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In 2025 you can get a lot of road bike for under £1,800 or $2,400, here's the best road bikes that we've reviewed under this budget. Whether you're looking for the best value road bike, a road bike under £1,000 or $1,000, the best budget all-road bike, best aluminium road bike or best rim brake road bike in 2025 then one of these is sure to fit the bill.
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00:00If you're bikeless like me and have £2,000 to spend then you are rather
00:04spoilt for choice! Whoa! But at this price point what is the best bike for you? Do you go for
00:12a
00:12carbon frame and sacrifice on groupset? Do you go for one of the big brands? Do you go for something
00:17a little bit cheaper? Well we're going to answer all of that and whether you get more for your
00:22money now than you did a decade ago. Let's get into it.
00:30We'll kick off with the best option for under £1,000 is this the Tribun 520
00:36with Shimano 105 shifting. Now Tribun is of course a Decathlon brand and they've managed to absolutely
00:42cram some serious spec into this not so large price tag. The aluminium frame now comes with,
00:48well it's got a carbon bladed fork, it's also got disc brakes that come from TRP's well-regarded
00:54HYRD mechanical offerings and amazingly for a bike of this price you also get Shimano 105 as I said
01:01earlier so the shifters and the mechs. Now the frame's geometry places the 520 clearly in the endurance
01:10commuter kind of light tourer camp. Think generous stack height, a slightly shorter top tube but if
01:17you're looking to get long and low then this probably isn't going to be the bike for you.
01:22However if you favour comfort and stability over speed and need a bike that can handle the trifecta
01:29mentioned above then the 520 is well worth consideration. It really is a versatile machine
01:35in fact you can fit 36 mil tyres in the frame and it's also got rack and mudguard mounts and
01:42some nice
01:42easy gears for getting up all that steep stuff. Right so the Alley name has been absolutely synonymous with
01:56the backdoor into high performance road bikes for years. If it has the Alley name it has that legacy
02:03to live up to and I was a little bit fearful about this one because they seem to have kept
02:08the Alley
02:08branding quite well it doesn't hardly says it anywhere but it does say it here and luckily it
02:14does live up to that name. So let's just get this straight the Alley is not just a bike that
02:20is
02:20pretending to be a tarmac. In fact with this version Specialized has started with the geometry off of
02:27their Roubaix and then tweaked it and to be fair its judgment has been absolutely spot on. No it's not
02:34as
02:35lively as the Alley of old but the balance sensations remain and it is a fun and eager little bugger
02:42to
02:42ride. The wheelbase is slightly shorter than that of the Domane that we'll see in a minute and this
02:48combined with the responsive frame really does make it feel performance focused. In fact out of all the
02:55bikes here I think that this one definitely has the best aluminium frame and it would be this one that
03:00I
03:00chose if I wanted to upgrade it over time so if you wanted to buy one bike and then potentially
03:06upgrade the crankset or upgrade the wheels and the tyres. This Alley retails at £1600 and it's got
03:13Tiagra 10-speed mechanical, it's got a 50-34 crankset at the front which is from Praxis, it's got an
03:1911-32
03:20cassette at the back and it's obviously a 2x. Most of the other parts are from Specialized in-house
03:27brands which helps to keep the costs down without ruining the performance. Now whether you're a
03:32rider who wants some excitement from your road bike or you just crave practicality we're pretty sure
03:38that either way you'd be very happy with the Alley and yes it is well worthy of that name on
03:46its down
03:46tube. That's a seat tube.
03:52Now I think that you will agree with me that this Boardman SLR9 is a good looking bike, potentially
03:59the best looking in this test. Yes that helps but the main appeal of this bike is its spec sheet
04:07which
04:07is quite simply exceptional for a bike at this price point. This frame and fork is carbon fibre,
04:15it's been wind tunnel verified with one eye on aero performance and it manages to pull it all
04:21together in a package that includes 105. Not this bit though, that's a non-series chainset but even so
04:28it's a very good value package. Yes this is the most expensive bike in this roundup but it's also the
04:36only one with a carbon fibre frame. Now finishing kit is often a very personal choice but there's little
04:43skimping that's gone on here. It's got a Prologo Scratch M5 saddle and Goodyear Sport tyres in a size 30mm
04:52which fair play Boardman good choice and the frame it's got space for 36mm tyres so if you wanted to
04:58take it on some light gravel then then you could. It really is a bit of a road bike all
05:03-rounder.
05:04Are they hydraulic brakes? Yes Ed they're hydraulic brakes. The wheelset is an Alex setup and I think
05:13you'll agree that they look the parts with their 30mm deep profile. They are aluminium but yeah a bit
05:18deeper than some on the other bikes which I think works well with this aero frame. They rolled smoothly
05:24and remain true throughout our testing and that does indicate that the build quality is well at the
05:30very least decent. They're also tubeless ready which is a big plus. There's also d-shaped seat post so
05:36you can't put it wonky and it's all quite nicely finished and the frame is really compliant. There's
05:43two layback options on this as well which I think that's also a nice touch so you can see this
05:48the
05:48saddle clamp you can move it back depending on your on your fit preference because whatever one of these
05:55bikes you go for the difference between the bikes will make very little difference to your performance
05:59whereas getting comfortable will make a huge difference to your performance. So it's touches
06:05like this that are actually far more valuable than the paint job for example. Now there's a lot to like
06:12about this bike it's even got hidden mudguard mounts. I do have some bad news for you though and that
06:18is
06:19that Boardman is a UK brand they're relatively small compared to some of the other big hitters like
06:24Specialized or Giant and you might struggle to get one of these in the US. So sorry you guys.
06:36Trek talks up this Domanei AL4 as being both speedy and versatile and it certainly is the latter.
06:45With a Shimano 10-speed Tiagra route set and bosses for well everything you might need including racks and
06:52mudguards this is a great bike on which to take on a big sportif or go on an adventure on
06:58where
06:58reliability, practicality and comfort are needed. And that is why it's our recommendation for the best
07:05budget all-road bike. Either way the handling is self-assured and well straightforward I guess it's
07:13not exciting but it is exactly as it's designed to be. It's all very confidence inspiring especially when
07:21you're in the market for a bike that's going to expand your road cycling experience. Actually scrap
07:26that cycling experience. When you buy from a big brand you also get lots of its parts and this is
07:33no exception so Bontrager absolutely dominates the spec sheet. You get Bontrager's Paradigm SL wheelset
07:41which is pretty bomb proof and even a copper with a stinger would probably struggle to puncture these
07:47Bontrager R1 hard case light tires. Also fair play to Trek there's some pretty cool details. Just look
07:54at these bottle cage mounts, the thru axles they're also gold and that headset spacer also matches.
08:02And this generation also gets semi-integrated cable routing which actually we don't like that. It does
08:08kind of make things or everything a lot more complicated. Issues with routing aside once set up you can
08:14ignore that and it is a very competent, compliant, incredibly practical and pretty good looking bike.
08:21That should make it easy to live with, ride and enjoy in a whole variety of different settings.
08:31We are of course well aware that plenty of people aren't all that keen on disc brakes and would rather
08:37rely on something with rim brakes. Rim brake bikes are becoming less and less common but our pick of the
08:43now
08:43limited bunch has to be this Cannondale CAD Optimo 4. Put simply it's good value, has stable and
08:51predictable handling and reliable components. It's built around a frame that uses Cannondale SmartForm
08:57tech which is designed to balance strength and weight with the addition of a carbon fork to hopefully
09:02reduce some of that road chatter. There are dropped seat stays here too, again used to add some compliance
09:09options. Although in reality the ride quality probably isn't the high point of this frame but we still
09:14think that it's a bike that is well suited to those buying their first drop bar road bike or any
09:20cyclist
09:20operating on a tight budget. You've watched this far and your reward is what we think is the best new
09:31bike
09:31that you can buy for under £1800. In a market where many direct to consumer brands can offer carbon frames
09:39it's easy to overlook the value of a well executed alloy road bike. The Giant Contend SL1 is just that,
09:46showing that there's life left in aluminium yet, if it's done right. Retailing for £1649 that's
09:56£2100 and weighing in at 9.5kg, this is a bike that offers a thoughtful spec, solid performance and
10:03real world versatility without trying too hard to be something it's not. Built around Giant's Alux SL grade
10:10alloy frame and matched with a full carbon fork, the Contend SL1 has a balanced geometry that straddles
10:16the line between sporty and endurance. It's quick without being twitchy, composed without feeling dull
10:23and Shimano's mechanical 105 12 speed groupset provides smooth and reliable shifting. Giant
10:29provides much of the finishing kit itself including the saddle, wheels and tyres and the result is a
10:35package that rewards input without punishing you for missteps. Looks wise the Contend plays it safe,
10:42but cleanly. Internal cable routing helps and the paint job is solid. Mudguard mounts add practicality
10:49without visual clutter and in short the Contend SL1 proves that you don't need carbon to have a good
10:55time on the road. It's not flashy, but it's well built, nicely specced and just plain enjoyable to
11:01ride. For riders who want reliable performance without breaking the bank or sacrificing versatility,
11:08it's really hard not to recommend this bike. So there you have it, I think you'll agree that you can
11:14get a
11:14hell of a lot of bike for under 1800 pounds, but which one is best? Well, as always there's something
11:22for everyone, but Andy, Cycling Weekly's tech editor has been out riding all of these bikes back to back
11:28and reckons that the Giant Contend is the bike that he would have. It just keeps things simple,
11:34but executes it brilliantly. So well in fact, that it's already buggered off to the next reviewer.
11:39So second question, do these bikes offer you more than you could get 10 years ago? Well,
11:45this is a debate that we've also been having here at Cycling Weekly and the simple conclusion is yes.
11:51Contrary to what we often hear, you do get more for your money now. Full carbon forks and carbon
11:57steerers have improved weight and steering responsiveness. Wider tires make them quite a
12:03lot more versatile. Hydraulic discs are now the norm and in some cases you can even get 12 speed shifting.
12:10Worries about harsh ride characteristics are also less of a worry now than they used to be,
12:15as every bike in this test proved ably. And anyone who says that one material is infinitely better than
12:23another, well, I just don't believe them and don't think they've tested many good bikes. As always,
12:28let us know whether you agree or disagree with us in the comments below. Make sure you're subscribed
12:34to the channel for lots more bike stuff and we'll see you next time. Now, which one shall I take
12:39home?
12:41Where's my trolley?
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