Over the past week, we’ve been revealing the winners of our annual Road Bike of the Year awards, with victors in each of the race, endurance and gravel categories, and the Cannondale Synapse Carbon 2 SmartSense crowned as our overall champion.
Every one of us has different needs from our bikes, but these awards offer the opportunity to shine a light on those that really stand out from the crowd. These bikes draw attention for their innovation, performance or value in a crowded market, and all play their part in making riding better.
They also shine a light on the latest tech trends in cycling – how the status quo has evolved and the standards expected for future generations of bikes, in 2026 and beyond.
Here are five tech trends that defined our 2025 Road Bike of the Year test – and remember, we’ll be revealing our Trail Bike of the Year winner on Wednesday.
- Read more on Bike of the Year: Cannondale's Synapse Carbon 2 SmartSense is our Road Bike of the Year for 2025 – here's why
Bike of the Year is supported by Auto-Trail
Big thanks to sports campervan specialists Auto-Trail for supporting our Bike of the Year 2025 test. Head to auto-trail.co.uk for more details about their range, including the cycling-specific Auto-Trail Expedition 68, which features a purpose-built bike garage.
Tech integration is the future
The Cannondale Synapse Carbon 2 SmartSense earned the overall and endurance Bike of the Year titles this year, as a bike that impressed not only for its performance on the road, but also Cannondale’s approach to tech integration.
Tech integration in our lives has become inevitable, and is frequently decried as detracting from the ‘analogue’ endeavour cycling is often painted as.
However, the Synapse – with SmartSense installed – takes the idea of tech integration and uses it to create the most well-rounded endurance bike we’ve ever tested.
It's fitted with a front light, radar-sensing rear light and a single battery, which also powers the SRAM AXS drivetrain (removing the need to rely on satellite batteries). Senior tech editor Warren Rossiter, who led the endurance bike category testing, is confident this integrated approach to tech will be seen on more bikes through 2026 and beyond.
Bike design standards are also showing signs of coalescing – think widespread moves back to threaded bottom brackets, similar integrated cable routing solutions and even SRAM’s Universal Derailleur Hanger design. However, it will be important that open-tech systems are also introduced, if any integration is to be future-proofed.
Right now, SmartSense is only available on SRAM AXS-equipped bikes, but what if you could have it on any electronically shifting setup? That’s a world any tech-hungry rider would want to live in.
- Read how the Synapse earned its 2025 Bike of the Year victory
- Warren Rossiter: The latest endurance bikes will kill off the all-road bike, and I couldn't be happier
The race bike category is about to change
Soon, we won’t draw a distinction between all-rounder race bikes and aero bikes, because dedicated aero bikes are now so well-rounded.
I tested the two most cutting-edge, consumer-ready aero bikes in the world in 2025 – the Colnago Y1Rs and the Cervélo S5 – and they’re every bit the equal of the all-rounder race bikes that have impressed us in recent years.
In 2023, our top three race bikes were all all-rounders, while 2024 saw the Focus Izalco Max take the race bike title. However, in 2025 there was no room for them when we pitted the Cervélo S5 and Colnago Y1Rs against one another.
These two bikes stole the headlines in 2025, not only thanks to the pro riders aboard them – Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar – but because they solved many of the problems normally associated with aero bikes.
Will we see aero bikes and all-rounders merge into one at the pro level? I certainly think so.
- Ashley Quinlan: The latest aero bikes will signal the end of the all-rounder – but what does that mean for the rest of us?
- Read what happened when the Colnago Y1Rs met the Cervélo S5
Gravel bikes have grown up
As BikeRadar’s chief gravel correspondent (if we had such a thing!), Warren’s test of this year’s bikes revealed a category that has matured past its fast-evolving teenage years.
Now there are gravel bikes for everyone, regardless of your multi-terrain intentions. Aerodynamic features and aggressive positions are part and parcel of the latest gravel race bikes, while, to complement that, we’ve got gravel bikes that are very capable across a wider range of terrain – proper ‘XC’ gravel bikes, which are good at everything.
Warren has penned a dedicated article on the subject, describing how the development of gravel bikes has moved in strange ways in the past, but has now settled on a steadier footing.
At the same time, he’s noted that gravel-related tech, from tyres to groupsets, has developed to the point where it's “taken seriously”, which is to the benefit of all who enjoy gravel riding.
- Gravel Bike of the Year final: Parlee Taos vs Mondraker Arid Carbon RR
- Warren Rossiter: Gravel bikes are past their awkward teen years – and we've finally got amazing bikes for every rider
Specs matter more than ever
We often bang the value drum at BikeRadar, but that’s because we know it matters to you, our readers.
We’re not always able to test the cheapest offerings (and sometimes it’s because brands would prefer we didn’t), but value matters at every price point.
If you have a larger budget, it’s understandable that you should want a complete build with no weak points or omissions, while those with more modest means should also expect to be able to enjoy their bike to its fullest immediately.
This was one of the weak points of the Colnago Y1Rs – where very little separated it from the Cervélo S5 in terms of outright performance, but the lack of a power meter for practically the same money was a factor impossible to overlook once we started getting into the detail.
Yes, there will always be the desire to upgrade and fettle – and it’s fair to say riders with top-end budgets may have existing (and preferred) parts to swap in. However, at a time when bike prices continue to rise, a well-thought-out build is more important than ever.
- Read more: Colnago Y1Rs review
- Read more: Cervélo S5 review
The endurance bike is free!
Just as race bike sub-genres could soon contract, the endurance bike is enjoying a new lease of life.
Warren takes the view that the emergence of the mature gravel bike has seen so-called all-road bikes – trying to be both a road bike and a gravel bike in one – fall by the wayside, allowing the latest and greatest endurance bikes to flourish once more as a distinct entity.
The trend towards wider tyres has been seen everywhere – it’s rare now to find a new race bike with anything less than clearance for 32mm tyres, for example, while endurance bikes are reaching as wide as 40mm without compromising road-going fit and handling geometry. And let’s not get started on gravel bikes – 57mm, anyone?
All of this is to say the gravel bike, far from threatening the endurance bike, has become its best friend, allowing the latter to focus on what really matters for cyclists who want both speed and comfort for road riding in equal measure.
