We’ve been testing the latest and greatest endurance road bikes for the past year, culminating with our 2025 Bike of the Year awards.
Warren Rossiter has pitted two shining examples of endurance bikes in a final head-to-head shootout. The bikes? The Cannondale Synapse Carbon 2 SmartSense tech tour de force and the value-packed Boardman SLR 9.4 Ltd.
Bike of the Year 2025 is supported by Auto-Trail. Head to https://www.auto-trail.co.uk/ for more details about their range, including the cycling-specific Auto-Trail Expedition 68, which features a purpose-built bike garage.
01:28 What Makes These Bikes The Pick Of 2025
03:42 Builds to Beat The Competition
09:41 Winning Rides
13:00 And The Winner Is…
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23 Comments
Comparing the COVID response to Brexit? Get a grip.
For those waiting for the banner to appear noting the cost of the Cannondale, you won’t find it. You won’t hear the price either & have to deduce its price from the cost of its competitors. £7,250 is the figure you are looking for. Yikes 😬
I'm currently riding a previous gen Giant Defy. It's my first carbon bike after two aluminum bikes, and it's super confortable while being fast enough for my kind of riding. I do really like the new Synapse, and if I were to get a new bike, I'd probably go for the Cannondale. Though, I'd choose the Synapse 5 non SmartSense version, as I don't need/want all the extra electronics and I love the yellow color on offer.
you missed the specialized Tarmac which fits up to 32 c tires and is a wonderful comfortable all round road bike. I just bought one and at $5k it is a great deal
How many “average riders” are going to fork out for this. Not sure it would be the same outcome with the synapse of the same price.
Still uses the smart sense lighting nonsense that nobody asked for or wants. Plus it adds to the cost. Looking at cost on the new Synapse models I was in disbelief. $8200 for SRAM Force. Lol no. Also have no idea why Cannondale doubled down on smart sense. When they did it last time, they didn’t sell any Synapse for the last two or three years because nobody wanted that. Apparently Bike Radar is as out of touch with what people want as Cannondale is. Look at a Giant Defy for 7k or a Canyon Endurace for 6k. Great bikes and you don’t get saddled with this smart sense garbage or pay extra for it. Just no..
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I just bought a Trek Domane AL 5 (1999 EUR) a few days ago. It is my first road bike and in my opinion it is a really fun and comfortable bike for a road biking beginner.
What about the Argon 18 – Krypton?
Canyon Grail. 😊
Recommend considering Merida Scultura Endurance 6000 (105 Di2 or 8000 for Ultegra)
The endurance bike of the year is the Fairlight Strael 4.0 ❤ prove me wrong
Trek Domane not even mentioned????
They state they have been testing the latest and GREATEST endurance bikes over the past year, yet they left off so many bikes that could have also fit into this category….why? Scared, someone like Pinarello or Trek would have destroyed their so called "testing?" Was someone paid under the table? These type of videos with a lack of transparency are nonsense.
Having easier gears is by far the most important criterion on a bike like this. With 12 speeds, it is the low end that buyers should be concerned about, because that's what is going to help them the most. These bikes should have compact cranksets as standard equipment. And for this kind of money, one can get a beautiful custom steel (Reynolds or Columbus) which will weigh 1 kg more but which you can ride for over a decade and will fit you perfectly.
Dropped seat stays – never. So ugly and the marginalist of gains, if any, for almost everyone.
Brexit?
The EU Brexit thing is so dead.
It's really not that important.
I can't be arsed to think about it.
Events are outrunning everything now.
Keep your politics out of your reviews.
For that Cannondale money, you could build a lovely bike yourself.
The Boardman has geometry stack figures similar to my Spesh Tarmac. Endurance…😅
Just got a Merida Scultura Endurance 400 Aluminium. Man it absolutely flies!
It’s strange how these two bikes are considered to be in the same category considering how wildly different their geometry is. I feel like this review papers of that aspect.
Genuinely curious why Orbea didn't get a mention here.
Why is the cube attain c62 SLT not here?