BTwin Ultra 700 AF

Often when we're reviewing bikes under a grand we highlight areas where upgrades are needed or even welcomed – but there is none of that with BTwin’s Ultra 700 AF. It's a cracker straight out of the box, offering one of the best ‘bang for buck’ options you're likely to find for 750 of your British pounds.

That's not to say the Ultra isn't upgradeable. With a stiff, performance-orientated frameset, it could easily accommodate some bling upgrades without overshadowing the main component.

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BTwin, if you haven't heard of it before, is the in-house brand of French sports superstore company Decathlon, which concentrates on the 'value for money' ethos for many of its goods. Don't confuse value for money with cheap, though – the Ultra 700 AF is a quality piece of kit.

What’s it made of?

At its heart is a triple butted aluminium frame, which comes with a lifetime warranty, internal cable routing and direct mount brakes; pretty up to date, then, with current trends.

Our medium Ultra 700 AF has a head tube length of 147.5mm paired with a 548mm top tube, giving a position somewhere in between that of a full race bike and a shorter, more upright so-called endurance bike.

In reality that means you can ride the BTwin at a real old lick without have to scrunch yourself up into a ball to get into an aero position. It's a quick bike too, with very impressive stiffness for an entry-level alloy frame.

BTwin hasn't gone down the route of oversizing the bottom bracket junction, keeping with a standard sized press-fit unit, but the frame doesn't seem to lack anything because of it. Really stamping on the pedals on a steep climb or in full-on sprint mode will find the smallest hint of flex at the BB, but we are talking minor amounts here and not something you'll pick up on unless you're really looking for it.

BTwin has oversized the front end, though, using the now pretty standard tapered head tube – 1 1/8in at the top flaring to 1 1/4in at the bottom. It's all about adding stiffness by increasing the cross sectional area; firstly it gives you a larger weld area so you can increase the diameter of the down tube, plus the alloy steerer of the fork is bigger, with all of these tweaks allowing for better resistance to steering and braking loads.

As a result, the handling on the Ultra AF is very direct with a positive feel to it, something it manages without being overly twitchy at the front end. The steering has a very neutral feel while still being responsive, which is ideal on a bike that's likely to be bought by those getting into the sport.

For those with a bit more experience, or riders who just like a bit of an adrenaline hit, the BTwin maintains that positivity as the speed increase. It may not have the precision of some thoroughbred race bikes but it's not going to be found wanting until you are absolutely pushing it to its limits – and for this price range it still comes up better than I was expecting.

Harsh criticism?

Comfort is often cited as a reason to avoid aluminium alloy bikes and it's true, the Ultra AF can feel a little on the harsh side at times, though it is still far from uncomfortable. It's just not as refined as some, but still manages to tame road buzz to a minimum.

Up front the Ultra Evo Vario fork uses an alloy steerer but does have carbon fibre legs, which offer more damping than an alloy version ever would.

At the back end BTwin has removed the rear brake bridge as it's not needed because of the AF using direct-mount brakes; more about that in a minute.

The seatstays have been slimmed down too, which promotes a bit of flex, especially as they aren't constrained by a brake bridge joining them. These are all minimal things, and you could go further by swapping to a carbon seatpost and running the 25mm tyres a bit softer – plus it looks like some 28s should fit without too much trouble.

Speedy and sedate

Adding all this up then, what do you get? Quite simply, an all-round mile muncher that's got a kick for some speed work – I can't see any reason why you couldn't race it, after all it is UCI approved. It's fun to ride when you want it to be, and sedate and easy to live with when you want to take things a little more steadily.

That term 'value' constantly rears its head whichever way you look at the Ultra. Shimano's 105 11-speed groupset is rare to find on a bike at this price, and even though BTwin has cut costs a little by fitting an RS500 compact (50/34) chainset, it's still a very well-specced bike. The shifting is a little less crisp without the 105 series 5800 chainset, but you'll only notice it if you ride the two side by side.

A nice touch is that even though our test model came with Shimano's pretty much de rigueur 11-28 tooth cassette, the bike has a long cage rear mech, which gives scope for a bigger spread of gearing to be used – a 32t large sprocket, for instance – and you'd only need to change the cassette. It's something new riders might want, so makes a lot of sense.

BTwin has decided to spec the Ultra with direct-mount brake callipers; these are fitted to the frame and fork directly with two bolts rather than threading a single fixing through and attaching at the rear with a nut like traditional dual pivots.

This creates a stiffer brake body and junction between that and the bike, and offers more powerful braking for the same amount of rider input. I've used direct mounts a few times and the results have been minutely noticeable, but the Ultra AF seemed to respond very well to them, with heavy braking easily picking up the rear wheel as your body weight lunches forward.

Wheels and finishing kit

As far as the rest of the kit goes, it's all provided by BTwin. Wheels are often the first point to upgrade on bikes at this price, but again the Ultra doesn't really need that. Admittedly some lighter wheels would lower weight and increase acceleration or benefit climbing, but it's not something you need to do straight away.

The 28mm-deep alloy rims with 20 front and 24 rear spoking patterns never feel like they are holding the bike back. They stayed true throughout testing and the bearings certainly didn't grumble after wet rides.

The 25mm Hutchinson Equinox tyres also roll well and offer decent levels of grip. Again you could upgrade, but I'd wait until these wore out first.

The alloy seatpost, stem and handlebar are all in keeping with the Ultra AF, offering solid performance without being overly flashy. They do the job they are designed for, nothing more, nothing less. The shallow drop handlebar makes getting into and maintaining plenty of riding positions achievable for even the most inflexible of us too.

I really liked the BTwin saddle, too – very plush without being squidgy.

Overall, the BTwin Ultra 700 AF is an absolute blinder of a bike, even without taking the whole value thing into account. When you ride it, it never feels like any compromises have been made to deliver the package. Okay it's a little on the weighty side according to the scales, but out on the road it never feels like that.

> Check out our guide to the best £500-£750 bikes

The Ultra is a great bike to ride, offering a really stable footprint but managing to be exciting at the same time, which means you can go out for a long, steady cruise or a short blast, whatever your level of fitness or experience, and come back with a grin on your face.

> …and some great bikes for under £1,000

I've mentioned value quite a bit but there are a couple more things to add: BTwin offers a lifetime warranty on the frame, fork, stem, handlebar and seatpost, and the bike even comes with a set of clipless pedals and cleats.

Verdict

Stunning value for money race bike that's a joy to ride, whatever your performance goals