The Ridley Kanzo Fast 2.0 is our 2026 Bike of the Year: why I've chosen Ridley's go-fast gravel bike as this year's overall champion

The Ridley Kanzo Fast 2.0 is our 2026 Bike of the Year: a gravel bike that’s equal parts racing rig, versatile adventurer and practical all-year machine – and wow, it's a blast to ride fast.  

After months of testing, we’ve arrived at our winners across our three drop-bar categories, with Eddy Merckx’s radical 525R taking the Race Bike of the Year title, while Canyon's practical but high-performance Canyon Endurace CF SLX earns the Endurance Bike of the Year crown.

The third in our category-winning trio and the Gravel Bike of the Year is the newly launched Ridley Kanzo Fast 2.0, and it's the Ridley that also earns the top prize as our overall winner for 2026.

It’s a gravel bike that combines aero-race bike speed, off-road handling chops, and year-round practicality and versatility in a single package. It's also a machine that shows how the gravel race bike has truly come of age, against some seriously stiff competition in 2026.

• Read Warren's full Ridley Kanzo Fast 2.0 review to find out how it rides

It’s been a strong year for new bikes, with innovations in geometry, larger tyre clearances and increasingly aerodynamic designs across all categories, regardless of whether you're looking at a race bike, endurance road bike or, in the case of the Ridley Kanzo Fast 2.0, a gravel bike.

We’ve also seen a shift in the way lots of these great bikes are being sold. Ridley and Merckx hit the top step of the podium in the gravel and race categories respectively, and both offer online configuration so you can tune the bike’s build to your needs.

That’s something I certainly want to see more of in the future. Ribble, Vielo, Orbea and Canyon – all brands represented elsewhere in our test – also offer good levels of customisation on ordering and deserve the merits of making our shortlists and podiums.  

Why is the Ridley Kanzo Fast 2.0 our overall Bike of the Year winner for 2026?  

It’s been a tough year to choose a winner – in each category, as well as for the coveted overall title.   

The Canyon is a smart blend of practical and fun, and the Merckx 525R deserves the highest of praise for taking a new path to race-bike perfection. It's also a bike that proved you can still be innovative in the very fundamentals of road-bike design, and I applaud the esteemed Belgian brand for taking such an approach.

The Ridley Kanzo Fast 2.0 goes the whole hog, though. It pushes the aerodynamic boundaries of gravel race bikes, much like Argon 18’s Anti Matter, BMC’s Kaius 01 One and Cervélo’s Áspero 5. But it has the edge on all of those when it comes to handling.    

It’s also obvious that the bike has been put together by riders. The tyre clearance of 58mm is one of the largest you’ll find, and Ridley has exploited that further by using huge 55mm tyres from the get-go. Not only has it gone for big volume, but it's also gone front- and rear-specific – lower, faster tread on the rear for straight-line speed, and a chunkier heavier tread up front for cornering grip. 

There are also small but important details that only someone keen to ride gravel all-year round would choose, such as the mudguard/fender mounts.

Then there’s the placement of the port for the generous down-tube storage – positioned low near the bottom bracket to provide a better centre of gravity. It’s also not underneath a bottle cage, so it’ll remain rattle-free because the door won’t have three-quarters of a litre of liquid hanging off it.   

During testing, I’ve experimented by putting large-volume road tyres on the Kanzo, and it makes for a brilliant 1x road bike, too. In fact, it’s so good that I’m even tempted to downsize my huge collection of road and gravel bikes, and configure a Kanzo Fast with two sets of wheels. It could be all the drop-bar bike I’ll ever need.   

With that in mind, if you’re in the market for a new gravel bike any time soon, ignore the awesome Ridley Kanzo Fast 2.0 Force AXS XPLR at your peril.  

What we've tested – the full 2026 Bike of the Year shortlist

Race bikes

• Cannondale SuperSix Evo 3 review – £6,995 / $6,999 / €6,499
• Cervélo Soloist Force AXS review – £7,000 / $8,500 / €7,499
• Eddy Merckx 525R review – £6,299 / €6,999
• Factor Monza SRAM Force w/Power Meter review – £6,799 / $7,199 / €8,299
• Giant Propel Advanced Pro 0-Di2 review – £5,799 / €6,600
• Merida Reacto 10K review – £9,500 / €10,199
• Rose Shave FFX Red AXS review – €8,500
• Wilier Filante SLR ID2 Dura-Ace Di2 review – £9,500 / $12,900 / €10,900

Endurance bikes

• Canyon Endurace CF SLX 8 Di2 review – £4,299 / $5,999 / €4,499
• Cervélo Caledonia Force AXS (review coming soon) – £5,250 / $6,500 / €6,499
• Fairlight Strael 4.0 review (custom build) – £3,909
• Ribble Ultra-Road 105 Di2 Aero review – £3,799 / $5,215 / €4,880
• Vielo R+1 Campagnolo Record review – £7,999

Gravel bikes

• Argon 18 Anti Matter Force AXS XPLR review – £7,495 / $8,995 / €8,495
• Argon 18 Dark Matter SRAM Rival XPLR AXS review – £4,500 / $4,650 / €5,095
• BMC Kaius 01 One review – £9,999 / $12,999 / €10,999
• Giant Revolt Advanced SL 0 review – £9,999 / $12,000 / €9,999
• Orbea Terra M21e Team 1x review – £5,299 / $6,299 / €5,999
• Ridley Kanzo Fast 2.0 – £6,299 / €6,999
• Singular Pterodactyl review (rolling chassis) – £3,490 / $3,959 / €3,429.95
• Trek Checkpoint ALR 5 Gen 3 review – £1,700 / $2,099 / €1,999