It’s that time of year again. We’re about to dive head first into revealing our very favourite products of 2024, starting with the biggest one: bikes.
Before we get started, remember this is opinion and preference-based, based on our feelings not wind tunnel tests. We’re obviously also limited to what we’ve actually ridden, and with a team of people testing bikes, we’ve not all ridden every bike, so if your favourite isn’t on here don’t be disheartened, check out our Reviews section for all our testing.
Sam Challis, tech editor
Wilier Verticale SLR
There was a slight shift in review strategy at Cyclist in 2024. We now work with a wider pool of tech writers, rather than our more traditional way of divvying up work exclusively among the staffers. I think it has been a successful transition: our gear content now incorporates insight and opinions from a more varied selection of riders, which ultimately better represents the diversity of our audience.
It’s a valuable point to raise in itself, but also explains why I’ve personally tested fewer bikes this year – perhaps half the number I’d typically expect to swing a leg over. Although I’ve not achieved the quantity of previous years, the quality of my review bikes has remained high (one of the perks of being in charge of who tests what at Cyclist). I’ve ridden a couple of the best race bikes: the latest Pinarello Dogma F and all-new BMC Teammachine R, and two of the best endurance/all-road bikes out there in the Giant Defy and Parlee Ouray as well. My pick of the bunch though is Wilier’s Verticale SLR climber’s bike.
I’ll admit to being biased – I open my review by saying that my first road bike was a Wilier, so I’ll always have the brand to thank for my introduction to road cycling – but even so, the Verticale is brilliant.
Unusually, it eschews plenty of the aero touches found on modern race bikes in favour of chasing light weight and structural efficiency, and the results out on the road speak for themselves.
It feels beautifully lively to ride, creating a sense of urgency under acceleration that I haven’t felt since rim brake bike design was at its zenith ten years or so ago. Except now the Verticale incorporates the benefits of better braking and wider tyres. As a result, the bike is comfortable and stable too, so it goes downhill as fast as it does up.
Undoubtedly the design isn’t as efficient at high speed as more aero-focussed rivals, but for those who ride for the intrinsic joy of cycling, like me, I haven’t found many other bikes that are as fun to do it on.
Related questions you can explore with Ask Cyclist, our new AI search engine.
James Spender, deputy editor
FiftyOne Sika
The Sika is the future of road bikes. With a 695g frame and 40mm tyre clearance, this bike from Dublin builders FiftyOne makes all the sense in the world to me. Because just look at that pothole, or that scarred up road, or that white paper on wider tyres being faster…
But what the Sika isn’t (to my mind at least) is an all-road bike. Sure, it has the tyre clearance and its geometry is slightly more relaxed, but it has the feel of a proper race bike. It’s agile, it’s stiff and it’s light – just 7.28kg for this size large/56cm.
What the 34mm tyres add is an abundance of grip in the corners, boosted grip in the rain and an endearing amount of float over rough roads. And yet, due to its climber-bike light, race-bike stiff frameset and pairing of wide rims to wide tyres, the Sika doesn’t wallow under mushy, lightbulb profile tyres (wide rims provide a more stable U-shape profile), nor does it suffer from a loss of feedback. Rather, it just suffers from journalistic cliches: it irons out the road and corners like it’s on rails.
- Read our full review of the FiftyOne Sika
Scott Addict RC Ultimate
The Addict RC snuck in at the end of the year, and just like the Sika I applaud it for breaking new ground. The big selling point is its 5.9kg weight, which was its designers’ ultimate target given Scott had made a 5.9kg Addict Ltd back in 2008… Hang on, 2008? I thought this bike broke new ground?
OK, perhaps that’s a bit strong, but as bikes have evolved to be disc brake aero machines with stiff frames, wide tyres and hidden cables, so they have become heavier (that 200 Ltd had rim brakes and tubular tyres). Building a bike with all those aspects but which is also exceptionally light is difficult, and yet here it is: 34mm tyre clearance, 12 watts more efficient than its predecessor, overtly stiff, no hoses on show and even packing a bar-end multi-tool for practicality. It’s a serious feat, and the Addict RC is seriously incredible to ride.
- Subscribe to Cyclist to read our full review of the Scott Addict RC Ultimate first
Laurence Kilpatrick, staff writer
Canyon Aeroad
An exciting variety of bikes have come through my (imaginary) garage this year, but you would probably only class a handful of them full as watt-shredding superbikes: the Look Blade 795 RS, the much talked about Van Rysel RCR, and the one I have plumped for here, the Canyon Aeroad CFR.
Perhaps choosing one of the world's most recognisable bikes loses me a few points in the esoteric stakes, but sometimes, the heart wants what the heart wants. Canyon didn't tear up the blueprint when updating the Aeroad: the performance changes were subtle and incremental, while there were a few things in the in-tray that needed fixing, including the creaking seat post that caused serious problems for previous Aeroad owners. Attention was also paid to end-user serviceability and evading prosaic real-world problems like forgetting multi tools.
Part of this was the addition of the interchangeable aero drops: a smart piece of design that allows riders to swap out handlebar drops without needing to bleed brakes. The aero drops (not included in the price) aren't more aerodynamic, but they allow the rider (famously a big old lumpy drag) to take up lower, more aero positions.
Integrated multitool or not, the headline here is a four-letter F word. FAST. This thing goes like Ewan Wilson bashing out an unpopular take. Stiff without being brutal and fiendishly aero, handing it back was a sad day, for both me and my average Strava speeds. It genuinely made me ride more, simply because it was so much fun. Canyon also offers the Aeroad in its CF SLX carbon layups, which is slightly heavier, but drops the price significantly.
- Read our full review of the Canyon Aeroad CFR
Pete Muir, editor
Enigma Esker
I must be getting old. I’m not quite ready for slippers and a tartan rug, but I do find that I prioritise comfort over speed more and more these days. And the Enigma Esker is the most comfortable bike I’ve ridden in a long time.
It does it in several ways. Firstly it’s titanium, which has that natural buzz-damping quality that turns rough tarmac into a shagpile carpet. Then there are the 40mm tyres that squish their way over lumps and bumps. But most of all there’s the fit. The Esker comes in no fewer than 11 different frame sizes (or infinite frame sizes if you pay a bit extra for custom geometry), meaning those of us blessed with awkward body shapes can still get the fit bob-on.
Its round tubes and classic silhouette give the Esker a reassuring timelessness, and best of all it’s made by hand right here in dear old Blighty. This country used to be the bicycle manufacturing centre of the world, but you try telling that to kids today… not that they listen… in my day we had respect for our elders… is it time for my medicine?
- Read our full review of the Enigma Esker
Will Strickson, website editor
Van Rysel RCR
The Van Rysel RCR was the moment this year. If we were applying Time magazine's influence-based methodology it uses for its Person of the Year gong, the RCR would win 2024.
It began with intrigue, that developed into hype, and that just kept soaring. I'd argue the only bike that may have turned heads more is Colnago's new Y1Rs, and not many people have had a chance to get stuck into that yet.
I personally first encountered it at Cyclist's Track Days, where, despite the far more expensive bikes available to test ride, the RCR was far and away the most popular test for our riders. I saved myself on that occasion (I was semi-working, so it would've been unhelpful to get in the way of the punters), but the following week I went to Van Rysel HQ in Lille and got to take the RCR for a spin around Roubaix.
At that point I was expecting it to be good and it was, it was the kind of bike that made me want to ride hard/fast and ticked the boxes I'd be looking for if I were on the market for a bike.
It might not be the best bike of the year (however that is decided), it might not even be the best value bike of the year (see Laurence's pick for that one), but it surely is the bike of the year.
- Read our full review of the Van Rysel RCR
