● The van is loaded with bikes, riders and copious packets of Soreen on its way to Talybont-on-Usk in the Brecon Beacons (or Bannau Brycheiniog) for a day of riding in the bright spring sunshine/hail/rain/snow/sleet in the Welsh mountains. After months of bike testing, logistics and whittling the best new bikes of 2023 down to a shortlist of 25, it’s time to debate and finally decide which of our sextet of section winners will take the overall Bike of the Year 2023 top spot.
Today’s team includes Katherine Moore, our women’s cycling expert and big road and gravel maestro; and Ashley Quinlan, BikeRadar website’s senior technical editor who has put the performance bikes through their paces. Dialling in are Cycling Plus’s long-term bike reviewer Robin Wilmott and BikeRadar’s in-house aerodynamics expert, Simon von Bromley, who will be pushing the case for 2023’s best budget and aero bikes, respectively. I’ll be presenting 2023’s best gravel and endurance bikes to the jury, meanwhile, as we take the bikes for one final spin.
Optimo prime
Our budget bike picks this year display the breadth of choice available around the £1,000 pricepoint, with the Marin, Lapierre and Cannondale offerings all being very different bikes. The all-road of the Marin, Lapierre’s debut gravel bike and a classic road
