Road Bikes

What is a Road Bike?

The short answer is a road bike is designed for riding on the road. They are designed to take you fast as you can as far as you can or need to on Tarmac surfaces.

While road bikes look similar to Gravel bikes, there are a number of differences. Traditionally road bikes had skinny tyres, sometimes less than 20mm wide. These days 28 or 30mm is more popular giving more comfort and grip. Gravel bikes take this and expand it further with some as much as 50mm and are at home on loose gravel and rougher terrain.

Road bikes generally fall into one of three categories. These are Road Race bikes, Endurance bikes, or Sportive Bikes and commuters. Commuters often fit into the middle ground between a Road and Gravel bikes. Race bikes are designed for going as fast as possible, are often slimmed down and as light as possible. Endurance bikes are aimed at longer rides but without the need for all of the mountings typical of Adventure Gravel bikes.

Which Road bike should I buy?

The answer to this question will depend on what you will be using the bike for. Here is a brief overview of our current road bikes to help you make up your mind which of our bikes is right for you.

Pro Carbon Disc – A Fast lightweight Carbon all our road bike. It’s efficient, light enough and stiff enough for sprinting in a race but compliant enough for long days out in the saddle. We’ve sold tens of thousands of Pro carbons over the years

London Road – The epitome of a do-it-all bike. A modern classic named thus because every town or city has a London Road. It’s equally at home on the commute to and from work, a full day out riding or exploring the gravel trails. Made from Aluminium it comes at a fantastic price too.

Holdsworth Corsa – A Race tested and proven Disc brake road race bike. Made from Hi-Modulus carbon and built for going fast.

EC-130e Aero Road – A race-ready, aero-framed rocket ship. EC-130E is our fastest, most efficient, award-winning road machine. It’s aero sculpted and stiff for sprinting. If flat-out fast is why you ride a road bike then the EC-130E is unbeatable for performance and price.

London Road Titanium - The London Road has been further cemented as a commuter favourite, by migrating this adaptability to a tough, lightweight and corrosion-resistant titanium frame.

Titus Road Runner - The Road Runner all-road endurance is a titanium bike with a multitude of talents. A do-it-all bike, capable of turning its hand to a range of terrain and riding disciplines.

Spitfire – A Classic race bike in a stunning titanium form. Professionally proven compact road geometry maximises the low weight, tactile grip and powerful acceleration surge of the subtly shaped and triple butted 3Al/2.5V tubeset. The only thing better than how it rides is how it looks.

Hurricane - Unlimited mile melting, titanium luxury at its most affordable. Hurricane is our luxury, titanium framed, disc-brake all-rounder. Lightweight but with a surging limousine smooth ride and classic looks that'll never get tired.

What sized Road bike do I need?

This is a question we’re often asked and there’s no one-stop answer. Each Road Bike is slightly differently sized depending on the geometry of the frame and each bike we sell has its own size guide so you can quickly see what size bike you need based on your height.

Correct frame size choice can vary greatly with riders' torso length. If you have longer legs and a shorter torso, go for a slightly shorter stem. If you think you are borderline between sizes, and have longer legs and a shorter torso, go for the smaller frame size. If you have shorter legs and a longer torso, go for the larger frame size to get the extra top tube length.

As the frame sizes increase, so does the length of the head tube. If you are inflexible or perhaps have a history of back problems, consider going for a larger frame size. This will increase the relative height of the handlebars making the position less “extreme”. The larger frame will also have a longer top tube, so you’ll need to compensate for this with a shorter stem.