2023 didn't see too many new aero road bikes, but despite that, the bikes we do have still represent what is undoubtedly at the very cutting edge of technology.
Cycling Weekly have put together 5 of the best aero road bikes which are currently on the market from the likes of Trek, Cervelo, Scott, Giant and Specialized.
Cycling Weekly have put together 5 of the best aero road bikes which are currently on the market from the likes of Trek, Cervelo, Scott, Giant and Specialized.
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00:00Aerobikes are all about raw speed and they just keep getting faster. Today
00:05we're going to have a look at the bikes that we think are going to be the ones
00:08to beat in 2024, both in the WorldTour and the Townsend Sprint and there are
00:14plenty to choose from. With the UCI removing the three-to-one regulation
00:19which prevented tubes from being more than three times deeper than their
00:22width, engineers have quite literally gone deeper in the pursuit of speed and
00:27that has resulted in some really exciting bikes. While we might not have
00:31seen a huge number of new aero bikes in 2023, the bikes we do have are still
00:36undeniably leading the cutting edge and should be the go-to choice for anyone
00:40seeking pure speed. But beware, speed doesn't come cheap.
00:50We'll start with a bike that stirred up plenty of debate when it launched and is
00:54UCI legal, the latest version of the Trek Madone. In the case of the Madone,
00:59the Camtel tube shapes were overshadowed by the bike's eye-catching Isoflow
01:04technology. We think the majority of people are now pretty used to seeing the
01:08Isoflow hull out in the wild, but what does it actually do? Well, Trek claim that
01:14by removing the adjustable Isospeed system of the last Madone, the bike
01:18became both simpler and lighter. Combined with the use of 800 series OCLV
01:23carbon, the new frame weighs 300 grams less than the previous model. But of
01:28course, the cutout section was also created with aerodynamics in mind. Trek
01:33say it's a way to direct some high energy flow into a low energy region of
01:37the bike. What that means is the seat tube area creates a disproportionate
01:42amount of drag and the hull helps dissipate this by adding what Trek call
01:46a jet of fast-moving air. The new frame is claimed to be almost 20 watts faster
01:52than the last generation, which equates to 60 seconds per hour when ridden at 45
01:57kilometers per hour, and that's a lot. When we tested the bike this year, we
02:02gave it our best aero bike award, thanks in large part to the frame technology
02:07and how it rides, but also because of the thought and effort that Trek put into
02:12making the handlebars work for every size of rider, meaning whomever climbs
02:16aboard this bike has the opportunity to be the best they can be.
02:25The Cervelo S5 is the bike the all-conquering Jumbo-Visma have been
02:30racking up many of their victories on, and when you look at the bike you can
02:33see why the S5 may have helped. The frame has typically deep aero profiles, a
02:39product of the relaxing of the UCI regulations. This is most notable at the
02:43head tube and the bottom bracket area. Elsewhere, the trailing edges of the
02:48tubes are aggressively shaped, while the rear dropouts have been simplified a
02:52little due to the frame being only compatible with electronic group sets. It
02:57comes with new reserve wheels that have differential rim profiles and save over
03:015 watts compared to the wheels previously found on the old S5. The front
03:06end has a funky handlebar that, despite the radical Y shape without a
03:10conventional stem, also has the benefit of reducing the system weight by a
03:14little over 50 grams. When we tested the bike we really liked it, which is why it
03:20rolled away with our overall race bike of the year award. We loved how the bike
03:24handled in the corners, the sheer smoothness in ride quality and the
03:28undeniable straight line speed. It all came together, resulting in a bike which
03:33can do everything, everywhere, and do it fast.
03:41Having been out for around two years, the Scott foil still boasts some pretty
03:46impressive numbers. Scott claims the foil is 20% faster, 10% more comfortable and
03:529% lighter than the outgoing version. Of course, like the other
03:56manufacturers, Scott took advantage of the UCI rule change and redeveloped the
04:01new foil, pushing right up to what's legal. That meant deeper cross-sections
04:06for the tubes, as well as the fork crown being a little higher up from the front
04:09wheel, and the oversized head tube acting as a fairing, according to Scott. The
04:15bottom bracket also has been beefed up, while the seat tube now follows the arc
04:19of the tyre much more closely, before the seat post itself transitions to shoot
04:24straight upwards. The seat stays are designed to shelter the brake calipers,
04:28but they've also been angled at 10 degrees to force the steady airflow into
04:32the spinning spokes. While these changes and claimed improvements in speed,
04:36comfort and weight are all very impressive, we care more about what the
04:41bike is actually like to ride. Happily though, when we tested it, we found that
04:45the bike was incredibly fast, and held its speed beautifully. It handled
04:50incredibly well, and thanks to the seat post with the D-shaped cutout covered by
04:54a fairing, comfort and road chatter was greatly reduced. It may be slightly on
05:00the heavier side, but when considering that the foil was built to shine on flat
05:04roads, the extra few grams won't weigh heavy on the rider's mind.
05:14Like the new Czech Madone, and many other bikes on this list, the Giant Propel
05:19Advanced SL is claimed to be both lighter and faster than ever before.
05:23However, it's not the increased claims in performance which make the Propel shine,
05:28because for us, it's the value of the bike that really makes it stand out.
05:32Compared to all the other bikes on this list, the Propel can be obtained for
05:36thousands less, but you still get to enjoy many of the same performance
05:40features across the entirety of the range. It's no surprise why the Propel
05:46went on to win our Best Value category in Race Bike of the Year, thanks to the
05:50bang for buck that this bike delivers. But putting cost aside, the performance
05:55metrics of the bike alone are still worth paying attention to. Giants say the
06:00Propel is 225 grams lighter than its predecessor, with the new Advanced SL
06:05frame weighing 845 grams, with the complete frameset claimed to be almost
06:1014% lighter than the previous model. To make the Propel faster, Giant used a
06:15combination of airflow simulation software, wind tunnel testing, and real
06:20world application. The resulting aero system shaping led to what Giant
06:24described as truncated ellipse airfoil shapes across the downtube, c-tube, and
06:29seat stays, as well as a redesigned frontal area, an area of course which is
06:34crucial to the reduction of drag. The result is a bike that Giants say is 27
06:40seconds faster over 40 kilometers at 40 kilometers per hour, thanks to a
06:45reduction in drag by more than 6 watts. But we think the cost savings this bike
06:50represents against its rivals might be even more impressive to the masses.
07:00Lastly, we want to give a special mention to the Specialized Tarmac SL8. It's
07:06famously not an aero bike, but is an all-rounder, since Specialized decided
07:12that separate aero and climbing bikes aren't necessary. But when it was
07:16released, the SL8 was claimed to be faster than the brand's previous aero
07:20bike, the Venge. So it stands to claim that the SL8 could be seen as being a
07:25better version of an aero bike. If it really is as fast or faster while
07:30combining lightweight and performance features, in theory it should be
07:34providing everything the customer of an aero bike is actually after, apart from
07:38maybe a really wacky looking and eye-catching frame. Let us know down in
07:45the comments below, which of these bikes would you choose if money were no object?
07:49If you enjoyed the video then please do drop it a like, subscribe to the channel
07:53for more content, and we will see you again very soon.