Choosing the best bike brands is a tough ask. A quick brain dump here at Cyclingnews identified close to 100 different bike brands. There are some very large players, with global networks of bike shops. Others are niche, specialising in one type of bike. Some are so desirable and produce their bikes in such limited volumes that you’ll wait months or even years for a bike.
A local bike shop may not have in stock the bike that you’re interested in, while some of the best bike brands only sell direct over the internet. That makes it tough to narrow down your selection.
Fortunately, we get to ride many of the best road bikes and best gravel bikes available here at Cyclingnews, so we’re well positioned to help. Although we may not have ridden exactly the bike that you’ve shortlisted, and probably not in precisely the spec that you want, there are some brands the majority of whose products tend to score well in our reviews.
We’ve also looked at the brands’ warranty and guarantee policy, to make sure that they stand behind their products.
So, with that said, here’s our pick of the best bike brands. Further down, there’s a more comprehensive list of brands that we rate highly.
Best bike brands: Our pick of the crop
Bianchi
Founded in 1885, Bianchi is officially the oldest bike brand in the world. It’s famous for its celeste green paintwork, which has been a feature since the early 1900s. Its bikes have been ridden to victory just as long, with the earliest major win on a Bianchi as far back as 1899.
That doesn’t mean it’s old-fashioned though. Its range of road bikes include some of the lightest and most aerodynamic available, and the most desirable. There’s a lot of depth to Bianchi’s range, from top flight racing bikes to more affordable models. You can buy almost all of them in the brand’s signature celeste though.
The Specialissima has always been Bianchi's lightweight performance bike. The latest iteration adds improved aerodynamics, so that Bianchi says it's faster than an aero bike at gradients of 6.2 percent or more.
Read more: Bianchi Specialissima review
Another pro-level bike, the Oltre is Bianchi's aero bike, with dramatic lines. It's still light though: Bianchi claims a size 56 weighs 6.85kg. Its air deflectors at the head tube add speed but are banned for racing by the UCI.
Read more: Bianchi Oltre launch
Bianchi isn't just about road racing; its Impulso is designed for gravel racing. It shares many features with the brand's road race bikes, including aero profiles and a one-piece cockpit but adds 42mm tyre clearance.
Read more: Bianchi Impulso launch
Cannondale
One of the big three American performance cycle brands, Cannondale was founded in New England in 1971. It was one of the first bike brands to move from steel to alloy frames in the 1980s, followed by carbon fibre in the 1990s. It’s known for innovative products, including its single leg suspension fork.
It will sell you a bike across the whole range of disciplines, including hybrids, electric bikes and kids’ bikes, not just performance bikes for adults. It’s a long-time sponsor of professional racing teams as well, counting three-time world champion Peter Sagan as one of its protégés early in his career.
The fourth generation SuperSix Evo is lighter, as well as being more aero than its predecessor, but still provides a pro-level ride quality and the handling and road manners for which the SuperSix is famed.
Read more: Cannondale SuperSix Evo review
Cannondale's endurance bike is now more aero and more comfortable. You can choose specs with or without SmartSense, which adds lights and a rearview radar, all powered from a single central battery.
Read more: Cannondale Synapse launch
The Cannondale Quick is a lightweight city hybrid that we found lived up to its name. It's light and stiff, with wide tyres to cushion your ride and reflective accents in the paintwork. It's good value too.
Read more: Cannondale Quick review
Canyon
Canyon started life in 1985 and was one of the pioneers of direct to consumer bike sales. It’s developed into a powerhouse brand, with a presence in all bike segments from road to MTB, commuter and electric bikes, sponsoring a range of pro riders and teams across all the disciplines.
Canyon is known for offering high quality specs at reasonable prices and its bikes often come with clever tech, such as its road bikes’ variable width handlebars. Many Canyon bikes are available at multiple spec levels in both alloy and carbon, with its top grade CFR (for Canyon Factory Racing) frames decked out with the highest spec components.
Canyon's most versatile performance bike, the top spec Ultimate weighs just 6.6kg but includes aero features. There's 32mm tyre clearance, a one-piece cockpit and compliant D-shaped seatpost.
Read more: Canyon Ultimate review
Ridden by 2023 World Champion Mathieu van der Poel, the Aeroad is fast and stiff. All models are well equipped, with Canyon's adjustable width bars, and include a power meter to give you the edge in competition.
Read more: Canyon Aeroad review
The final model in Canyon's performance road trio, the Endurace packs in features for long ride comfort and aerodynamics. Included is a tool roll in the top tube, allowing you to sort out on-road mechanicals.
Read more: Canyon Endurace review
Cervélo
In the 2000s, Cervélo was the first brand to apply aerodynamics to road bikes, now an essential feature of almost all performance road bikes. Starting off as a university project, its Soloist (a name it’s reapplied to a more recent model) was the first aero bike raced at the highest level.
Cervélo continues to push the envelope in aerodynamics with its road and triathlon bikes, as well as offering a premium range of gravel bikes and MTBs.
A bike designed for going long but with an aero edge, the Caledonia has 34mm tyre clearance and offers quality specs. We found it lively but stable over a range of surfaces, including some off-road action.
Read more: Cervélo Caledonia-5 review
Cervélo's aero bike is ridden by the pros, including Jonas Vingegaard. We reviewed the previous generation S5; the current bike has many of the same aggressive aero features, but increases tyre clearance to 34mm.
Read more: Cervélo S5 review
Vingegaard's climbing bike, the R5 also includes aero features but majors on low weight. Read any bike launch story and the new bike is usually stiffer, but Cervélo has made the latest R5 less stiff based on pro feedback.
Read more: Cervélo R5 launch
Colnago
Colnago started life in 1954 in the Cambiago suburb of Milan, where it's still based. It has a storied history both in racing and innovation, with the 1995 C40 one of the first carbon bikes to win in big races, including five wins at Paris-Roubaix. Drool over more classic Colnagos in our Colnago gallery from our visit to the factory.
Nowadays, Colnago still offers the handbuilt-in-Italy C68 range, alongside the V4Rs ridden by the UAE Team Emirates pro team and the stylishly retro steel Arabesque.
The bike ridden by Tadej Pogačar and the rest of the UAE Team Emirates team, the V4Rs is every inch a pro bike. It's light, stiff and aero, with a geometry designed for the long, low ride position favoured by the pros.
Read more: Colnago V4Rs first ride review
In contrast to the V4Rs, the C68 Road is designed for the consumer, not the racer. It's hand-built in Italy and retains the semi-lugged construction of C-series bikes before it. It's still stiff and reactive but mellow too.
Read more: Colnago C68 review
The C68 family has grown and now includes the C68 Allroad and the latest C68 Gravel. As well as wider clearance, the C68 Gravel's geometry is tuned for off-road use and Colnago has moved to a 1x groupset.
Read more: Colnago C68 Gravel launch story
Giant
As befits its name, Giant is the largest bike brand in the world. It’s based in Taiwan and, alongside its Liv women’s bike brand and Cadex performance components, also manufactures bikes for a number of other major bike companies.
Giant’s size allows it to offer leading tech at competitive prices, such as its D-Fuse carbon components, which are designed to smooth your ride, and its aero carbon wheels. It’s active across the entire range of ride styles, including electric and kids’ bikes, as well as selling a wide range of road bikes and gravel bikes.
The Giant Propel is not just aero, it's low in weight too, with top specs under 7kg. Giant has upped front end stiffness, while making the rear more compliant and has added adjustability with a two-piece bar and stem.
Read more: Giant Propel launch
The latest Giant Defy endurance bike is lighter, more aero and more integrated. There's a new top spec SL carbon frameset and new wheels and tyres, as well as a wide range of lower priced options.
Read more: Giant Defy launch
Giant's women's gravel bike comes with a women's saddle and women's sizing, but otherwise shares the features of the men's Revolt. We loved its high spec, go-anywhere versatility, low weight and long ride comfort.
Read more: Liv Devote Advanced Pro review
Pinarello
Pinarello’s profile in the road cycling world is far greater than the company’s size. This is largely thanks to its success in competition, which stretches back to the 1960s, with a string of top tier race wins beginning in the 1980s and continuing to this day.
The brand’s distinctive curvy styling stands out too and its bikes are an aspirational purchase for many road riders. Alongside its range of road bikes, Pinarello also sells gravel and electric bikes and even a hybrid, but it’s a rarified collection made even more so by the brand’s premium pricing.
The pro-level Dogma F continues the brand's development of the Dogma frame that began with the launch of the Tour-winning Dogma F8 in 2014. The latest bike is lighter and more aero with great ride quality.
Read more: Pinarello Dogma F review
The Dogma X is a top spec endurance bike with a more relaxed geometry than the F, which Pinarello says makes it better suited for most riders. Its innovative X-stays ensure it's stiff while still being compliant.
Read more: Pinarello Dogma X first ride review
The F range inherits the DNA of the Dogma F, but in a more affordable package. We loved the ride quality and comfort, although you'll probably want to budget for a wheel and tyre swap to bring out the bike's best.
Read more: Pinarello F7 first ride review
Scott
Scott started out making aluminium ski poles, before branching out into a wider range of sports, including cycling. Although it started out in the USA, it’s now based in Switzerland, but still sells worldwide.
It sells a wide range of bikes, clothing and accessories under its own name, as well as Syncros parts and the Contessa women’s range. Its premium road and gravel bikes are among the most advanced available, with low weight and aero features, but it also sells more affordable models.
Scott's lightweight/aero bike mixes low weight and a confidence-inspiring ride quality with its aero features, for a fast bike. Its clean lines and integrated cockpit enhance its looks and aerodynamics.
Read more: Scott Addict RC 15 review
Definitely not a road bike with wider tyres, the Addict Gravel has a geometry designed for off-road riding and quality specs. It's designed for fast gravel riding though and lacks the mounts needed for bikepacking.
Read more: Scott Addict Gravel 10 review
The latest generation Scott Foil has more edgy looks, although it retains the geometry and ride quality of its predecessors. It's another bike ridden at pro level, in this case by the DSM-Firmenich PostNL team.
Read more: Scott Foil first look
Specialized
One of the largest bike brands, Specialized operates across all disciplines and prices, with road bikes from the affordable Allez to the pro-level S-Works Tarmac SL8, a bike that costs ten times the price. It sells all the accessories and components you’ll need too, from helmets to shoes and wheels to saddles.
On the road, it sponsors two WorldTour pro teams and offers some of the fastest bikes out there, developed in its own on-site wind tunnel at its headquarters in Morgan Hill, California. Specialized has a wide range of electric bikes too, again covering a spectrum of uses and prices from city hybrids to high spec road and mountain e-bikes.
Specialized has made the SL8 more aero with a new head tube design and new one-piece cockpit. At the same time, it's lowered weight and increased comfort at the rear with skinnier tube profiles.
Read more: Specialized Tarmac SL8 first ride review
Continuing a long run of Allez bikes, Specialized's latest model of its entry-level road bike has switched to disc brakes and adds 35mm tyre clearance for added ride comfort. It remains the quintessential beginner's road bike.
Read more: Specialized Allez Sport review
Specialized's update to the Roubaix includes a new Future Shock 3 headset for more tuneable handlebar comfort. For the first time, there are mudguard mounts, which will better suit the everyday endurance rider.
Read more: Specialized Roubaix SL8 first ride review
Trek
Like Specialized, Trek is an American bike brand, in its case based in Waterloo, Wisconsin, which covers the whole range of cycling disciplines. Alongside its Trek bikes, it also sells Electra electric cruisers and Bontrager branded parts and clothing.
It’s another brand with a WorldTour pro road racing team to its name, Lidl-Trek, as well as XC and downhill MTB racers and a cyclocross team. Its road bikes include clever features such as its IsoSpeed decoupler to add saddle compliance and the radical IsoFlow aero seat tube design on its road race bikes.
The seventh generation Trek Madone is faster and lighter than its predecessor. The IsoFlow seatpost design turns heads and contributes around half of the 20 watt aero gain, with the rest coming from the one-piece bars.
Read more: Trek Madone launch story
Trek's endurance bike features 38mm tyre clearance and IsoSpeed for superb ride comfort and all-road capability. There's an integrated cockpit and a clever storage compartment in the down tube.
Read more: Trek Domane SLR 9 review
The Checkpoint gravel bike is versatile enough for on-road use. Its rear IsoSpeed adds off-road comfort and it's set up with all the mounts you need for bags, racks or mudguards, as well as including in-frame storage.
Read more: Trek Checkpoint review
Wilier
As with Bianchi, Wilier is another Italian bike brand with a long history, in its case stretching back to 1906, and with an illustrious record in competition and a string of grand tour victories to its name.
In 2024, it sponsors two WorldTour pro teams, providing a range of high performance bikes. It also has an extensive range of performance gravel bikes, tri bikes, MTBs and electric bikes. It has a slightly lower profile than its Italian competitors above, but still offers innovative and desirable bikes, with its pro-level race bikes among the most attractive in the peloton.
The Filante SLR's sleek lines and integrated cockpit allow it to slice through the air, making it the choice of Wilier's pro riders. Wilier has some great paint jobs and you can order custom colours too.
Read more: Wilier Filante launch story
Wilier's lightweight bike still offers aero tube profiles and an integrated cockpit. It's another bike ridden by the pros. Consumer specs of the 0 SLR offer Wilier's own wheels as well as top spec groupsets.
Read more: Wilier Zero SLR launch
For time trialists and triathletes, the Turbine offers low weight and performance. Wilier has designed the cockpit for adjustability, so you can get your fit dialled, even if you're a taller rider.
Read more: Wilier Turbine SLR launch story
Warranty
For most, a bike will represent a sizeable investment and they’ll want to be sure that the brand will stand behind their purchase. All the brands above offer at least a five year warranty against manufacturing defects in their frames to the original purchaser, if the bike has been registered and regularly maintained.
Some go further and extend this to some components too. Specialized, Trek, Cannondale, Cervélo and Giant offer a lifetime warranty on their frames.
