Ranking Big Bike Brands By VALUE

Good products are hard to vary. Bicycles in the 50s looked like this, and now 76 years later, still sort of look like this. Two triangles, two circles about the same size, rubber tires, drop handlebars, similar chains and derailleur systems. They really got it right all that time ago. And now we have hundreds of bike brands making relatively similar products, as some people love to point out in my big brands video. Of course, there are some differences. Some brands are out there pushing the envelope of performance or novelty, and some others taking pieces of that innovation and then making it more affordable. But which brands are doing what? Let's take a look at the biggest bike brands, the ones being ridden in this year's Tour de France, and rank them based on value. What we're about to explore doesn't mean these brands are good or bad. If they're selling bikes, they must be doing something right. I'm going to try and compare them, but specs aren't everything. And there are other things to consider like aftercare. But hopefully this video will give you an idea of what each brand stands for and help you with your purchasing decisions. And let's begin with Giant, who also own Live Bikes, their women's specific brand. Based in Taiwan, they are the biggest bike manufacturer in the world. So big that they make bikes for lots of other brands in their factories in China and Taiwan. This will be a running theme because I think every brand on this list has their bikes made in the Far East because the expertise is very high, but the costs are slightly lower. Giant own their own factories. They originally started as OEM for other bike brands. Then they evolved into their own brand called Giant and became Giant. Because they own their factories and they have a lot of control, they can keep their prices lower and have a reputation for being very good value. The Toyota of bikes perhaps. Oh, should we try and do car analogies for all of these? They are sold in bike shops and there are dedicated Giant stores as well. So you might be able to test one of these before buying it, or at least look at it. They sell about 1 million different types of bike and models. But if we look at their Tour de France bike, the Propel, it costs around $12,750 for the spec that they race on. They do make affordable bikes, some city bikes, and an entry-level rim brake bike, the Contend, starting at about £750 or $900. I'm going to try and find an example of a mid-range bike for each of these brands. It's going to have to have a carbon frame, 105 groupset, mechanical with alloy wheels. Of course, specs aren't everything and frame quality can vary, but it gives you a rough idea. At the moment, at least, Giant are significantly better value in Europe than in the USA. In this case, they do a Defy for $3,300 or £2,299 with the features I mentioned above. USA taxes and tariffs make things difficult for them, but on the whole, I think Giant are pretty good value. Next up is Canyon. A bit different. They're a German brand who only sell direct-to-consumer, so they can cut out the middleman. No bike shops, which means prices are lower. And for a long, long time, they've been extremely good value. No bike shop means you're dealing with Canyon for support or paying someone else separately to help you if things go wrong. And this is a big concern for some people. They do have deals with some bike shops, but you've which is not always the case if you're nurturing a relationship with a bike shop because you bought a bike from them. They look after you. They are constantly experimenting with unusual design choices like double-decker handlebars, flexi seatposts, detachable drops, and make a very good bike at the lower end of the price spectrum, too. Are Canyon the Tesla of bikes? Direct-to-consumer, load of weird proprietary parts. I don't know. Maybe I don't know cars well enough. Suggestions in the comments. They make an entry-level bike called the Endurace Allroad at $1,499 or £999. It has hydraulic brakes, the new Shimano cues. We've actually been long-term testing this bike, and we did a first look on it a while back. Spoilers for the video that hasn't come out yet. It is a superb bike. Like Giant, you get a way better deal in Europe than you do in the USA, so I'm quoting both prices here. You can get Carbon 105 Allowheeled Endurace for $2,999 or £2,149. They always seem to be on sale on their website. Their Tour de France bike is about $10,000. They are extremely good or proper good. No, let's go with extremely good value because that Allroad is a really good deal, and we've got to give them props for that. I might kick myself later. We'll see. I have to rearrange things later. Next up is Cannondale. They are American and have some pretty cool history making mountain bikes, aluminium racing bikes, weird lefty forks, cool stuff. But they're not really American anymore because they've been bought by Pon Holdings, a massive big Dutch company who also owns Santa Cruz, Cervelo, Focus, and a million other bike brands. For what it's worth, Pon seem to not meddle with the bike brands that they own too much. They still seem to have their soul. Although Cannondale do seem to make much less weird and quirky stuff than they used to, and their offering is pretty similar to other big brands. They are quite traditional in terms of their sales model. They sell in bike shops supplied by distributors in lots of different countries. That means more people taking a little slice of the profits at each step, which means higher prices than some of the brands that we're looking at today. For example, their Super 6 Tour de France bike is $15,000. Oh, and we found prices are better in America than they are in Europe for Cannondale. They do a carbon Synapse 105 with alloy wheels for $3,199. I mean, arguably that beats the Giant, in the States at least, but they have also seem to have removed their CAD Optimo, which was their entry-level bike, from the US website entirely, and in the UK it's £900 for Claris and rim brakes, which isn't really that good value. I wish these big brands had better entry-level bike offerings. That means they're going to go into meh. Prices are less meh if you live in the USA though. Oh, and if we were ranking these on coolness, then Cannondale will be well up there. Pinarello, Italian racing bikes. They are like the Lamborghini of bikes. They were big anyway, but then they had the Team GB effect around Olympics London 2012, and British athletes were winning left, right, and centre on Pinarellos, along with the Team Sky pro team and everyone just wanted a Pinarello. They also have the most Tour de France wins of any brand in the modern era. They do not make entry-level bikes, but their mid-range, which I would expect to be not great value, is about the same as Cannondale and Giant. They make an F1 with 105 for $3,250. So maybe they're not the Lamborghini of bikes. Do Lamborghini make a... do they do mid-range cars? I don't know. Top end is around $14,500 and like the Cannondale, they have a traditional dealer network. Whatever the case, they're still going in meh because they do not make a cheap one. I do like that dog mother. Specialized. Massive American bike brand. If you haven't heard of... you've heard of Specialized. Yes. They're still privately owned by the founders, but Merida, a Taiwanese bike manufacturer, own a large portion of them. They make a fantastic product and are kings and queens of marketing. They're also on the front line when it comes to R&D. I mean, they've built their own wind tunnel at their HQ in the States. I'll let you decide if that's more for R&D or more for marketing. All of this stuff though costs a lot of money. So if you're looking for value, it's not here. Their entry-level bike is called the Allee at $1,199. Mid-range carbon 105, you're paying $3,799. But it does say Specialized on the side and some people... $16,000 for the Red Bull Bora team bike. It's got to be in the bin. I'm sorry Specialized fans. I'm sure the frames are fantastic though, but they are being valued. Lapierre is a French brand. For a long time, these were ridden by the FDJ pro team. They have a history of adopting new suspension systems pretty early on and quite an unusual frame design on their road bikes. Bit of a cult following. They have these chainstays that overlap the seat tube and connect to the top tube here. They do list an entry-level bike on their website for £849, which is about $1,100, but it seems to be out of stock in every size. So I don't know if they're discontinuing it or they're between models. The mid-range looks good. They do a Pulsium 105, just over $3,000 or £2,299. Their Tour de France Zelious is $11,500. Probably a nightmare to get one of these if you're in the USA, but if you're European, happy day is pretty good. Okay, XDS, or if you've seen them in the Tour de France, XLAB is the label they use for their high-end stuff. This is an absolutely massive Chinese bike brand that we don't really see. They're creeping in. We don't really see them that much in the West yet. Like Giant, they're making OEM for other brands, so I actually have a fact about this direct from XDS. More than a quarter of the bikes that won individual stages in the 2020 Ford Tour de France had their frames made by XDS. It seems oddly specific, but you get the idea. Anyway, they popped up with their own branding at the Tour de France a few years ago. Everyone was like, who the hell are these guys and how are they so cheap? Their Tour de France bike is $8,500. I mean, that's like what you'll see. That is less than half of some of them. Is it good? I don't know. I haven't tested one, but I'm trying to get hold of one. The fact that they make so many of the other bikes, probably. They are cheaper because they're basically factory to consumer, not just direct to consumer, although they are apparently going to sell through a dealer network in the West. They also make all of the components for their bikes in-house too. We had their gravel bike in for test recently and all the parts are their own Branta brand. They definitely make entry-level bikes and even city bikes and stuff like that, but we really don't have any information here in the West yet about those. Get this, their RS7 is carbon 105 and carbon wheels for $2,099. Let that sink in for a second. Yeah, they use their own crankset instead of a 105 one, but wow, it makes everything else on this list, it seems like a mistake. They are tentatively god tier in terms of value. The big question here though is, can they back this up with good enough customer service and consistently good products? And the bigger question, will the prices stay like this? I guess we will find out. Bianchi are the world's oldest bike brand and based out of Italy and you're buying them for the vibes, not necessarily the value. They are apparently bringing production of bikes back to Italy, or they say they are. Currently they're made in the Far East like everyone else. No entry-level bikes, but they do make a mid-range carbon bike called the Sprint with 105 for $3,000 and their top end is about $14,500. Not the worst, not the best, arguably very cool. Let's put them in, they have to go in pretty good based on the other ones I've just done. Van Rysel is Decathlon's performance cycling brand and Decathlon are the world's largest sporting goods retailer. They weren't seriously in the performance category until a couple of years ago when they started this Van Rysel brand. It's safe to say they went all in, sponsoring a Tour de France team, sinking a lot of money into the marketing. They have big money for R&D and buying power and they have quite a comprehensive range of performance bikes, all at basically the lowest prices we had ever seen for the specs at the time. At the top end their RCR is about $11,599 and well, blimey, they've got a lot of models at different specs available in different countries and half of them are on sale, making my job choosing one for comparison really difficult. Their NCR Carbon 105 bike is £2,000, about $2,600. Very good price. Is the aftercare good? In our experience, yes. When we went to their workshop with secret cameras inside their shop we had a great experience and they were very helpful. Although this company is so big, it's impossible to know. If I've put Canyon in extremely good value then Van Rysel has got to go in here too. Trek was born around the same time as Specialized, also American. They exploded in popularity largely down to their sponsorship of the infamous Lance Armstrong. Problematic, but ultimately beneficial for the brand. They're now still huge and make some great bikes. Are they good value though? Well, not really. A bit like Specialized, they have a traditional dealer network, big marketing budget, great R&D I'm sure, but the prices are quite high. Although speaking of dealers, they're definitely making a transition towards more of a direct-to- consumer model and have a lot of Trek-only stores. Their Madone is their Tour de France bike at around $14,850 and their 105 carbon bike is the same price as Specialized, the Domane SL5 at $3,799. The Domane AL2 is the cheapest drop bar bike they now make and it's $1,199.99. Claris, not hydraulic brakes, sorry Trek. I think we're in the bin. Maybe the frame set though is just mind-bogglingly good. Scott bikes, not technically in this year's Tour de France, I don't think, but you guys will moan at me if I don't put this in and the prices might surprise you. Based out of Switzerland, they have a real focus on high-end stuff. They are mostly sold through dealers. They are at the cutting edge when it comes to performance with bikes like the ridiculously light Addict RC and also in the e-bike category, making quite a few models that really don't look like e-bikes but are quite cool. They sponsor huge athletes and spend money on marketing. Value-wise, the top end is as you'd expect, $12,999 for their top-end foil aero bike with HMX SL carbon, which is what the pro teams will be riding. The mid-range, the Addict 105, $2,799 or £2,249. That is a great looking bike. If you're in the States, that's knocking on the door of Canyon's prices. They don't have an absolute banger deal like Canyon have with the Endurace Allroad though, so let's put them in proper good. Definitely a nice surprise. Wilier Tristina, an Italian brand with some amazing history. They have a big focus on the high-end stuff and e-bikes, which you wouldn't really expect, but they have a massive e-bike offering and have been producing them for years. Their pro teams race on the Vertical or Filante, which is about $14,600. The cheapest road bike they do is the Garda 105 with alloy wheels. It's $3,400 or £3,199. You're not buying Wiliers for value and I think they're okay with that. Beautiful bikes but meh value. Still arguably better than Specialized and Trek. Colnago, sticking with the Italian bikes. They have always been popular but have reached new highs with arguably the best athlete in the world, Taddei Picaccia, winning races on their bikes. Should we just go straight to the prices? The Y1RS, their top-end bike, which still sort of looks like a bike but maybe not anymore, somewhere between $18,000 and $21,000. Surprise, surprise, they do not make an entry-level bike. In fact, the cheapest road bike they make is the V4, over $5,000. Shall we just put them in? Yes, let's put them in the bin. They have lots of other strengths though and reasons to buy them. Value is not one of them. Factor. Oh my, I'm running out of breath. We had Factor's new top-end road bike for test very recently and it is awesome. In fact, I was very jealous. UK Cade Media got to ride it and I did not. Possibly the most race bike of all the race bikes but it's also a million pounds. Okay, slight exaggeration. $14,000. They only make performance stuff starting at like seven grand, so bin. Orbea is a Spanish bike company, the oldest bike manufacturer in Spain. They have all the usual offerings from gravel bikes to e-bikes and they are massive in Europe. Off topic, but I want to give them some props for the customization available on their website. When you buy a bike, you can literally choose all the handlebar sizes and the components and the cranks and all of that stuff. I think more brands should, well, all brands should be allowing this to happen. Their top-end Orca is about $11,599. Their 105 Orca, $2,699 in the States, which isn't bad at all, or £2,399 in the UK. It's kind of like Scott, surprising, proper good. They are also lush looking bike. I look at this top-end climbing one, yeah. Cube bikes are based in Germany and they're known for their good prices, so I'm expecting big things to finish off this tier list. They make everything from mountain bikes to kids' bikes to e-bikes, all the stuff. Their top-end Lightning Aero World Tour bike is about $10,759. My brain is just full of numbers now. Numbers have stopped meaning things. I think that's okay. They do a 105 carbon bike called the Attain for £1,899. Americans, good luck finding these in the States. I couldn't even find a proper price in US dollars for that mid-range one. Probably best looking elsewhere. I am losing the will to live looking through the Cube website, which refuses to work properly, and they seem to have 1 billion different bikes all named in very confusing ways. These are extremely good value, if you're in Europe at least, and they're very dealer-driven, so you're probably best off going to a bike shop that stocks them and looking at them, and you'll be less confused by their mad product range on their website. Is that it? Please say that's it. I hope that was helpful. Obviously, this is just the big pro cycling sponsoring brands. I would love to hear about more excellent value bikes from smaller brands as well. As we have in the past, you've told us about loads of cool stuff and then we've managed to get hold of it, test it, do it. Put them in the comments down below if you've got any great suggestions so more people end up riding bikes. Happy days. If you'd like to support our work, check out the merch store below this video or at wearethewildones.com. We've got mugs, we've got shirts, we've got hats, we've got backwards hats and loads more. Thanks so much for supporting us and see you on the next one.