How do I choose which road bike to buy?

Decide the budget first, then match the bike's geometry and gearing to the riding you actually do rather than the riding you aspire to. WhichBike asks seven questions — budget, experience, ride length, terrain, surface, comfort versus speed, and shifting — and names a single bike from 309, ranked on published stack and reach, claimed weight, tyre clearance and gearing.

Does WhichBike get paid to recommend certain bikes?

No. The ranking engine is never shown the retailer, the commission rate, or whether a link pays anything at all. WhichBike earns affiliate commission when a reader buys through a link, and which shop to link to is chosen after the bike is picked, on price and availability. If the cheapest reputable seller pays nothing, that is still the link.

What is stack and reach, and why does it decide the recommendation?

Stack is how high the top of the head tube sits above the bottom bracket; reach is how far forward. Together they describe the riding position better than a frame size does, and they are published by every manufacturer, so they can be compared across brands. A high stack relative to reach is an upright, comfortable position; a low one is aggressive and faster.

Are the specifications on WhichBike checked?

292 of 309 bikes have been checked against the manufacturer's own published page, with the date and source URL recorded. The rest are labelled unverified on their own pages and in the API, rather than presented as fact.

Stop comparing bikes.

Seven questions about how you actually ride. We name one bike, explain what it gives up, and show you the best price we can find.

Ranked by: Published geometry, weight and gearing
Never by: Commission, sponsorship or paid placement

Everyone else narrows. We decide.

A filter takes a retailer's catalogue and hands you a shortlist, which is the easy half of the problem. The hard half is the one you were stuck on. We hold 309 bikes, chosen and checked, and name one of them.

148 in a retailer's road-bike aisle

40 left after you filter it

1 named, with its downside

Canyon Endurace CF 6

The engine, to the same spec.

Every bike we hold, drawn from its own published stack and reach at one scale. The taller frames sit up; the long, low ones are the race bikes. This is the whole fleet — you can count it.

292 checked against the maker 17 published, not yet checked boxed · the 1 it names with nothing answered

Figures read per bike: 12; all published
Subjective ratings used: 0; no scores out of five
Panels of experts: 0; nobody was asked
Match range it prints: 50–97%; never 100
What it is never shown: retailer · commission · stock

The 17 we have not checked are labelled unverified on their own pages, rather than quietly presented as fact.

Read the full methodology →

Commission cannot change what we recommend.

The engine is given: Published geometry — stack, reach, clearance; Claimed weight and gearing; Recommended retail price; Your seven answers

The engine is never shown: Which retailer stocks it; What they pay us; Whether they pay us at all; Stock levels

We earn a commission when you buy through a link here. It never changes the price you pay.

Which shop to link to is chosen afterwards, by price and availability. If the cheapest reputable seller of the winning bike pays us nothing, that is still the link you get.

Full affiliate disclosure →