At the end of last year, Halfords reported that sales of its cycling products had jumped by 9% and now made up a quarter of its revenue. That doesn’t appear to have signalled to the retail giant that it’s now safe to up its prices, as the RRPs of key road and hybrid bikes in the 2026 Halfords range have remained the same.
In a market where even entry-level road bikes have crept upwards in price, Halfords’ pricing remaining the same stands out. The entry-level Specialized Allez starts at £1,000 and also features an aluminium frame, carbon fork and Shimano Claris groupset, like the Carrera Vanquish. In 2014, the cheapest Allez was £600. The Vanquish – with 8-speed Claris shifting and some mixing and matching of components to cut costs – is still priced at £485, the same as when we reviewed it last year.
Elsewhere, the Boardman SLR 9.0 Carbon, which achieved a road.cc Recommends badge of honour, also remains the same price in the sub-£2,000 road bike category. A high-quality carbon frame in terms of build and ride feel, a Shimano 105 mechanical groupset and loads of versatility for less than two grand is something of a rarity these days.
For comparison, Ribble’s Allroad SL has similar capabilities to the SLR with tyre clearances of 35mm (32mm with mudguards), a carbon frameset and a mechanical 105 groupset, but the Ribble’s geometry is more endurance based. It’s also heavier and, at £1,999, slightly more expensive.
Prices haven’t just remained the same on bikes, with cycling accessories such as the SKS Commuter Bike Mudguard Set with Spoiler also the same price as it was around three years ago.
We’ve previously looked at how the price of bikes and other cycling-related products has risen sharply in recent years, outstripping the rate of inflation in some instances – so while it’s a tad disappointing that there have been no real updates to Halfords 2026 range, it’s notable to see many products remaining at the same price.
You can head over to the Halfords website to see the full 2026 range.
1 thought on “Halfords freezes bike prices for 2026: the Carrera Vanquish road bike is still under £500 and 12-speed carbon stays comfortably under £2k”
Halfords/ Boardman appears to favour carbon wheels at the higher end- the more costly gravels offer the Banzai! hookless Zipp 303S