Best Sportif Bikes

Cyclo Sportives are increasingly popular offering cyclists a great one day challenge from anything from a 50 mile to 200 mile ride. Mostly cyclo sportives are held on roads, so you will want to choose a bike designed for speed on the road. Most sportives will provide feeding along the route so panniers will be unnecessary. I would recommend choosing a mid range road bike and adjusting according to your preferences. However, whatever price you are willing to pay, it needs to be relatively comfortable given the length of time spent on the bike.

Entry Level Sportif Bikes.

For £400 to £500 you can get a good solid road bike which will be fine for even the longest of cyclo sportive challenges. Typically for £500 you will get a lightweight aluminium frame with basic groupset such as Shimano Tiagra.

• Advice on buying first road bike

Sportif Bikes under £1,000

For £1,000, you will be able to save 1 or 2 Kg off the weight of the bike and get a carbon fibre fork and more efficient groupset. There is a reasonable improvement in performance which will be noted by a keen cyclist. For a £1,000 there is a really good selection of road bikes that will be ideal for cyclo-sportives.

See: best road bikes under £1,000

Best Sportif Bikes

If money is no option, why not get a top of the range road bike, which would not be out of place in the Tour de France. You will be able to enjoy a full carbon fibre frameset with top of the range groupset and a weight pretty close to UCI minimum of 6.5Kg.

Reviews of Sportif Bikes

Chris Boardman Team Carbon – £13999

This offers a full carbon fibre bike and fork, with Shimano 105. It is really excellent value for what you get, and I enjoyed riding it. It looks good and in a way punches above its weight. I enjoyed the test ride. – Team Carbon Review

Ribble Sportive

I’ve bought a few Ribble bikes and they have a tradition of being very competitive. Their size enables economies of scale and their carbon fibre sportive frames are really excellent to ride. Another nice feature of Ribble is the bike builder. This means you can choose  a frame and then choose all the different components you want to put on it. This means you can really tailor the bike to your specifications and budget (and also get to choose colour).

Sportive v Road Bikes

Many riders in cyclo sportives will be riding just road bikes. However, particular sportive bikes have a slightly different frame design to give greater comfort over long distance riding. To give a more comfortable ride the frame geometry tends to have a longer top tube and a shorter head tube. This gives a bit more upright position, it is less aerodynamic but more comfortable and less stressful on the back.

• Best Road Bikes

• Road Bikes at Evans Cycles

More on Cyclo Sportives

• Training for Cyclo Sportives