road.cc Recommends 2024/2025 awards round-up — all the very best bikes and cycling equipment we reviewed last year

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The best road bikes, gravel bikes, e-bikes, cycle clothing and bike upgrades aren’t always the easiest to find… luckily for you, in 2024 the road.cc team tested over 550 products, and now we’ve just about finished dishing out gongs to the best of the best in our road.cc Recommends Awards extravaganza. In this article you’ll find a summary of this year’s awards and all the very best stuff that we reviewed in 2024. Let’s get into it!

Each section below includes the products we thought were deserving of the following three awards within each sub-category. To see everything that was shortlisted, head over to our road.cc Recommends Awards 2024/25 hub page. 

Bargain Buy: This goes to the product that we feel gives exceptional value for money on a bangs-for-your-buck basis.
 
Money-No-Object: We take price out of the equation for this one; it’s all about performance.
 
Editor’s Choice: This award recognises the product that gives the best combination of performance and value for money.

Wheels

We’ll kick off with wheels, surely everyone’s favourite bike upgrade! There were plenty of wheels that impressed us, but three in particular stood out. 

Enve SES 4.5

Buy now for £3,350 from Tredz

If you have an unlimited amount of cash, then the Enve 4.5 is probably the best all-round road wheelset you can buy right now.

Velocite Hyper Drive Ultra

Buy now for £999 from Velocite Wheels

If, like most of us, you want to upgrade your bike on a budget, then these Velocite Hyper Drive Ultras get a huge amount of tech including carbon spokes and a feathery 1,337g weight for under a grand.

Ere Research Genus II Cl45

Buy now for £1,399 from Tredz

Or, you might want to consider this Ere Research Genus II CL45 wheelset which, picked up our editor’s choice award. They’re solid all-rounders with competitive weight and quality components.

Tyres

We often say that tyres will make more difference to your road or gravel bike than just about any other upgrade. But, which ones were best in 2024? 

Well, none that we tested were able to overthrow our current all-round favourites, the Continental GP5000s, but some had a pretty good go…

Ere Research Genus Pro CCX Skinwall

Buy now for £69 from Tredz

Ere Research had a blinder of a year, and picked up the money-no object-award with its Genus Pro CCX Skinwalls, a tubeless tyre with more ride feel than most.

Vittoria Ridearmor TLR

Buy now for £48.60 from Sigma Sports

We were also thoroughly impressed with Vittoria’s Ridearmor TLR Tyres. This is a durable, all-season tyre similar to a Continental Gatorskin, but we found these to outperform the latter in nearly every area. That’s why they win our Editor’s choice award.

There’s no Bargain Buy award in this category this year, for the simple reason that we didn’t think any were deserving of it. Try harder next year, tyre brands!

Components

Moving swiftly on to components, and it was a busy year for both SRAM and Shimano in the groupset market, but it was the former that impressed us the most.

Sram Apex AXS

Buy now for £899.00 from Certini Bicycle Company

Right at the very start of the year we put Sram’s Apex AXS groupset through its paces. It didn’t disappoint, because the performance is very good but without the usual price tag of electronic shifting, meaning that more people can benefit than ever before.

Sram Red AXS

Buy now for £3,499 from Certini Bicycle Company

SRAM also released its new top-of-the range Red AXS groupset, which picked up our money-no-object award because it improves things that we didn’t even know needed improving. The brakes, for example, are seriously impressive.

It wasn’t all bad for Shimano though – Its long-awaited 12-speed mechanical 105 groupset also impressed and scored a 9/10.

Accessories

There were many cycling accessories that impressed us throughout 2024, but only two that we felt were deserving of the ultimate honours.

Prestacycle Prestaratchet Go Multi-tool

Buy now for £30 from Decathlon

At just £30 this Prestacycle Prestaratchet Go Multi-tool was by far from the most expensive that we tested in 2024, but easily one of the best too.

Madison Krypto Glasses

Buy now for £48.98 from Bikeparts

But it was the Madison Krypto glasses that picked up our accessories bargain buy award.

Clothing

We did find three deserving award winners in the clothing category:

7Mesh Atlas Jersey

Buy now from £104 from 7Mesh

Despite being quite spendy, this 7mesh Men’s Atlas Jersey picked up our Editor’s choice award for it’s all-round performance, high quality and versatility.

Van Rysel RCR Road Cycling Shoes

Buy now for £179.99 from Decathlon

Picking up our bargain buy award is Van Rysel’s flagship road shoes. They’re as good as just about anything on the market, but half the price of many top-end shoes.

Assos Equipe RS Schtradivari Bib Shorts

Buy now for £215.00 from Cyclestore

Very expensive, but very good! Take the price out of the equation and these are some of the best bib shorts on the market right now.

Bikes

Of course, we did also make our way through a lot of bikes in 2024, reviewing gravel bikes, all-road bikes, endurance bikes, road bikes, aero bikes, bargain bikes and very expensive bikes! We’ve combined all of our favourites no matter the genre or price into this list of the top 8 bikes that we tested in 2024. For the full shortlists, use the links below:

> The best electric bikes
> The best gravel and adventure bikes
> The best money-no-object super bikes
> The best road bikes

8. Gloria All Road Titanium Frameset 

Buy now for £1,249 from Gloria

We tested a whole heap of all-road bikes in 2024, and one of our favourites was from a brand that you might not have heard of. This is the Gloria All-road titanium frameset, and unlike most titanium bikes its price tag didn’t leave us in tears.

Complete builds start from £2,699, it can take 45mm tyres and it impressed us with its versatility whether commuting, gravelling or road riding. 

7. MiRiDER 24 GB3 (Best Electric Bike)

Buy now for £2,995 from MiRiDER

Winning the separate e-bike category and taking seventh in this overall bikes list is the MiRider 24 GB3. This bike has a three speed transmission system, 24 inch wheels and a belt drive system to deliver reliable power, all for under three grand. 

It made mincemeat of our test climbs, and is an excellent choice for anyone seeking a practical and comfortable e-bike that’s high on quality.

6. Vielo V+1 Race Edition Force AXS XPLR (Best Gravel Bike)

Buy now from £5,199 from Vielo

Topping the gravel bike rankings for 2024 is this Vielo V+1 Race Edition with SRAM Force AXS.

It’s very pink, very stable and yet very fun. We’ve also noticed that gravel bikes, even race-orientated ones, are going for ever bigger tyres. Well, this Vielo V+1 swallowed up 50mm tyres with no issues at all, which should future-proof it for years to come.

5. Mason Definition 3.0 Rival AXS

Buy now from £3,500 from Mason Cycles

The Mason Definition has long been a much-loved endurance road bike since it was introduced just over a decade ago. This third generation bike didn’t disappoint, and lived up to its reputation as a top-tier choice for long-distance, all-season riding.

Our test bike came equipped with SRAM Rival AXS and Hunt’s four season wheels, which were perfect for the winter months. Everywhere you look the quality is evident, from the paint to the TIG welds. This one’s here because it still defines just how good an aluminium bike can be.

4. Canyon Ultimate CFR AXS £9,749

Buy now for £8,949 from Canyon

Just missing out on a podium spot is the latest Canyon Ultimate. Canyon has long had a reputation for awesome performance at a decent price, and even though this bike is very very far from cheap, it is around £3,000 cheaper than much of its World Tour competition. We don’t think it’s even a little bit worse, either. 

The ride quality is great, it’s really rather light and the stiffness makes this an absolute dream bike to ride on the hills.

3. Orro Venturi STC SRAM Force eTap Tailor Made £4,999.99

Buy now for £2,999 from Winstanleys

In our bronze medal position is the latest Orro Venturi. Once again it’s a top performing road race bike but with a surprisingly reasonable price tag.

Considering that this isn’t even the top-of-the-range build I think we can agree that a 7.5kg weigh-in on the road.cc scales of truth isn’t half bad for an aero bike. What really impressed us though was its geometry and road mannerisms, which is perfect for UK roads.

2. Canyon Aeroad CFR AXS, £9,749

Buy now for £9,749 from Canyon

In a well-deserved runner up spot is yet another Canyon, this time the latest Aeroad that we first saw at the Criterium Du Dauphine.

The Aeroad has had years of incremental improvements, and the result is one of the most refined and well-thought out aero bikes on the market. Unlike aero bikes of old, it’s one that you can happily live with every day: it’s comfortable, it’s fast, and just like the Ultimate above it costs less than the bikes that it’s on a par with performance- wise.

1. Giant TCR Advanced Pro 0 AXS £6,699

Buy now for £6,699 from Tredz

And taking the top spot (drumroll please) is the Giant TCR Advanced Pro 0. The TCR is an absolute staple in the world of road bikes, but before its launch many of us were questioning whether it would be dropped in favour of the Propel. 

It’s safe to say we’re glad Giant didn’t give up on the TCR. It’s a reminder that you can have all the aero in the world, but a lightweight, comfortable road bike will always be a lot of fun to ride. 

With a power meter and 40mm deep carbon wheels, this build doesn’t give up any meaningful difference in terms of performance even compared to bikes twice the price. Basically we couldn’t find a weakness, and that’s why it’s the best bike that we reviewed in 2024.

Which of these items are on your wishlist, and what cycling products would you like us to review in 2025? Let us know in the comments below.