Bikes - Road

To be fair, the way the Equilibrium looks you could forgive it if it was an absolute pig to ride. You could ride to your local cafe, sit and have a coffee and just look at it. It really is a beauty to look at in that understated retro classic way that only the British can do. Thankfully it rides like a dream so you can spend as much time on it as looking at it.

What do you know about Comtat? Not a whole lot, we’re guessing. It’s a new London-based brand that sources carbon frames from the Far East and builds them up in the UK at competitive prices. As with Planet-X and Ribble, for example, you can either decide on the spec yourself from a wide selection of parts on offer, or go for a complete bike option.

Charge bikes are arguably the coolest bike brand out of the UK at the minute offering an infectious mix of exciting design, excellent marketing and the West countries finest riders to boot. The Juicer Mid is the more affordable version in the Charge classic road portfolio. Coming in at a Cyclescheme-friendly £950 for 23lbs of steel with a Tiagra groupset it might be hard to see why this bike is so appealing, however as I found it was love at first ride. Actually it happened before I had finished setting it up.

Kona’s road bikes have never quite made it on to my short list when I’m searching for a new bike, they always catch my eye in the preliminary rounds with snappy colour schemes and loud graphics but have been let down by lowish spec levels considering the price. On the 2010 Haole things have changed though!

Tipping the scales at 15.9lbs, equipped with a SRAM Force groupset and finished off with Ritchey's WCS range the Boardman PRO Carbon is a race bike to be reckoned with, regardless of price. This bike uses the same frame that Nicole Cooke raced on to win a gold medal in the Olympic road race and a road world championship.

What do we know about bamboo? First, that it’s a grass. We all know this because they tell us every week on QI, along with the fact that the koala isn’t a bear, it’s a fruit, and the largest land mammal is Santiago. We also know that bamboo is the fastest growing woody plant on earth, pandas like it for their breakfast and, obviously, that it’s used to make bicycles. What? You didn’t know the bike bit? Read on…

Old school and proud of it, the Dawes Sportif is a steel framed Audax machine in the traditional mould, that offers a decent balance between a robust build and a good quality ride. It's a bit docile for the new sportive set but if you're looking for a workhorse bike that'll handle long rides, light touring and winter commutes then the Sportif might well fit the bill.

I picked the Lapierre up from roadcc the day after my daughter's first birthday. There we were in the sitting room, her with her new toys, me with mine. I’m not sure who was the most excited. After each tweak of the saddle height or bars, lift the bike again – nope, nothing’s changed, still unfeasibly light – 6.6kg without pedals !!!

Everything in the bike world is carbon these days. Frames, forks, handlebars, seatposts, wheels, even your mini pump and the top cap on your headset. Carbon is definitely a Good Thing. And if it’s not carbon, it’s so last century. Trouble is, we can overlook the fact that lots of things that aren’t carbon are good too… like titanium frames, for example, which can be very light and strong and last aeons. And Van Nicholas’ Astraeus is an absolute beauty.

The S3 is the newest addition to the Cervelo family and with improved aerodynamics, internal cable routing and a shiny £3000+ price tag. It aims to be a superbike and the S3 does not disappoint.

The Cervelo S3 was the frame of choice for the Cervelo Test Team this summer. With riders such as Green Jersey winner Thor Hushovd, 2008 Tour winner Carlos Sastre and 2009 women’s tour winner Emma Pooley among those on their roster these frames have got a lot to cope with.