"You can buy a car for that!" It’s a comment we hear a lot when the subject of expensive road bikes comes up.
You certainly can spend the price of a small hatchback on a bicycle these days. To see just what exotica is out there for a price of a new Peugeot 108 and just for a bit of fun, we’ve rounded up some of the most expensive road bikes currently available.
The cheapest bike here costs over seven and a half grand (trust Giant to make a value-for-money superbike) while the most expensive is almost twice that, and you wouldn't even be allowed to ride it in a UCI time trial. In fact most of these bikes fall foul of the UCI's increasingly daft 6.8kg weight limit, but we don't think anyone who can afford one of these is going to care very much.
These aren’t crazy one-off bikes with expensive paint jobs, oh no, they're all standard production road bikes that you can buy online or from your local bike shop, though we doubt many shops will carry any of these bikes in stock.
Canyon Ultimate CF Evo 10.0 Ltd — £11,799
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Canyon is usually associated with value for money bikes, but with the Ultimate CF Evo 10.0 Ltd the German direct sales specialist has pulled out all the stops to create a stunning superbike. It has the same design and tube shaping as the regular Ultimate CF SLX, but a more advanced and costly carbon fibre layup. The result is a 665g frame and 270g fork.
There's a SRAM Red eTap transmission hung on that feathery frame with some of Germany's finest über-light components including Lightweight Meilenstein Clincher wheels and a THM Clavicula M3 SRM chainset. Yes, you can see just how much (or how little?) power it takes to propel the Ultimate CF Evo 10.0 Ltd, right out of the box.
BMC Teammachine SLR01 Disc Team 2018 — £10,000
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Swiss manufacturer BMC has stepped up a notch with its top model for 2018, incorporating the brain for Shimano's Dura-Ace Di2 electronic shifting into the frame and adding disc brakes and DT Swiss PRC 1100 DICUT carbon fibre wheels to the mix foe a thoroughly up-to-date race bike. It's dripping with clever details: BMC's own super-light through axles, the sleek Integrated Cockpit System bar and stem, brake hoses and gear wires routed almost-invisibly through the frame, super-tidy Direct Frontal Flat Mount brake mounts.
Colnago C64 Art Decor — £10,299
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If you meld modern materials with traditional Italian frame-building and design, this is what you get. The C64 is a deeply-refined carbon fibre frame that's constructed by bonding tubes into lugs. That might not sound as sophisticated as moulding a frame in one piece, but it makes possible a wide range of frame sizes for a better fit, and it allows incremental refinements like the C64's new one-piece seat tube and lug without crapping an expemsive mould.
The C64 is handmade in Colnago's workshop in Cambiago. This version is fitted with Campagnolo's top groupset, Super Record EPS, and has one of the stunning special paint jobs for which Colnago is renowned.
Enigma Exemplar — from £11,999
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To celebrate Engima’s 10th birthday, the British company has produced this extraordinarily beautiful limited edition anniversary bike. Crafted from 6AL-4V titanium and built with only the finest and most expensive components - including colour matched Super Record groupset, Enve rims and Chris King parts – it’s a beautiful bike to behold.
Trek Madone 9.9 — £9,500
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Want to race the same bike as the pros? Trek is one of a few companies that offers an identical replica of a team race bike, from the full Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset right down to the paint job.
Scott Foil Premium Disc 2018 — £10,999
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Scott’s Foil was a cutting-edge aero road bike when first launched in 2011, and the latest version still commands your attention if you want to ride fast. This top-end model gets a no-expense-spared build kit including Zipp 303 Firecrest wheels and a one-piece carbon fibre Syncros aero handlebar and stem.
Cervelo P5X eTap — £13,499
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It may not be blessed with looks, but if you’re into pure speed, the triathlon-specific Cervelo P5X is probably as fast as it gets. This is not a bike for riding to the cafe on, that’s for sure. It's a full carbon fibre construction with SRAM Red eTap wireless gears and hydraulic disc brakes and ENVE wheels.
Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL6 Ultralight Di2 2018 — £9,000
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Specialized says it's shaved an impressive 200g off the frame of the Tarmac SL6 compared to the previous SL5; a 56cm Tarmac SL6 frame weighs just 733g, which is pretty staggering. The Tarmac's aerodynamics has also been tweaked so it's now claimed to be 45 seconds faster over 40km than similarly-feathery road bikes.
Specialized has even used a lightweight paint finish that it says adds only 10g to the frame, and the S-Works Tarmac SL6 Ultralight incorporates Specialized's own carbon fibre cranks and eecycleworks lightweight direct mount brakes.
Read our review of the (slightly cheaper) Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL6
Bianchi Specialissima Super Record EPS — £11,200
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If you want an Italian-bred performance bike the Specialissima puts in a stunning performance, and this massive price tag gets you a frame equipped with Campagnolo Super Record EPS and Fulcrum Zero Nite wheels.
Pinarello Dogma F10 — £9,250
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The Tour winning Dogma is a much sought after bike and this version comes with Shimano's latest Dura-Ace Di2 groupset. This Dogma is the best yet, providing exceptional performance and handling.
Storck Fascenario.3 Platinum — £10,999.99
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No guide to the most expensive road bikes could be complete without a Storck. The German company has a reputation for producing some of the most well-engineered road bikes, and also for producing some of the priciest bikes we’ve ever reviewed (there are more affordable bikes in the range too).
Read our review of the Storck Aerfast Platinum
Wilier Zero 6 SRAM Red eTap 2018 — £9,600
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Wilier's 680g frame, SRAM's Red eTap shifting system and Mavic's Ksyrium Pro Exalith wheels add up to a superbike that Wilier says weighs a mere 6.1kg. Even when you've added pedals you're going to need to bolt on a couple of lead lumps to bring it up to the UCI's 6.8kg weight limit.
Cannondale SuperSix Evo Black Inc 2018 — £11,000
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Cannondale has been doing a Black Inc. version of its top road bikes for a few years now; the basic idea is to paint them in a stealth black paint finish and whack on some high-end components. In this case, it’s a Dura-Ace Di2 groupset with Cannondale’s own feathery chainset and some ENVE wheels.
Giant TCR Advanced SL 0 — £7,699
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This beauty is Giant’s most expensive offering but compared to some of the other bikes here it doesn't look too pricey at all! Giant’s TCR Advanced has long been a favourite with racers, and the latest model offers a better stiffness to weight ratio than before - it’s stiffer for the same weight, basically. It comes fully decked out with SRAM Red eTap wireless groupset including a Quark power meter and Giant’s own carbon fibre wheels and finishing kit.
Look 795 eTap 30th Anniversary Edition — £9,999
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Nobody does integrated design like Look. This SRAM eTap-equipped version of the top-flight 795 is finished in the Mondrian pattern that's become synonymous with Look, and features Look's own brakes, stem and chainset tightly integrated into the frame design. With such clean lines, what else would you use but SRAM's wireless eTap shifters? It wouldn't do to ruin the look with gear cable or wires.
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