AFFORDABLE TOUR BIKES
With the Tour de France in full swing, with the pros battling for yellow jersey glory on some serious superbikes, we test more affordable options from the same families
The Tour de France is on our screens at the moment and each and every rider is on the best bikes money can buy. However, with a few kit and carbon layup downgrades you can pick up something up from the same family at a fraction of the cost. We put bikes from Cannondale, BH, Giant, Cube, BMC and Scott to the test.
The Tour de France will be in full swing by the time you read this, with 198 pro riders racing superexpensive bling-laden bikes. But for two grand or so, and thanks to trickle-down technology, you can enjoy much of the experience of riding a Tour-quality bike.
The entry point is the BMC Teammachine SLR03 with Shimano 105 at £1599 (£1439 as we go to press). The SLR03 is the junior sibling to the Swiss outfit’s pro-quality SLR01, and the relationship is particularly evident in BMC’s distinctive frame profiles and dropped seatstays.
Giant’s bikes are ridden by Sunweb’s riders, including Tom Dumoulin who took this year’s Giro d’Italia on a TCR similar to the TCR Advanced 1 here, which is kitted out with Shimano Ultegra and a sub£1800 price.
French team Direct-Énergie has Sylvain Chavanel and Thomas Voeckler, who ride bikes from Spanish company BH, whose G6 aero road bike we’re testing.
Germany’s Cube is a newbie to the Tour, where its bikes will propel riders from the Belgian WantyGroupe Gobert team (WGG is a recycling company). We’re riding its Cube C:62 Agree Pro, which has a lot of DNA from its pro-level machines and a very competitive £2000 price.
Orica-Scott is an Australian team that rides Swiss company Scott’s bikes, and which has British riders Adam and Simon Yates on its roster. They’ll be on Addict HMX bikes, while we’re on the more modest Addict 30.
The Cannondale-Drapac team includes Taylor Phinney, Rigoberto Uran and Pierre Rolland riding super-expensive SuperSix Evo machines; we’re testing a £2100 SuperSix with Shimano Ultegra.