Foldable Bikes Party: Best aero road bikes: 13 of our top picks

Thursday, 27 October 2016

Best aero road bikes: 13 of our top picks

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Efficiency is the name of the game when it comes to aero road bikes — or, to put it another way, going faster for less effort.

The key to achieving this is a frame that uses carefully shaped tubes to allow the air to pass over them more easily. This can be done in a variety of ways from simply giving the tubes a teardrop profile or, in the case of the more advanced models, manipulating the airflow over high-drag areas in such a way so as to create a net reduction in drag for the bike as a whole.

An aero frame is not enough however; your wheels, helmet, clothing and, most importantly of all, you need to be optimised for an investment in an aero bike to really pay dividends

Most aero road bikes look fat from the side, but slim from the front.

Aero bikes started to appear after some bright spark wondered if it might be possible to combine the efficiency of a time trial bike with the handling of a road bike. It turned out it was, although early examples of aero bikes were compromised in terms of their stiffness and steering. A lot of subsequent refinement has since improved those characteristics, but it’s taken an awful lot of development work. All of which costs the manufacturers money which needs to be recouped, hence aero bikes are often at the more expensive end of the price spectrum. (There’s also the ‘this is what the pros use’ aspect that adds a premium.)

Price is one thing that might dissuade you from investing in one, but if you ride for fun and fitness rather than racing there are other things that might put you off.

For a start, the extra material required to create those fancy tube shapes often means aero bikes have a slight weight penalty over bikes with slimmer tubes. As such they’re not necessarily the best machines to take into the mountains. Then there’s all the faff that comes with internal cable routing, integrated brakes and increasingly integrated bars, stems and seatposts, which means aero bikes often cause headaches when it comes to adjusting and maintaining them.

Specialized S-Works Venge ViAS

Price: £9,000 / $US11,000 / AU$14,407

By now from Specialized

Stock Quarq power meter spider
Faster than the Tarmac
Nimble handling and almost telepathic acceleration

Trek Madone 9 Series

Price: £9,750 / US$13,650 / AU$16,000

Buy now from Trek

Cuts fast through the wind but without beating you up along the way
Fantastic handling
Still impressively light

Canyon Aeroad CF SLX eTap

Price: £6,700 / US$ NA / AU$12,000

Buy now from Canyon

Slick yet straightforward design
Sram eTap groupset means no wires to worry about
Zipp wheels are swift and stable

Scott Foil Team Issue

Price: £5,999 / $8,000 / AU$9,200

Buy now from Scott

Takes off like a scalded cat
Great bar shape helps you hold a low-profile position
Zipp wheels with Continental tyres make a great pairing

De Rosa SK Pininfarina

Price: £7,450 / US$TBC / AU$TBC

Buy now from De Rosa

Awesome looks paired to an awesome spec
Fast without compromising on comfort
Italian pedigree and prestige

BMC TMR01 Ultegra Di2

Price: £4,000 / $6,999 / AU$TBC

Buy now from BMC

Integrated aero brakes that provide powerful and consistent speed control
Precise handling with rich road feedback
Neat internal cable routing and dedicated battery compartment for electronic groupsets