Since carbon became the sole material from which to make a competitive racing bike, steel has forged a second life for itself.
However, if steel is vinyl, outmoded but charming, then aluminium has risked becoming an eight-track cassette tape – an unloved evolutionary stepping-stone doomed to the charity shop of history.
It wasn’t always so. For around a decade from the mid-90s to the early-2000s, aluminium was the material of choice, with Miguel Indurain winning the Tour de France aboard an aluminium Pinarello for the first time in 1995.
However, with Lance Armstrong'winning' on a carbon Trek OCLV Madone only three years later, aluminium has often since found itself consigned to brands' entry-level machines.
Despite this, it’s now enjoying a revival, with new manufacturing methods once again making it a viable choice for race-winning bikes. Aluminium is potentially stiff, zippy and very light, so should you fancy seeing what the fuss is about we’ve rounded up seven lust-worthy bikes that prove aluminium is still a great material to make a bike from.
The best aluminium road bikes
- Cannondale CAAD13 Disc Ultegra:£3,000
- Specialized Allez Sprint:£2,650
- Trek Émonda ALR 5: £2,200
- Condor Italia RC Disc: £1,299 (frameset only)
- Canyon Endurace AL 6: £1,399
Products appearing in Cyclist buyer's guides are independently selected by our editorial team. Cyclist may earn an affiliate commission if you make a purchase through a retailer link. Read our reviews policy.
1. Cannondale CAAD13 Disc Ultegra
- Price: £3,000
Cannondale was famous during the '90s for its slinky looking CAAD frames, which are still objects of lust for a particular vein of bike nerd. The new CAAD13, however, is likely to have wider modern-day appeal.
Lovely looking, it’s lighter than many carbon competitors while its ultra-thin tubing also provides a ride far smoother than you’d imagine possible.
Now only available equipped with disc brakes, this range-topping Ultegra version is the go-to choice for aspiring racers.
Recently updated with bolt-thru axles and drop seat stays, you’ll get low weight and racing manners, plus clearance for fat tyres up to 30c. Combined with fast Fulcrum Racing wheels, a pro-compact chainset and aggressive geometry, the CAAD 13 remains living proof that aluminium can still more than match carbon.
2. Specialized Allez Sprint
- Price: £2,650
At different times the Specialized Allez has been made from steel, carbon fibre, and aluminium. Since settled into a role as a bulk-selling alloy racer, it's recently been revamped in the form of this Sprint edition.
Created to show off the best of Specialized's aluminium construction technology, the brand claims it rivals carbon in performance - and prices it to match.
Very sculpted for an aluminium frame, the Sprint's SmartWeld technology apparently makes for improved aerodynamics. Not an arena in which alloy bikes often excel, the frame's weight of around 1.5kg is also respectable.
In fact, many features are nicked from the brand's Tarmac carbon racer, including the geometry.
Resulting in a stiff and lively bike; we found a lot to like when we reviewed it. However, with a price that's only £450 shy of its similarly built carbon sibling, it's a hard sell.
- Read our Specialized Allez Sprint review
3. Trek Émonda ALR 5
- Price: £2,200
That a company as large as Trek would bother to create an aluminium bike as nice as this proves there’s life left in the genre yet. Looking for all the world like a carbon bike, a serious amount of effort has gone into hydroforming each tube.
This has been helped along by something Trek calls ‘invisible weld’ technology. Chuck on a full 2x11 Shimano 105 drivetrain and hydraulic brakes and we reckon riders will be on to a winner.
There are bolt-thru axles and flat mount fittings, and even room for a dedicated computer sensor buried inside one of the seat stays.
Sharing the endurance geometry of the rest of the line, the Émonda ALR 5 is also available as a frameset which comes in a rather lovely metallic purple.
- Read our full Trek Emonda ALR 5 review
4. Condor Italia RC Disc
- Price: £1,299 (frame only)
London cycling stalwart Condor produces its range in Italy. The race-oriented Italia RC is a legitimately fast bike with a moderate price tag, ideal for regular racing and fast training.
Featuring an asymmetric down tube with a flattened profile to resist twisting it should be happy to get thrown about.
Formerly eschewing anything as crassly modern as disc brakes or bolt-thru axles, this latest version sports both. Thankfully, done up in deep two-tone blue, it’s still gorgeous to look at.
Coming as frame-only, Condor will help build the bike up to match your requirements, and can also call on the experience of its in-house fitters to get it spot on.
5. Canyon Endurace AL 6
- Price: £1,399
Add together the Endurace AL’s Shimano 105 groupset, DT Spline 1850 wheels, and Selle Italia finishing kit and you’ll feel like you’re getting the frame and fork thrown in free.
It’s a calculation that’ll give you some clue as to how good value a bike this is. Bolted to a long-distance optimised frame, it’s part of a build with nothing by way of weak links, and that adds up to a bike weighing just 8.7kg.
Done up in matt black or bright blue and neatly accommodating the usual cables and flat-mount brake callipers, its chassis is great looking too, with long chainstays that aim to impart stability and thin seat stays to help smooth over rough surfaces.
Shipped direct to your door, Canyon’s occasional long lead times might put off some. But the quality of its machines is beyond doubt.
- Buy now from Canyon (£1,399)