B’twin Ultra 920 AF £1,199 | 8.38kg

Rupert Radley has a blast on a budget barnstormer

“The frame has a compliant ride that will be a relief to any novice cyclist”

The B’twin Ultra 920 AF is an update to the excellent B’twin Ultra 720 AF. The new bike ticks off all the areas where we hoped to see improvements while losing none of the stunning value for money for which the French brand has become renowned.

Unlike many other aluminium bikes at this price point, the Ultra AF 920 has a shapely frame that looks sporty — there’s a real performance aesthetic here that belies the bike’s price tag. The frame’s internal cable routing helps enhance this impression.

The new model sees the rear brake move from an underslung position on the chainstays back to its conventional place. This was one of very few things that we marked that bike down for, so we were very pleased to see this remedied.

The frame itself is comfortable; it has a compliant ride that’ll be a relief to any novice cyclist who’s looking to increase their mileage. This is aided by forgiving geometry, a long head tube and a compact, boxy frame.

While the aluminium frame brings the price down, it is heavy and at 8.38kg the Ultra 920 AF wouldn’t be my first choice in the hills. It’s not a thoroughbred racer, but instead is a quality frame that made putting long kilometres away easy, even if I did find myself subconsciously starting to avoid hills when planning routes.

The Shimano Ultegra R8000 mechanical groupset used here is just one piece of the superbly specced jigsaw that is the B’twin Ultra 920 AF. Ultegra is usually found on bikes with a much higher price tag.

I’d prefer disc brakes, but happily the new Shimano Ultegra rim brakes are simply excellent, especially when they’re direct mount as on the front of the B’twin (the rear is the standard dual pivot).

The bike’s handling isn’t razor sharp, no doubt the result of a very tall head tube and generously sized bars, but it is stable and predictable. It’s not going to hug the apex when you’re swooping down an Alpine descent but it does feel bombproof.

People always ask whether they should buy an aluminium bike at this price point or save up a couple more hundred quid to get an entry-level carbon bike. Sure, the latter might be lighter but it’ll be hard pushed to beat the B’twin’s ride quality and it won’t come close to offering the same value for money.