THE BIKE SON TEST ...

VI TUSZX1EVOCRS UL TE GR AD I 2£3999

The aero road bike of Northern Ireland’s Vitus has seen a total refresh for 2021, with a new, aerodynamic frameset designed from the ground up to be as fast as possible. Despite boasting the cheapest price tag of the group by far, the 8.07kg ZX-1’s deepsection wheels, electronic gears and aero-profiled carbon components wouldn’t look out of place on a much pricier bike.

SCOT T FOIL 10 £5949

Updated for 2021 with fully hidden cables, the 8.075kg Foil from Scott looks to balance aerodynamics with weight to create a fast, all-round road bike suitable for multi terrain. Aside from the integration of the cables and hydraulic disc brakes, this appears much the same bike as Mat Hayman famously rode to victory in Paris-Roubaix in 2016, so is there enough here to justify the £6k outlay?

CANNON DALE

SYSTEM SIX HI MOD ETA PA X S £10,500

The 7.9kg SystemSix from Cannondale is straight out of the WorldTour. Upon launch in 2018, the SystemSix was claimed to be “the fastest road bike in the world” and offered plenty of evidence to back this up. But can our Halo-spec model with SRAM’s AXS groupset live with British roads and yearround riding?

FELT A RU L TE GR AD I 2 £6299

Redesigned from scratch in 2020, Californian outfit Felt’s refresh of its muchrespected AR (Aero Road) platform looks to balance all-out speed with a dash of userfriendliness and practicality. It’s a winning formula that, in combination with a smartly specced build, promises to deliver excellent performance in practically every area. The overall weight, meanwhile, is 8.28kg.