carbon road bike

From its second outing onwards the Stevens Izoard was casually referred to as 'Fast Eddy'. Eddy Izzard, right? Okay, I know, the Col D'Izoard is a famous alpine climb, and I'm happy to acknowledge my vintage by saying I was lucky enough to be spectating at the roadside when Lucien Van Impe crested it first in the 1976 Tour de France, but the double entendre is appropriate for a bike that conspired to temporarily switch my ride settings from vague meanderer to marathon man and depilate my legs for the first time in a decade.

Vitus bikes have been part of Chain Reaction Cycles for the last few years and the range now carries four different models with varying kit levels on each. We were impressed with how the Dark Plasma rode, especially the frame when we tested it a couple of years back and on quick inspection the spec sheet for the Vitus Vitesse here doesn't look too shabby either.

The Lapierre Sensium 200 CP (2013)is a carbon bike that's well worth looking at if you're in the market for a bike just above £1,000, and it's a chassis that certainly has upgrade potential.

Yes - it's another matt black race bike - but it doesn't need to be. If you buy Guru's Evolo-R you can have it exactly as you want it, and we are talking custom handbuilt carbon loveliness here.