CANYON INFLITE AL 9.0 S £1,649

The Inflite AL 9.0 S is based on Canyon’s alloy cyclo-cross frameset but is of course coupled to road-going components, to deliver a great all-round road bike to see you through the winter.

Cyclo-cross bikes make great allrounders, with the clearance for wider tyres and the versatility to kit them out for dirty conditions. Although this bike shouldn’t be confused with Canyon’s Inflite CF range — a dedicated carbon cross bike — the stable geometry needed to ride confidently off-road transfers well to a winter road bike too.

The 7005 aluminium used for the frame gives you a lightweight package for responsive acceleration. It comes equipped with a Shimano Ultegra groupset with a semi-compact Rotor 3D30 chainset and wide-range cassette, giving you the low range to ride up steeper gradients and the higher ratios needed for speed on the flat. And with Ultegra components, swapping to your winter road bike doesn’t mean that you will need to sacrifice shifting quality.

The Inflite AL9.0S comes with Conti’s high-end GP4000 slick tyres in 28mm width for comfort and grip. They sit on a quality DT Swiss disc brake-specific wheelset. There’s also a 27.2mm Canyon carbon seatpost for extra compliance, with a comfortably padded Selle Italia saddle.

Winter riding calls for safe stopping, regardless of the conditions, and the Inflite AL 9.0 S comes with Shimano RS685 hydraulic disc brakes for powerful, well-modulated braking, with comfortable, ergonomic levers.

Canyon fits its own ergonomic alloy bar, with the width and drop dependent on the frame size. There are even differing diameters to the tops, to ensure that the bars are comfortable for the varying average hand sizes of different-height riders.

The frameset comes with mounts to fit the 35mm mudguards developed by SKS specifically for the Inflite, including sturdy steel stays and wide mudflaps to keep wheel spray at bay.