Best endurance road bikes 2025 — comfy mile munchers for long rides, sportives, audaxes and more

Giant Defy is an endurance bike that has been around for years and with each one, it's received some added improvements that have made it even better. The 2024 Advanced SL 0 we tested convinced us of being an exceptional endurance road bike that combines comfort, speed, and practicality. While this model comes with a high price tag of £11,499, it also offers a top-tier riding experience. 

The bike boasts an excellent frameset, lightweight construction, and a high-end spec to complete it. It rolls on 32mm (measured at 34.2mm) Cadex Classic tubeless tyres that are wide, but hence for a road bike but offer a comfortable and smooth ride.

Giant has focused on simplicity rather than gimmicks for comfort, with features like dropped seat stays and a flexible D-Fuse seatpost. The new Contact SLR handlebar also contributes to a vibration-free ride. However, Giant has tweaked the geometry, making the bike more performance-oriented by lowering the front end, which adds to the sporty feel without compromising comfort.

Despite its endurance focus, the Defy Advanced SL 0 is impressively light and accelerates well, and shifting is crips thanks to the 12-speed SRAM Red eTap AXS groupset. The Defy Advanced SL 0 is a standout endurance bike, but for better value, exploring the lower-tier models such as the Giant Defy Advanced 1 we've also rated highly may be more appealing for most.

It's described as a 'fast fit performance bike', but Úthald literally translates to 'endurance' in Icelandic. So, which is it? A performance bike or an endurance bike? Sort of both, really, so that's why Lauf's excellent Úthald makes it into this guide, and scooped a road.cc Recommends award. 

More upright than an out-and-out race bike and with a slacker head tube angle than most, the Úthald is very stable and easy to handle, while the shorter chainstay length and short wheelbase means the bike still has a feeling of a racier bike. You'll be hard-pressed to find this much comfort on any other road bike, and in this respect it's hard to fault. 

If you're not a serious racer but still want a serious bike, the Úthald has a lot to recommend and is arguably a bit of a trailblazer. 

Titanium, with its vibration-dampening properties, lends itself well to endurance bikes and the  Spa Cycles Elan Ti Mk2 is one the best titanium bikes we've tested. The titanium frame and carbon fork deliver a smooth and enjoyable ride, which is particularly well-suited for long-distance cycling.

Despite its weight of 10.25kg, this bike can surprise with its eagerness for speed once in motion, and it navigates urban traffic with ease and also excels on high-speed descents. The geometry, including a tall head tube, provides a relaxed yet adaptable riding position. The bike's versatility is propped up by its capability to take up to 45mm tyres, which makes it suitable for both road and off-road adventures. 

With a competitive price, especially during sales, and the option for customisation the Spa Cycles Elan Ti Mk2 is an excellent value titanium bike for cyclists seeking a bike for a lifetime.

The Ridley Grifn isn't technically an endurance road bike, but rather a versatile allroad bike designed to handle both road and gravel terrains. And while trying to be a jack of all trades, it has managed to strike a good balance between the two, offering a great riding experience. With a set of gravel tyres and some wide slicks, the Grifn also excels as a commuter bike, handling rougher surfaced roads with ease. On the road the handling is neutral, making it a comfortable and enjoyable choice for long miles.

The Grifn is built upon a carbon frame and fork and has a sleek and integrated design with cable routing that keeps everything looking tidy. The Grifn comes with a gravel-oriented Shimano GRX 2x Di2 groupset, which delivers rattle-free, precise shifting and reliable braking.  However, while the integrated handlebar and stem provide a clean look, the setup may limit adjustment opportunities. But at the same time, the Grifn also comes with multiple mounting points for bottle cages, mudguards, and even a top tube bag - making it ready for a longer adventure on the bike.

Overall, if you are a rider looking for a bike that won't slow down your explorations, then the Ridley Grifn is a fun and capable bike that can serve you both on and off the road, as long as you don't venture to the most technical singletracks. 

Fara Cycling F/All-Road (previously named F/AR) is yet another all-road bike that is also at home in the endurance category because well, it's an exceptional high-speed road bike that also handles rough terrain. With its ability to accommodate 38mm tyres, the F/All-Road is capable and responsive on the roads, yet confidence-inspiring when the surface changes to gravel. 

We found that this bike offers outstanding ride quality and versatile performance. Despite its wide tyres and fully electronic groupset, it also remains impressively light at 8.11kg, which is barely more than a racier road bike would weigh. Some of that lightweightness is perhaps thanks to the carbon frame and well-chosen components including the SRAM Force drivetrain.

Though the F/All-Road comes with rather slick 35mm tyres, they are wide enough to allow the bike to perform well on hardpacked tracks and trails, too. If you ride off-road regularly, then fitting the max 38mm tyres would open up even more terrain. Though this is one capable bike, it doesn't quite make the full jump to gravel (Fara has a range of bikes for that), but it does give you the flexibility to explore some of those byways you've seen out the corner of your eye as you are riding along. And on the asphalt sections in between, it feels pure roadie with quick accelerations and responsiveness.

If you have a lower budget but still want a relaxed road bike, then the Triban 520 is one to consider. It almost surprises how just how accessible the ride is; how easy it is to pedal the bike at moderate speeds and feel like you're just cruising along. Cornering in any situation is confidence-inspiring, and it rolls smoothly on flats too. It takes poor road surfaces in its stride, with a good amount of all-round compliance keeping things comfortable, and as long as you stay in the saddle it climbs moderately well too.

Decathlon goes as far as saying that this is the most comfortable road bike it's ever designed - and for the money you are getting quite a lot. You get hydro-mechanical disc brakes for stopping and the Shimano 105 groupset has enough gears for longer and steeper road climbs. 

The geometry thing is a really important point here. With the Triban 520, it's all about a functional position aimed right at tourers and regular commuters at one end of the spectrum, and endurance roadies at the other. With a super-tall head tube and compact top tube, the bike sits you upright relative to your general entry-level race bike, or even a fair chunk of the endurance-specific market too. It fully justifies its do-it-all tag for everyone except budding racers.