Best bike brands: Bicycle companies we trust
Our pick of the bike brands which we rate highly at Cyclingnews
Choosing the best bike brands is a tough ask. A quick brain dump here at Cyclingnews identified close to 100 different bike brands. There are some very large players, with global networks of bike shops. Others are niche, specialising in one type of bike. Some are so desirable and produce their bikes in such limited volumes that you’ll wait months or even years for a bike.
A local bike shop may not have in stock the bike that you’re interested in, while some of the best bike brands only sell direct over the internet. That makes it tough to narrow down your selection.
Fortunately, we get to ride many of the best road bikes and best gravel bikes available here at Cyclingnews, so we’re well positioned to help. Although we may not have ridden exactly the bike that you’ve shortlisted, and probably not in precisely the spec that you want, there are some brands the majority of whose products tend to score well in our reviews.
We’ve also looked at the brands’ warranty and guarantee policy, to make sure that they stand behind their products.
So, with that said, here’s our pick of the best bike brands. Further down, there’s a more comprehensive list of brands that we rate highly.
Best bike brands: Our pick of the crop
Bianchi
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Founded in 1885, Bianchi is officially the oldest bike brand in the world. It’s famous for its celeste green paintwork, which has been a feature since the early 1900s. Its bikes have been ridden to victory just as long, with the earliest major win on a Bianchi as far back as 1899.
That doesn’t mean it’s old-fashioned though. Its range of road bikes include some of the lightest and most aerodynamic available, and the most desirable. There’s a lot of depth to Bianchi’s range, from top flight racing bikes to more affordable models. You can buy almost all of them in the brand’s signature celeste though.
The Specialissima has always been Bianchi's lightweight performance bike. The latest iteration adds improved aerodynamics, so that Bianchi says it's faster than an aero bike at gradients of 6.2 percent or more.
Read more: Bianchi Specialissima review
Another pro-level bike, the Oltre is Bianchi's aero bike, with dramatic lines. It's still light though: Bianchi claims a size 56 weighs 6.85kg. Its air deflectors at the head tube add speed but are banned for racing by the UCI.
Read more: Bianchi Oltre launch
Bianchi isn't just about road racing; its Impulso is designed for gravel racing. It shares many features with the brand's road race bikes, including aero profiles and a one-piece cockpit but adds 42mm tyre clearance.
Read more: Bianchi Impulso launch
Cannondale
One of the big three American performance cycle brands, Cannondale was founded in New England in 1971. It was one of the first bike brands to move from steel to alloy frames in the 1980s, followed by carbon fibre in the 1990s. It’s known for innovative products, including its single leg suspension fork.
It will sell you a bike across the whole range of disciplines, including hybrids, electric bikes and kids’ bikes, not just performance bikes for adults. It’s a long-time sponsor of professional racing teams as well, counting three-time world champion Peter Sagan as one of its protégés early in his career.
The fourth generation SuperSix Evo is lighter, as well as being more aero than its predecessor, but still provides a pro-level ride quality and the handling and road manners for which the SuperSix is famed.
Read more: Cannondale SuperSix Evo review
Cannondale's endurance bike is now more aero and more comfortable. You can choose specs with or without SmartSense, which adds lights and a rearview radar, all powered from a single central battery.
Read more: Cannondale Synapse launch
The Cannondale Quick is a lightweight city hybrid that we found lived up to its name. It's light and stiff, with wide tyres to cushion your ride and reflective accents in the paintwork. It's good value too.
Read more: Cannondale Quick review
Canyon
Canyon started life in 1985 and was one of the pioneers of direct to consumer bike sales. It’s developed into a powerhouse brand, with a presence in all bike segments from road to MTB, commuter and electric bikes, sponsoring a range of pro riders and teams across all the disciplines.
Canyon is known for offering high quality specs at reasonable prices and its bikes often come with clever tech, such as its road bikes’ variable width handlebars. Many Canyon bikes are available at multiple spec levels in both alloy and carbon, with its top grade CFR (for Canyon Factory Racing) frames decked out with the highest spec components.
Canyon's most versatile performance bike, the top spec Ultimate weighs just 6.6kg but includes aero features. There's 32mm tyre clearance, a one-piece cockpit and compliant D-shaped seatpost.
Read more: Canyon Ultimate review
Ridden by 2023 World Champion Mathieu van der Poel, the Aeroad is fast and stiff. All models are well equipped, with Canyon's adjustable width bars, and include a power meter to give you the edge in competition.
Read more: Canyon Aeroad review
The final model in Canyon's performance road trio, the Endurace packs in features for long ride comfort and aerodynamics. Included is a tool roll in the top tube, allowing you to sort out on-road mechanicals.
Read more: Canyon Endurace review
Cervélo
In the 2000s, Cervélo was the first brand to apply aerodynamics to road bikes, now an essential feature of almost all performance road bikes. Starting off as a university project, its Soloist (a name it’s reapplied to a more recent model) was the first aero bike raced at the highest level.
Cervélo continues to push the envelope in aerodynamics with its road and triathlon bikes, as well as offering a premium range of gravel bikes and MTBs.
A bike designed for going long but with an aero edge, the Caledonia has 34mm tyre clearance and offers quality specs. We found it lively but stable over a range of surfaces, including some off-road action.
Read more: Cervélo Caledonia-5 review
Cervélo's aero bike is ridden by the pros, including Jonas Vingegaard. We reviewed the previous generation S5; the current bike has many of the same aggressive aero features, but increases tyre clearance to 34mm.
Read more: Cervélo S5 review
Vingegaard's climbing bike, the R5 also includes aero features but majors on low weight. Read any bike launch story and the new bike is usually stiffer, but Cervélo has made the latest R5 less stiff based on pro feedback.
Read more: Cervélo R5 launch
Colnago
Colnago started life in 1954 in the Cambiago suburb of Milan, where it's still based. It has a storied history both in racing and innovation, with the 1995 C40 one of the first carbon bikes to win in big races, including five wins at Paris-Roubaix. Drool over more classic Colnagos in our Colnago gallery from our visit to the factory.
Nowadays, Colnago still offers the handbuilt-in-Italy C68 range, alongside the V4Rs ridden by the UAE Team Emirates pro team and the stylishly retro steel Master.
The bike ridden by Tadej Pogačar and the rest of the UAE Team Emirates team, the V4Rs is every inch a pro bike. It's light, stiff and aero, with a geometry designed for the long, low ride position favoured by the pros.
Read more: Colnago V4Rs first ride review
In contrast to the V4Rs, the C68 Road is designed for the consumer, not the racer. It's hand-built in Italy and retains the semi-lugged construction of C-series bikes before it. It's still stiff and reactive but mellow too.
Read more: Colnago C68 review
The C68 family has grown and now includes the C68 Allroad and the latest C68 Gravel. As well as wider clearance, the C68 Gravel's geometry is tuned for off-road use and Colnago has moved to a 1x groupset.
Read more: Colnago C68 Gravel launch story
Giant
As befits its name, Giant is the largest bike brand in the world. It’s based in Taiwan and, alongside its Liv women’s bike brand and Cadex performance components, also manufactures bikes for a number of other major bike companies.
Giant’s size allows it to offer leading tech at competitive prices, such as its D-Fuse carbon components, which are designed to smooth your ride, and its aero carbon wheels. It’s active across the entire range of ride styles, including electric and kids’ bikes, as well as selling a wide range of road bikes and gravel bikes.
The Giant Propel is not just aero, it's low in weight too, with top specs under 7kg. Giant has upped front end stiffness, while making the rear more compliant and has added adjustability with a two-piece bar and stem.
Read more: Giant Propel launch
The latest Giant Defy endurance bike is lighter, more aero and more integrated. There's a new top spec SL carbon frameset and new wheels and tyres, as well as a wide range of lower priced options.
Read more: Giant Defy launch
Giant's women's gravel bike comes with a women's saddle and women's sizing, but otherwise shares the features of the men's Revolt. We loved its high spec, go-anywhere versatility, low weight and long ride comfort.
Read more: Liv Devote Advanced Pro review
Pinarello
Pinarello’s profile in the road cycling world is far greater than the company’s size. This is largely thanks to its success in competition, which stretches back to the 1960s, with a string of top tier race wins beginning in the 1980s and continuing to this day.
The brand’s distinctive curvy styling stands out too and its bikes are an aspirational purchase for many road riders. Alongside its range of road bikes, Pinarello also sells gravel and electric bikes and even a hybrid, but it’s a rarified collection made even more so by the brand’s premium pricing.
The pro-level Dogma F continues the brand's development of the Dogma frame that began with the launch of the Tour-winning Dogma F8 in 2014. The latest bike is lighter and more aero with great ride quality.
Read more: Pinarello Dogma F review
The Dogma X is a top spec endurance bike with a more relaxed geometry than the F, which Pinarello says makes it better suited for most riders. Its innovative X-stays ensure it's stiff while still being compliant.
Read more: Pinarello Dogma X first ride review
The F range inherits the DNA of the Dogma F, but in a more affordable package. We loved the ride quality and comfort, although you'll probably want to budget for a wheel and tyre swap to bring out the bike's best.
Read more: Pinarello F7 first ride review
Scott
Scott started out making aluminium ski poles, before branching out into a wider range of sports, including cycling. Although it started out in the USA, it’s now based in Switzerland, but still sells worldwide.
It sells a wide range of bikes, clothing and accessories under its own name, as well as Syncros parts and the Contessa women’s range. Its premium road and gravel bikes are among the most advanced available, with low weight and aero features, but it also sells more affordable models.
Scott's lightweight/aero bike mixes low weight and a confidence-inspiring ride quality with its aero features, for a fast bike. Its clean lines and integrated cockpit enhance its looks and aerodynamics.
Read more: Scott Addict RC 15 review
Definitely not a road bike with wider tyres, the Addict Gravel has a geometry designed for off-road riding and quality specs. It's designed for fast gravel riding though and lacks the mounts needed for bikepacking.
Read more: Scott Addict Gravel 10 review
The latest generation Scott Foil has more edgy looks, although it retains the geometry and ride quality of its predecessors. It's another bike ridden at pro level, in this case by the DSM-Firmenich PostNL team.
Read more: Scott Foil first look
Specialized
One of the largest bike brands, Specialized operates across all disciplines and prices, with road bikes from the affordable Allez to the pro-level S-Works Tarmac SL8, a bike that costs ten times the price. It sells all the accessories and components you’ll need too, from helmets to shoes and wheels to saddles.
On the road, it sponsors two WorldTour pro teams and offers some of the fastest bikes out there, developed in its own on-site wind tunnel at its headquarters in Morgan Hill, California. Specialized has a wide range of electric bikes too, again covering a spectrum of uses and prices from city hybrids to high spec road and mountain e-bikes.
Specialized has made the SL8 more aero with a new head tube design and new one-piece cockpit. At the same time, it's lowered weight and increased comfort at the rear with skinnier tube profiles.
Read more: Specialized Tarmac SL8 first ride review
Continuing a long run of Allez bikes, Specialized's latest model of its entry-level road bike has switched to disc brakes and adds 35mm tyre clearance for added ride comfort. It remains the quintessential beginner's road bike.
Read more: Specialized Allez Sport review
Specialized's update to the Roubaix includes a new Future Shock 3 headset for more tuneable handlebar comfort. For the first time, there are mudguard mounts, which will better suit the everyday endurance rider.
Read more: Specialized Roubaix SL8 first ride review
Trek
Like Specialized, Trek is an American bike brand, in its case based in Waterloo, Wisconsin, which covers the whole range of cycling disciplines. Alongside its Trek bikes, it also sells Electra electric cruisers and Bontrager branded parts and clothing.
It’s another brand with a WorldTour pro road racing team to its name, Lidl-Trek, as well as XC and downhill MTB racers and a cyclocross team. Its road bikes include clever features such as its IsoSpeed decoupler to add saddle compliance and the radical IsoFlow aero seat tube design on its road race bikes.
The seventh generation Trek Madone is faster and lighter than its predecessor. The IsoFlow seatpost design turns heads and contributes around half of the 20 watt aero gain, with the rest coming from the one-piece bars.
Read more: Trek Madone launch story
Trek's endurance bike features 38mm tyre clearance and IsoSpeed for superb ride comfort and all-road capability. There's an integrated cockpit and a clever storage compartment in the down tube.
Read more: Trek Domane SLR 9 review
The Checkpoint gravel bike is versatile enough for on-road use. Its rear IsoSpeed adds off-road comfort and it's set up with all the mounts you need for bags, racks or mudguards, as well as including in-frame storage.
Read more: Trek Checkpoint review
Wilier
As with Bianchi, Wilier is another Italian bike brand with a long history, in its case stretching back to 1906, and with an illustrious record in competition and a string of grand tour victories to its name.
In 2024, it sponsors two WorldTour pro teams, providing a range of high performance bikes. It also has an extensive range of performance gravel bikes, tri bikes, MTBs and electric bikes. It has a slightly lower profile than its Italian competitors above, but still offers innovative and desirable bikes, with its pro-level race bikes among the most attractive in the peloton.
The Filante SLR's sleek lines and integrated cockpit allow it to slice through the air, making it the choice of Wilier's pro riders. Wilier has some great paint jobs and you can order custom colours too.
Read more: Wilier Filante launch story
Wilier's lightweight bike still offers aero tube profiles and an integrated cockpit. It's another bike ridden by the pros. Consumer specs of the 0 SLR offer Wilier's own wheels as well as top spec groupsets.
Read more: Wilier Zero SLR launch
For time trialists and triathletes, the Turbine offers low weight and performance. Wilier has designed the cockpit for adjustability, so you can get your fit dialled, even if you're a taller rider.
Read more: Wilier Turbine SLR launch story
Warranty
For most, a bike will represent a sizeable investment and they’ll want to be sure that the brand will stand behind their purchase. All the brands above offer at least a five year warranty against manufacturing defects in their frames to the original purchaser, if the bike has been registered and regularly maintained.
Some go further and extend this to some components too. Specialized, Trek, Cannondale, Cervélo and Giant offer a lifetime warranty on their frames.
Best bike brands: the longlist
3T offers a range of bikes that are designed a little differently. Its bikes include gravel bikes with varying amounts of tyre clearance and the slick-looking Strada road bike, alongside electric versions. It also sells its own wheels and components.
The Canadian company sells a wide range of road, gravel, time trial, track and electric bikes. It has a large roster of sponsored athletes across all its supported disciplines.
Argonaut is a niche brand that handbuilds all its bikes in Oregon. It will custom build a bike to your exact measurements, but now offers off-the-shelf frames too, lowering the significant wait time for its custom RM3 road and GM3 gravel bikes.
Based in the foothills of the Dolomites, Basso has a range of performance road and gravel bikes and electric bikes. It also sells hybrids and even hand-builds steel bikes.
Founded by Giro-Tour double winner, Giovanni Battaglin, the brand specialises in steel bikes with modern features, made in low volumes and guaranteed for a million miles.
Based in Hamburg, Germany, Bergamont is owned by Scott Sports and focuses on hybrid and electric bikes for urban mobility.
The Portuguese bike brand BH sells a wide range of bikes, from road bikes to MTBs and hybrids, as well as electric bikes.
Bianchi's high spec bikes span all the disciplines from road performance to MTBs and gravel bikes, as well as electric bike models.
Swiss bike brand BMC makes some of the most advanced road bikes available. It also sells mountain bikes, hybrids, track bikes and electric versions of its bikes.
British brand Boardman was founded by former pro cyclist and hour record holder Chris Boardman. It sells affordable bikes with quality specs across road, gravel, MTB and hybrid categories as well as electric and kids' bikes.
In 1924, Ottavio Bottecchia was the first Italian to win the Tour de France, leading the race from start to finish. The bike brand that bears his name sells a wide range of bikes and electric bikes across all the riding genres.
Famed for its fast folding, ultra-compact bikes, Brompton still builds its bikes in the UK, but ships worldwide. Alongside its original steel bikes, it now sells bikes in titanium/carbon and electric bikes too, all retaining the original fast fold mechanism.
Cannondale makes a wide range of bikes. Its road and gravel bikes are renowned and it sells both carbon and alloy models, with its top spec bikes ridden at pro level. It also sells MTBs, hybrids electric bikes and more.
Based in Koblenz, Germany, Canyon sells direct to consumers worldwide, allowing it to offer impressive value. Its top tier CFR race bikes are among the most affordable pro-level bikes available.
Cervélo specialises in aerodynamic high performance bikes across a range of disciplines. Its high spec road bikes have been ridden to victory in a multitude of races, including multiple Tours de France.
With a history in road racing going back as far as 1960, Cinelli now sells a wide range of road, gravel and urban bikes in carbon as well as its signature steel frames, some still hand built in Italy.
Another renowned Italian bike brand, Colnago has been making race-winning bikes ever since they were ridden by Eddy Merckx in the 1970s. That continues to the modern day, when its V4Rs is ridden by Tadej Pogačar.
Condor Cycles still operates out of its shop in Gray's Inn Road in London, where it was founded in 1948. It sells a range of performance steel, alloy and carbon framesets for road and gravel as well as complete Condor bikes.
Cube Cycles is a German brand that offers a wide range of bikes and electric bikes at competitive prices, as well as parts and clothing. It sponsors a WorldTour road race team as well as an MTB team and individual triathletes. It has a range of electric cargo bikes geared to urban mobility..
Norwegian brand Dare sells a focussed range of performance carbon fibre road, gravel and tri bikes. Within Europe it sells direct, but it also sells via retailers in the Asia Pacific region.
Sports supermarket Decathlon sells a wide range of bikes under its Triban, Van Rysel and BTwin brands, among others, all offering high specs for their price. Its offerings span the whole range of bike types from pro-level race bikes to balance bikes for kids, and include electric bikes and cycle clothing as well.
Another Italian brand with a storied past, in its case going back to 1953, De Rosa makes performance road and other bike categories in carbon and titanium as well as the steel frames for which it became famous.
Dolan Bikes is based in the UK and sells a range of performance drop bar bikes, including track bikes and tandems. Its frames are made from carbon, alloy, titanium or steel and it sells bikes direct as well as via its retail showroom in Lancashire.
Eddy Merckx Bikes bears the name of the most successful pro cyclist of all time. The Belgian brand sells road and gravel bikes including the 565, so named for the number of victories Eddy Merckx had in his racing career in the 1960s and 70s.
Enigma specialises in titanium frames, but also builds in steel in its factory in Sussex, UK. Its bikes are a mix of performance road, allroad and gravel designs, with features aimed at making full use of titanium's ride qualities and durability.
Best known for its performance wheels, Enve has branched out into selling a small range of carbon road and gravel bikes as well as `high end components. Its road bikes tend towards the allroad genre, but are still raced at the highest level.
Factor Bikes makes a range of high end road, mountain, gravel and tri bikes in its own factory in Taiwan. It sponsors a number of pro racing teams and equips many of its bikes with its own Black Inc wheels and components.
Fairlight Cycles sells a small range of well-regarded steel framesets, designed for everyday use and adventure. Based in London, there's a waiting list for its frames, which it can also build up into a full bike to meet your spec requirements.
Fara is, like Dare, another Norwegian brand that sells its bikes direct. Its range comprises a road bike, an allroad bike and a gravel bike, with the opportunity to select your own components to suit your needs and pocket before buying.
US brand Felt sells a range of drop bar bikes for road, gravel, cyclocross and track use and well as tri and TT bikes. It's geared towards performance bikes, with aero designs and carbon fibre framesets.
Festka is a Czech brand making high performance road and gravel bikes. It offers custom frames as well as off-the-shelf geometry and builds to order.
FiftyOne Bikes is an Irish bike brand that hand builds its road bike and also offers a factory-built gravel bike. While the Custom road bike is built to your exact geometry, the Assassin gravel bike offers adjustable geometry and handling.
Founded by 1992 cyclocross world champion, Mike Kluge, Focus bikes has a small range of road and gravel bikes. The brand's main focus is now mountain bikes and electric MTBs though.
Named after another top pro from the 1990s, Fondriest is an Italian brand that specialises in road race bikes. It still includes a number of rim brake options in its range.
Founded in Japan as long ago as 1899, Fuji is now based in the US and sells a wide range of bike styles from race bikes to MTBs, hybrids, kids' and electric bikes.
Genesis is a UK brand which specialises in robust, durable road, allroad, gravel and hybrid bikes. Many are made in steel, although it does sell titanium and alloy framed bikes too.
Giant operates across the whole spectrum of bike types and also sells electric bikes. Its Liv brand sells women's bikes and it makes a wide range of components under the Giant and Cadex brand names.
J.Laverack is a niche UK brand based in Rutland. Its specialism is high-end custom titanium bikes, with frames made in Asia, but built to the rider's specifications and sizing in the UK.
Kinesis is another UK bike brand, in its case based in Sussex. It sells a range of road, adventure and gravel bikes, as well as e-bikes and an MTB. Most are made in alloy, although titanium does feature. The range tends towards the rugged allroad style.
Austrian brand KTM sells a wide range of bikes and e-bikes, including the Revelator road bike range, MTBs and kids' bikes. It's previously sponsored UCI WorldTour pro teams, but currently focuses on Pro Continental teams, the next tier down.
Lapierre is a French bicycle brand selling a wide range of road, MTB, hybrid and e-bikes. It's over 75 years old and has a long history in racing, having sponsored a number of teams, most recently, until 2024, a long-running association with the FDJ men's pro team.
Icelandic bike brand Lauf sells a small range of drop bar bikes. Its focus has been on gravel and gravel racing, but it's now branched out to produce a road bike, the Úthald. It's also behind the Lauf lightweight suspension fork, again geared to gravel riding.
Look is an innovator in bikes, being one of the earliest producers of carbon fibre frames. It makes a range of high spec road, gravel, track and tri bikes, and it also sells urban and electric bikes. It's also a big producer of pedals for road, MTB and urban use and sells its own power meters.
California-based Marin Bikes was one of the original mountain bike brands. MTBs are still the brand's focus, but it's branched out into almost every bike category and e-MTBs. Its drop bar bikes are allroad/gravel oriented and equipped for the bikepacker.
Mason Cycles is a UK-based brand, with a niche in custom equipped Italian-made road, allroad and gravel bikes (and the Raw steel hardtail MTB). Its bikes are designed for four-season capability, with wider tyre clearances and made in aluminium, steel and titanium.
Merida is a large Taiwan-based bike manufacturer which, alongside its own bikes, makes bike frames for other brands. It has a wide coverage of different bike and e-bike types and is a long-time sponsor of a pro road racing team.
Among the most desirable bikes sold, with a reputation for meticulous attention to detail, Moots makes its road, gravel, MTB and e-bike frames from titanium in its factory in Colorado, USA. Moots' low volume, material quality and desirability are reflected in its bikes' price.
Canadian brand Norco is most active in mountain bikes and e-MTBs, but it also sells gravel bikes, hybrids and kids' bikes. Its bikes are oriented towards off-road, reflecting the wide range of untracked terrain available near its base in British Colombia.
Co-founded by Gerard Vroomen, half of the team behind Cervélo, Open is a niche maker of road and gravel bikes. It has just three frames in its current line-up, with tyre clearance ranging from 33mm up to 61mm.
Orbea is a co-operative based in Northern Spain's Basque Country. It sells an extensive range of bikes, from performance road models through to kids' bikes. It was one of the first brands to sell an electric road bike and offers extensive customisation options for many of its models.
Orro is a Sussex, UK, based bike brand, selling a range of road, gravel and flat bar bikes. It sells through retailers as well as direct from its site and offers its bikes with a wide range of different spec and price levels.
Another UK brand, Pashley specialises in traditional steel bike designs with flat bars and leather saddles, although some of its bikes, including the Morgan bike, are retro racers. Its range includes tricycles and e-cargo bikes as well.
Passoni is an Italian maker of high-end made-to-measure bikes. Its specialism is titanium framesets with highly smoothed welds, although it also sells steel and carbon framed bikes and off-the-shelf bikes with customisable specs. Its main focus is road riding, but it also sells gravel bikes and an MTB.
Founded in 1860, Pearson claims to be the oldest bike shop in the world. Based in South London, it sells its own road and gravel bikes in the full range of materials. Its Forge is designed using its own bike fit data to fit a wide range of road riders.
Best known for its high-end Dogma road race bikes, now joined by the Dogma X endurance road bike, Pinarello also sells lower priced bikes with its distinctive wavy frame profile. Its range extends to gravel bikes, an urban bike and the Nytro e-bike.
Planet X sells a wide range of bikes of all genres under its own name as well as a number of other brand names including Holdsworth and Titus. It's known for providing good value specs at affordable prices, selling direct from its Yorkshire base.
Once the largest bike company in the world and a Tour de France winner, Raleigh now sells a range of classic hybrid, electric and kids' bikes from its Nottingham base. It's recently brought back the Chopper for which it was famous in the 1970s.
A specialist builder in titanium, Reilly has a range of road and gravel bikes and offers spec customisation options on its website. You can buy direct, through dealers, or take a test ride at the brand's Brighton, UK, HQ.
Based in Lancashire, Ribble offers a wide range of bikes including road, gravel, hybrid, tri and electric models at competitive prices. Its build-to-order model allows it to provide many customisation options alongside stock builds and it operates four showrooms across the UK where you can view before you buy.
Ridgeback is based in the UK, but has dealers worldwide. It sells a range of utility urban hybrid bikes and e-bikes, alongside a couple of steel drop bar touring bikes. It also sells kids' bikes and an e-cargo bike.
Ridley is a Belgian bike brand that sells a wide range of performance bikes across the road, gravel, TT and MTB genres. It's perhaps best known for its cyclocross bikes though, which have been a fixture of pro level CX racing for years.
Rondo's specialism is gravel bikes, although it also sells road and aero models with wide tyre clearance. Its bikes include a flip chip in the fork dropouts, which allows you to change the geometry to suit different riding styles.
Rose is a German direct sales brand which sells a wide range of clothing and components, alongside its own bike range. Bike styles available include road bikes, gravel bikes, MTBs, hybrids and electric bikes.
Founded in 1972, Rourke Cycles hand-builds bikes to order and customers' exact specifications in steel in its workshop in Stoke-on-Trent in the UK. It has a long record in competition, with wins at national and world level.
Scott Sports covers a wide range of sports, not just cycling, while its bike division sells bikes in all categories including performance road bikes, but also electric bikes, kids' bikes and more. It sells all the accessories you might need from helmets to sunglasses and shoes and a range of Syncros-branded components.
Simplon rather flies under the radar, but the Austrian brand makes some fine bikes. These include road and gravel bikes, alongside MTBs, flat bars and electric bikes. Its online configurator allows you to customise the bike's spec to suit your requirements,
Specialized is one of the largest bike brands in the world. Its performance bikes are raced at the highest level, but it also sells a wide range or more affordable models. Its range includes electric bikes and it sells a wide variety of accessories and components to finish off your riding set-up.
Spoon Customs builds to measure to fit its clients, a process that starts with a bike fit. It offers road bike frames made in carbon, steel or aluminium-scandium alloy. After that, you're free to choose the component spec that meets your personal requirements, for a fully custom build.
Based in Hamburg, Germany, Stevens sells a full range of bikes and electric bikes. It has a particular presence in cyclocross, with its bikes currently raced by Sanne Cant and at different times in the past by both Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel.
Sturdy is another small scale maker of made-to-measure titanium framesets, in its case across road, TT, gravel and MTB ride styles. It sells a range of custom components to suit, including cranksets, chainrings and jockey wheels, many also made in titanium.
US brand Surly makes a range of steel bikes which veer towards the off-road/gravel segment, although it also makes tourers and hardtail MTBs. Its bikes tend to have big tyre clearance and a more upright ride position that's good if you're in for the long haul.
Tern Bikes specialises in folding bikes, but also offers electric folders and a growing range of electric cargo bikes, all with smaller wheels. It sells a wide range of accessories, so that you can kit your bike out for carrying kids, pets or the shopping.
Tifosi is a UK brand selling a small range of carbon and alloy road and gravel bikes. It specialises in providing decent specs in good value builds, across a range of price points.
Trek sells worldwide from its Wisconsin base with a complete range of bikes, as well as electric bikes, clothing and components. Alongside the Trek brand, it also sells Electra e-bikes and Bontrager parts and accessories.
Dutch brand Van Nicholas is a titanium bike specialist. Its range stretches from road and gravel bikes to MTBs and touring bikes. Although it doesn't offer custom geometry or specs, there's a wide range of bikes to suit different riders and uses.
Vielo is a low volume UK-based vendor of carbon road and gravel bikes. Its bikes are exclusively 1x and offer wider tyre clearance. You can buy direct or there's a small network of dealers in the UK, US and worldwide.
Whyte is a UK brand that's focused on MTBs, but also sells gravel bikes, hybrids and electric bikes. Its bikes are available to buy direct, but it also sells via a network of UK bike dealers.
Established in Bassano del Grappa in Italy in 1906, Wilier sells performance road, tri and gravel bikes, as well as mountain bikes and electric versions of many of its range. It has a large pro presence both on the road and in MTB and also sponsors top triathletes and gravel racers.
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Paul has been on two wheels since he was in his teens and he's spent much of the time since writing about bikes and the associated tech. He's a road cyclist at heart but his adventurous curiosity means Paul has been riding gravel since well before it was cool, adapting his cyclo-cross bike to ride all-day off-road epics and putting road kit to the ultimate test along the way. Paul has contributed to Cyclingnews' tech coverage for a few years, helping to maintain the freshness of our buying guides and deals content, as well as writing a number of our voucher code pages.