The EVO is the only one of our quartet that isn’t black with pink or purple highlights
We’re also having to make do without Torq pro triathlete Elle Haresign, who’d been due to drag us around today until work got in the way. But even without her, our quartet is the typically atypical mix you’d find in any riding group. Janet is a jeweller, Penny is a part-time university lecturer, Katy is a personal trainer with an exclusive global client list... and I’m an ex-corporate financial exec who now runs the accounting and admin side of my husband’s business. As soon as we’re on our bikes, though, we’re just a bunch of mates trying to fit in as many miles of escape as we can before the rest of our lives grab us back again.
Well, I say ‘our’ bikes. For the past few months they’ve been part of my testing team – swapping back and forth between four seemingly very similar but actually very different women’s bikes to find out what they offer and who they suit best.
Gentle Giant
Today Janet is living it large on the flagship bike of Giant’s female-specific Liv range – the Avail Advanced SL. It’s a bike she’s really taken to over the past months, thanks to its accurately sure-footed handling feel and the reassuringly rain-proof control of Shimano’s hydraulic disc brakes. Penny is the most experienced rider in the group, which is why she’s on the Focus Cayo this morning. While the three other brands here – Cannondale, Trek and Giant – all offer a race-focused or more relaxed and recreational option for women riders, Focus has concentrated its options solely on the Cayo platform. Concentrated is the right word too, as the aptly named Focus is the fastest-steering bike here. The low front end, twist-lock 12mm thru-axle fork, high-tension DT Swiss Spline wheels and stiff carbon fibre stem have a precise but unforgiving feel that can become wearing if you don’t plot careful lines on rougher roads.
In contrast, the Trek Silque SL I’m riding marked itself out as remarkably smooth and fatigue-reducing from the first ride. Like its men’s Domane equivalent, the junction between top-tube and seat-tube uses an ‘IsoSpeed decoupler’ pivot, so the frame’s vertical axis and horizontal axis can move
7.81kg (51cm)
Weight
Frame and fork
SuperSix EVO carbon
Ultegra 50/34, 11-28t
Shimano Ultegra 6800
Mavic Aksium Elite WTS
Brakes:
Wheels
Finishing kit:
Cannondale stem, bar, headset and seatpost, Fizik Arione Donna saddle, Mavic Yksion Elite Guard 25c tyres
HIGHS
Race-bike responsiveness with confident handling and luxurious smoothness
LOWS
BUY IF
You want the ultimate confident,
comfortable but effortlessly quick all-rounder