Has the cycling industry killed the cheap road bike? Where have all the cheap bikes gone?

The cost of bikes is a never-ending discussion point in the world of cycling and, like so many things in life, their prices have soared in recent times, in many cases faster than inflation. While most airtime is reserved for the five-figure, top-of-the-range models that cost more than some cars, or 'affordable' mid-range options that still stretch to several thousands of pounds, it is the entry-level sphere where these price rises are perhaps most noticeable.

Back in the autumn we did a round up of all the best budget bike brands, and while nobody's arguing there are still plenty of fantastic road bikes to be had — often significantly superior versions of the entry-level models that emerged ten to 15 year ago — the feature left us pondering the question at the top of this page: 'Has the bike industry killed the cheap road bike?'

After all, midway through the last decade major bike brands like Specialized, Giant and Trek, as well as smaller names like Boardman, Vitus and Decathlon, all had budget offerings around the £500 mark. Inventory-clearing price-slashing and clearance sales aside, those same models' prices today are, especially in the case of the big names, moving closer to the £1,000 mark.

Yes, entry-level bikes have improved significantly over that time period — components tech trickling down, a move to wider tyre clearances and 28mm rubber as standard have all boosted ride quality and comfort too. Likewise, inflation exists and the price of seemingly everything, not just bikes, has gone up.

However, in many cases the entry-level bikes of today are more expensive now, even accounting for inflation. In some cases by a quite significant amount. For example, Specialized's Allez is 66 per cent more expensive than it was back in 2014 when it cost £600. 

According to the Bank of England's inflation calculator, the £600 price tag of the 2014 Allez — which like today's version came with 8-speed Shimano Claris groupset and an AXIS wheelset — would be £811 today, accounting for inflation. In reality, it is now £1,000.

We undertook similar inflation-tracking experiments in a piece back in 2023 and discovered that Trek and Giant's entry-level models, the 1.1/Domane AL2 and Contend, have also risen in price greater than inflation.

> The rising price of entry-level road bikes — how much does it cost to get into road cycling now vs 10 years ago?

In 2013, the base model of Trek's range was the Trek 1.1, costing £550 at RRP. Three years later Giant's entry-level offering, the Contend, took over from the Defy, with the Contend 2 costing £525 at the time. Those prices are long gone, the Domane AL2 now £200 more expensive than the 1.1 at £750 and the Contend 2 at £849. The days of Trek, Giant and Specialized offering road bikes around the £500 mark appear to be no more.

Again consulting the inflation calculator, the 2016 price of £525 for a Contend 2 would be a little over £700 today. In terms of what's changed with these models in the decade since, the Contend 2 of today is still an aluminium road bike with Shimano Claris and rim brakes. 

One change in tech worth pointing out has been disc brakes, the Allez moving from rim brakes to discs. Trek and Giant do of course now offer disc brake options for the Domane AL2 and Contend models too, but the price for these is even greater, the Domane AL2 Gen 4 at £1,050 and the Contend AR series also retailing north of the grand mark.

Another caveat would be that the challenges that have hit the bike industry since Covid mean plenty of models, notably those of a couple of years ago that need shifting, have been subject to price-slashing and clearance sales, meaning you can probably find a better deal than the retail price — but on the whole, cheap road bikes aren't quite as cheap as they once were.

> What are the best budget bike brands?

Decathlon and its Van Rysel and Triban brands might take issue with any statement about the bike industry killing the cheap road bike, the entry-level Triban models starting at £299.99 for the RC 100 and sub-£400 for the RC 120, an aluminium bike with carbon fork and Shimano Tournay gearing. However, again, for the RC 520 (a disc brake option with some Shimano 105 R7000 components and other Microshift ones) the price is closer to £1,000 than £500.

It's perhaps a sign of the times that possibly the most impressive standing of ground on the price front is Boardman's SLR8.6, which remains at just £650 for an aluminium, carbon-forked entry-level road bike with Shimano Claris groupset, just £150 more expensive than the brand's cheapest road bike in 2015.

Ultimately, our best budget bike brands feature had to stretch the definition of 'budget' to its limit, highlighting Ribble, Rose and Cube; the cheapest road bike those three offer being £1,099, £999.50 and £750 respectively.

Less well-known names might capitalise on the more established players moving towards the £1,000 mark, perhaps suggesting the bike industry hasn't yet killed the cheap road bike if it can be saved by other brands. At the time of writing you can bag a Pinnacle Laterite from Evans Cycles for as little as £279 brand new, and Indonesian-based manufacturer Polygon offers its Sora-equipped Strattos S3 for £399.97 via Go Outdoors in the UK if you sign up for the retailer's membership scheme (though the RRP is £750). Likewise, we predict that we could see more budget offerings in the near future with the rise of Chinese direct to consumer bikes. 

> 2025 cycling tech predictions: Chinese bikes are coming

So, to bring things full circle: has the cycling industry killed the cheap road bike? The answer probably isn't a binary yes/no, but somewhere in the middle. Yes, you could argue it has, because most major brands don't offer bikes much below £1,000 in their range. We're not going to accept that £1,000 is cheap so, if you want to buy a new road bike that is, there are far fewer options than there were ten years ago. 

On the other hand, no, the cycling industry hasn't killed the cheap road bike, because while there are still the Decathlon examples, as well as Boardman seemingly tying their bike prices to inflation, there are still great rides to be had for relatively little money. At the time of writing, and arguably due in part to the huge number of bikes sold during the early 2020s, there is a very healthy second-hand market if you know what you're looking for. 

What happens next will be interesting, although prices will likely only go one way. One curveball could be the factor we briefly mentioned earlier — the rise of Chinese direct to consumer bikes. Will we see the established big names' entry-level offerings undercut by new rivals? Let us know your thoughts in the comments as always.