Best road bikes under £1,500 2023 — mid-level bikes to explore country lanes and city roads

Best overall road bike under £1,500: Ribble R872 Disc Tiagra

Buy Now for £1,399.00 from Ribble Cycles

The Ribble R872 Disc Tiagra is a carbon fibre road bike that's built to a sportive-friendly geometry and it offers a much higher performance than you've a right to expect at this price. Plus, there's the bonus that you can tweak the spec to suit your taste and budget.

Our reviewer Mat said: "The feature that surprised me most about the Ribble R872 Disc's ride is the front end stiffness. In this respect it feels like a bike costing way more than this. Haul on the alloy handlebar and everything is absolutely rock solid. You might not pull out your best Mark Cavendish sprint all that often but you'll appreciate the rigidity when climbing out of the saddle and also when cornering hard – you can really chuck this bike through the bends."

Read our review of the Ribble R872 Disc Tiagra

Best for women: Liv Devote 1

Buy Now for £1,499.00 from Balfes Bikes

In a relatively small pool of female-focused gravel bikes, the Liv Devote 1 delivers a fun and sporty but confidence-inspiring ride, on tarmac or trail.

Tester Lara writes: "Straight away, I noticed how stable and planted it feels, both on the road and off, with the geometry and lower bottom bracket position placing me firmly within the cockpit for maximum control and confidence.

"Climbing is an absolute pleasure, and even on a fairly tricky off-road climb, it gave no twitchiness in terms of handling or issues with front wheel lift at all. It actually climbs better than my hardtail mountain bike!

"There are no issues with flex or lack of power transfer – the ride is sprightly and fun. The steering is responsive without being twitchy, and it corners well. Descending is also confidence-inspiring."

Read our review of the Liv Devote 1
Find a Liv dealer

Best gravel bike: Sonder Camino AL

Buy Now for £1,449.00 from Alpkit

You can buy the Camino Sonder from consumer-direct outdoors specialist Alpkit as either a bare frame or complete bike; for a little under our £1,500 threshold Alpkit will build it up with a 2x11 Shimano GRX600 transmission for maximum versatility.

Whopping tyre clearance really is the Camino's headline claim to fame. Big tyres mean comfort, grip and confidence on rough descents, all signature traits of a bike designed for adventure. Tester Mike managed to squeeze in 700x55mm Rene Herse Fleecer Ridge tyres even though Alpkit say 50mm is the 700C limit.

Mike writes: "The frame stats speak to a confident ride over rough, loose surfaces, but with chainstays and a BB drop that makes twisting through trees on windy trails fun. A relatively long head tube gives a more comfortable upright ride, and makes matching with a wide gravel-friendly bar such as Ritchey's Comp Venturemax XL easy to do.

"With its long wheelbase, I found the Camino ridiculously stable at high speed on gravel – even loaded with bikepacking kit."

Read our review of the Sonder Camino AL

Best all-rounder: Ribble CGR

Buy Now for £1,199.00 from Ribble Cycles

Cross, Gravel, Road, that's what the CGR initials stand for on Ribble's all-rounder. A disc brake-equipped, mudguard-shod 'do a bit of everything' machine that makes a lot of sense for the rider who doesn't always want to stick to the tarmac. Thankfully, this jack of all trades is no master of none.

Thanks to Ribble's online bike builder, you can have any spec you like. The CGR starts from £1,199 with Shimano Tiagra; going up to Shimano 105 takes it out of our price range at £1,599 but that's worth considering if you can find the extra hundred quid.

Read our review of the Ribble CGR

Best touring bike under £1,500: Spa Cycles Wayfarer

Buy Now for £1,375.00 from Spa Cycles

If your riding plans veer toward long, leisurely, multi-day trips rather than high speed blats around the lanes, then the Spa Cycles Wayfarer touring bike should be on your 'must consider' list.

Tester Neil was initially deeply unimpressed. Then he changed the tyres. He writes: "The transformation was incredible. Now, when I put in some extra effort, the bike responded by going quicker! I found myself riding in the middle ring where I had been in the small ring, and the large where I'd been in the middle. Not only that, but the tooth-rattling, jarring ride over rough tracks was tamed.

"The Wayfarer went from being a bike I couldn't wait to see the back of, to one that I'd certainly recommend for serious touring duties, though the overall weight means there are better places to look in Spa's range for more versatile all-rounders."

Read our review of the Spa Cycles Wayfarer

Specialized Allez E5 Elite

Buy Now for £1,429.00 from Specialized Concept Store

The latest version of Specialized's entry-level aluminium speedster is a little softer and kinder than the race bikes that used to carry the Allez name, but still a barrel of fun to ride. Because it could be picked up for less than the old £1,000 Cycle to Work cap, the Allez became a commuter's favourite, with many taking on the daily haul to and from work in all weathers and conditions. The last set of tweaks reflected this, with the Allez frame now able to take full mudguards and a rear rack while still maintaining the ability to wear 28mm tyres.

As tester Stu put it: "Everything feels tight under hard cornering and braking, that's for sure, and thankfully it hasn't come at the cost of comfort. The entire frame manages to take out the worst of the road buzz and I never once felt like I'd taken a battering."

Read our review of the Specialized Allez
Find a Specialized dealer

Giant Contend SL Disc 1

Buy Now for £1,449.00 from Pedalon

Giant has two families of endurance bikes, the Defy series with carbon fibre frames and disk brakes throughout the range, and the Contend bikes with aluminium frames and a choice of discs or rim brakes. This is the top model in the six-bike Contend family. It has Shimano's excellent-value Shimano 105 11-speed transmission, and Shimano 105 hydraulic disc brakes. It's a high-quality aluminium road bike that's relatively light, comfortable and well priced. It's not really a racer, but offers a lively, positive ride, with crisp handling.

Tester Rob concluded: "It has the feel of a quick bike, and decent performance potential, with even more composed handling and versatility, which makes perfect sense in today's market. For the price, the Contend SL 1 Disc is a great buy, with a thoroughly sound package that isn't crying out for immediate upgrades. It's a bike you could happily enjoy as it comes, but a future handlebar and wheel swap would make a brilliant bike really sing."

Read our review of the Giant Contend SL Disc 1
Find a Giant dealer

Kinesis R2

Buy Now for £1,499.00 from Sigma Sports

The Kinesis R2 is a no-nonsense aluminium road bike that'll take fairly large tyres and comes with eyelets for fitting mudguards and a rack, so it's a practical choice as an all-rounder for typical UK conditions.

The R2 offers a quick yet comfortable ride. That comfort comes courtesy of a geometry that's fairly relaxed by road bike standards, a slim 27.2mm seatpost, and 32mm Continental Grand Sport Race tyres that actually measure 34mm on Alex Draw 1.9 rims. Run the tyres with a bit of squishiness left in and you get quite a cosseted ride here, especially by traditional skinny-tyred road bike standards. It's the sort of bike you can ride for hours without feeling you need to book a visit to the chiropractor.

Read our review of the Kinesis R2
Find a Kinesis dealer

Canyon Endurace 6 Disc

Buy Now for £1,499.00 from Canyon

Canyon might be best known for its carbon fibre races bikes like the Ultimate and Aeroad, but it does a nice line of aluminium bikes, and they offer decent value for money. The Endurace is the company’s distance and comfort orientated model, with a taller front end and larger volume tyres to provide more comfort. This is the yop version with a full Shimano 105 groupset including the chainset, DT Swiss wheels and Continental Grand Prix SL 28mm tyres.

Tester Stu Kerton said "Its aluminium alloy frame is stiff but comfortable enough to deliver a fun ride with plenty of feedback, whether you are out for a blast or just enjoying the countryside. It's a great a package for the money too."

Read our review of the Canyon Endurace 6 Disc

Whyte Dean

Buy Now for £1,550.00 from Balfes Bikes

Whyte's Dean is a 700C-wheeled gravel bike that might be a bit more conventional than Whyte's 650B-wheels road bikes, nevertheless looks like an excellent package.

The Glencoe combines an aluminium frame and fork rolling on wide profile Whyte tubeless-ready rims and Schwalbe G-One Bite 40mm tyres. Stop and start are taken care of by Shimano's 10-speed GRX groupset which allows Whyte to spec a really wide gear range from a 30/36 low (that's 22.5in in old money) to 44/11 (113in) at the top, and gets you hydraulic disc brakes.

The frame appears to be identical to the one used for Whyte's Glencoe, a long-standing road.cc favourite and while it's technically £50 over our price range, we think it's a well worth considering nevertheless.

Read our review of the Whyte Glencoe
Find a Whyte dealer