 Synapse, where Lab71 is Cannondale’s special projects division saved for its very best, and Giant the Defy SL 0, using the same custom woven carbon fibre material as the pro tour Propel and TCR.
Specialized continues to make a premium S-Works Roubaix, Cervélo offers a premium 5 version of its Caledonia and Trek has a high-end SLR version of the new Domane. All these bikes show their makers are taking endurance seriously.
If a brand doesn’t offer its endurance bikes with the same level of performance equipment as its race bikes, I don’t think it can be seen as taking endurance seriously.
It’s never been a better time to ride an endurance bike. They've evolved from an afterthought to one of the most exciting of all bike categories.
There’s now enough diversity to suit all riders. There are lightweight options as well as fast, aero bikes. If you’re on a tight budget, Cube’s new Attain looks to be a winner. Canyon’s aluminium Endurace gets its features right, and all the major brands offer a wide range of prices on this most popular of bike genres.
Want to splash out on that forever bike? There are stunning options from the likes of Parlee with the Ouray, or the new Pinarello Dogma X. You should consider Moots, Mosaic, Merckx and J. Laverack if titanium is your thing.
Endurance bikes used to come with a stigma attached of not being the ‘serious' option. Maybe that's true for the ‘wannabe’ racer, but for the serious rider there is no better road bike.
