Bicycle parts shopping from CapitolCyclery: To make sure that your bike is set up correctly and to avoid the risk of injury from incorrect fit, it’s well worth getting a professional bike fit. A bike fit will cost some money, although sometimes a bike shop will offer one at a discount or free when you buy a bike. A bike fit will ensure that your saddle and bars are optimally placed for efficient riding. Consider a good fit an investment. Bike makers push their bikes’ aero credentials, especially on more expensive machines, with claims of wind tunnel testing and time saved. Time was, an aero frameset was significantly heavier than one with the traditional round tubes, but the best aero bikes can now be as light as a non-aero one. See more information at specialized mountain bike.

Investing in a bike that you can grow and not outperform after your first year is something everyone should be conscious of regardless of level, explains Pastore. And for that, the Trek Domane AL 2 Disc is a great option. Thanks to a relaxed fit geometry, the capacity for higher volume tires, and the ability to have racks and fenders, this bike offers extreme versatility regardless of where cycling takes you. “Whether you’re looking to cruise the back roads or tackle a century, you also have name-brand Shimano and Bontrager reliability and comfort at your fingertips,” says Pastore. FYI, Shimano and Bontrager build premium bike components, including brakes, chains, wheels, and pedals — so you can trust that the Trek Domane AL 2 Disc is legit.

If you’re riding on hilly roads, or planning a trip abroad to the Alps for example, you’ll certainly appreciate a lightweight bike. However, if you’re going to spend your time riding fast on flatter terrain then aerodynamics are probably more important to you. And If you’re looking to race, the stiffer, more edgy handling of a race bike will work better than the more stable handling of an endurance machine. An increasing number of bikes are designed to take you off the tarmac as well as letting you ride efficiently on road. A gravel bike will give you wide tyres and lower gears. But many endurance or ‘all-road’ bikes now offer plenty of tire clearance as well as an expansive gear range, letting you take in a wider variety of routes.

We found that the bike’s assistance felt far more natural than many of the other e-road bikes we tested this year. It’s as if you’ve got good legs—not the super legs of a pro, but just the fittest version of yourself. And it’s not just the smooth progression of assistance that made the ride seamless, it’s also the smooth cut-off in power. The Gain’s e-assist party shuts down at 20 miles per hour, leaving you to do all the work yourself. On some competitors’ bikes, this cutoff is jarring and draggy, but the Gain’s motor eases off gently. There were multiple times when we were riding along at 20 to 25 miles per hour in a group, and we didn’t even notice that the motor wasn’t working. That’s the best compliment we can give any e-bike.

The Vitus Venon Evo has a trick up its sleeve. With its wide tire clearance of 45mm it’s not glued to the road and you can buy the same frame specced out for gravel duties, with a series of models with a GR suffix; we’ve also reviewed the Vitus Venon Evo-GR gravel spec bike. The carbon frame weighs under 1kg and has plenty of compliance built in. The road-going specs are fitted with Michelin Power Cup 28mm tubeless tires on Prime Attaquer alloy wheels. We tested the 105 Di2 model of the Vitus Venon Evo, but there’s a whole range of electronic and mechanical groupset options from Shimano and SRAM. The ride on the road is well balanced and firm but comfortable and there’s plenty of room to fit mudguards on the hidden mounts, making the Venon Evo a good option for year-round use. It’s lightweight as well. See additional details on https://www.capitolcyclery.com/.

Ridley’s Grifn is a jack-of-all-trades road bike for those who don’t want to invest in a fleet of bikes to ride roads—whether paved or not. Its relaxed geometry and stable yet responsive handling is in line with endurance road bikes, but it has enough gravel DNA to regularly hit some dirt roads. Tire clearance maxes out at 40 millimeters with a 1x drivetrain, or 38 millimeters with a 2x set-up. It’s suitable for many gravel jaunts, though the limited tire clearance means it’s not the best tool for the most grueling gravel events. Cyclists often joke about N+1 being the perfect number of bikes, where N is the number of bikes you currently own. During testing, we thought of all the ways this genre-defying bike could replace multiple bikes hanging in our garages. If you want a do-it-all machine, the Grifn is worth a look.