With the launch of Canyon’s latest Endurace CFR, a big-tyre capable, comfort-oriented race bike, it appears endurance bikes have finally returned to being road bikes. Forget their brief flirtation with gravel, they’re back and concentrated on paved – and cobbled – roads.
This is a great thing because gravel can now be gravel and road can be road, and we can stop the silly mid-point compromise in bike design that is the so called all-road bike.
I can appreciate that the all-road bike trend happened. With the wild west of gravel-bike design and the ever-encroaching aerodynamic influence on road-race bikes, the endurance bike could be considered a little staid. Brand marketeers could piggyback gravel's popularity and hang the ‘boring’ endurance bike line from that.
The problem was bike brands weren't considering their bottom line. Most of the big names in bikes admit their endurance road bike ranges comfortably outsell their aero race bikes.
Endurance bikes may not have the glamour of the latest race bikes, but cycling brands swell their coffers selling bikes such as the Synapse, Endurace, Domane and Roubaix. These bikes ultimately help fund the next generation of the Tarmac, SuperSix, Aeroad and Madone.
Under-biked is fine occasionally, but shouldn’t have been the norm
With endurance bikes focused again on the road, it means the days of having a bike that straddles road and gravel, but isn’t quite capable enough for the latter, are over.
I’ll admit compromise is fun sometimes. I love taking a road bike with larger-volume tyres on a gravel shortcut occasionally, and if we're honest, gravel bikes are an exercise in being under-biked if you stray away from gravel roads and larger trails.
That I can live with, but having a road bike that doesn’t cut it on tarmac begs the question, why bother?
If you really want all-road, why not buy a second-hand gravel bike?
If you want a bike that will pose a bit of a challenge to your off-road riding, the changing trends in gravel could inadvertently provide you with good – and discounted – options.
Gravel bikes have shifted to larger-volume tyres, and very few new models are going to have anything less than 50mm tyre clearance.
What that means is potentially a huge number of ‘out-of-date’ gravel bikes hitting the second-hand market. It’s not something I agree with, but sadly fashion seems to dictate that.
Big hitters such as the Canyon Grail, previous-generation Cervélo Ásperos, the sadly missed GT Grade, and many, many more have tyre clearances of 42 to 45mm. These would all be prime options to add one of the new generations of large-volume road tyres and fit the bill.
Distance bikes that can go the distance
What Cannondale started with the Synapse, and Canyon is showing with the latest Endurace, is that endurance-bike designs are now a combination of big-tyre-volume comfort, aerodynamic optimisation and clever carbon manipulation.
Endurance bikes have never been better. Want a lightweight, lithe, comfortable but lively distance bike? There’s the wonderful Giant Defy or Cervélo’s clever Caledonia 5.
Want a bike that’s optimised for real-world riding, yet capable of handling competition? Choose the Cannondale Synapse.
Want the cutting-edge speed of the Aeroad, but with a smattering of smooth? Go for Canyon’s Endurace CFR.
Added to this, Bianchi’s new Infinito looks to be a pure-bred road bike. Plus, there are a whole host of great tarmac-based bikes from smaller manufacturers made from both carbon and titanium.
Parlee’s wonderful Ouray comes to mind, and the Mosaic RT 1-TR is another highlight from my recent testing.
More will follow
Back in January, I wrote about the five new endurance bikes I want to see in 2026. So far, we’ve had the Cervélo Caledonia, a cheaper alternative to the Caledonia 5. I have one on test now and my early impressions are very, very good.
Now we’ve got the new Canyon Endurace CFR, and I think this pro-special option is just the start for the reimagined Endurace.
That just leaves Trek’s Domane, Merida’s Scultura Endurance, Ridley’s Grifn and maybe Giant’s Defy.
All of the above are already great bikes. The Domane needs a light update with greater tyre clearance, and Merida needs to maintain its brilliant balance of value and performance.
I’d like to see Ridley move the Grifn away from its Swiss-army-knife approach and make it a pure road bike because it already has a confusing array of gravel bikes, but nothing in the purely endurance space.
I could add the Defy to that mix, but it already has 38mm tyre clearance and is one of the best road endurance bikes ever made. A soft update to SRAM UDH, and perhaps 38mm clearance with mudguards would be all I’d suggest.
I’m certain endurance road bikes are set for a bumper year, with more great road-focused models on the way.
It's great to see brands taking the best road bike option for anyone who doesn’t ride with a race number all of the time so seriously once more.
