$1000 is a lot of money. It is a lot to invest in a new road bike, and we don’t want you to waste a lot of money. We put our thinking hat on and have come up with a group of which we feel are the 9 14 best road bikes under $1000 available in 2023.
After the reviews, you’ll find a quick guide to what you need to pay attention to when you buy a new road bike. A quick reference that will help you make your mind up on if a bike is or isn’t for you.
Editor’s Note: This article was last updated in January 2023. Some bikes on the list are no longer available. We’ll keep looking for alternatives and updating the article
Top 14 Road Bikes Under $1000
Tomasso Imola
Key Features
- Shimano Claris R2000
- Lifetime warranty on frame
- 24 speed
The Tomasso Imola is a lot of bike for its price. Tomasso sells direct to the customer, by going this way they can sell you a higher quality bike for a lower price point. The higher quality of the Tomasso is encapsulated in its frame, which comes with a lifetime warranty.
The frame itself is a lightweight aluminum frame that is used throughout the Tomasso range, so it is worthy of upgrades as you advance your cycling career. With a full Shimano Claris R2000 24 speed groupset, there is none of the sneaky dropping of the brakes or chainsets that you’ll get from other manufacturers.
By using the full groupset, the Tomasso comes with a great look. All the parts are matched and the same color. It might seem a small point, but it makes the bike look much more expensive than it actually costs.
The Tomasso Imola is a great road bike for those new to the sport or returning to the sport after a break. It will last and will help to push you to new fitness heights. It also comes with fender mounts so if you end up buying a “summer bike” the Imola will do a great job as a winter training machine.
Triban By Decathlon Road Bike RC500 Disc
The Triban RC500 is the cheapest disc-braked road bike from Decathlon and well-specced for a bike at this price point.
It is based on a 6061 T6 aluminum frame and features a carbon fork with alloy steerer. An added advantage of buying this bike is that you get a lifetime guarantee on the frame, bar, and stem, plus two years on the fork.
The versatility of the Triban RC500 is enhanced with mounts for fenders, so you can use it as a commuter.
The drivetrain is Shimano’s Sora 9-speed, using a Microshift cassette and Promax mechanical disc calipers. The shifters and brake levers have the tried and tested ergonomics and comfort you would expect from Shimano. This means you get positive, light shifting with a refined feel and easily reached brake levers.
Braking comes from Promax DSK-300R calipers, with 160mm rotors at on both wheels. These have a good initial bite and progressive stopping power that give you confidence at all speeds.
All these features make the Triban RC500 a bike with a well-damped and engaging ride. It is comfortable and has reassuring handling, with decent road speed. This makes it ideal for anyone looking for an inexpensive bike for commuting or general cycling use.
Note: the price has increased for this bike and it’s now over $1000, but it’s still a great value.
Trek Domane AL 2 (or Domane AL 2 Disc)
The Trek Domane AL 2 is, like the Giant Contend, a leading bike from a leading manufacturer. You’d expect good build and components and it delivers.
It’s a comfortable, stable, reliable, and light bike, making it a great option for those starting out. Plus it looks good! The Domane AL 2 has an aluminum frame and vibration-damping carbon fork.
It comes with tubeless-ready rims so you can make the upgrade if you’d like, as well as a range of nice features, such as the pocket in the frame for a speed sensor.
The lightweight of the bike means it’s a nice commuter option and cycling it is comfortable, reliable, and efficient. You won’t break the speed barrier on this, but you’ll cycle in style and comfort.
Highlights:
- Tubeless-ready wheels
- Carbon forks
- No disc brakes
- 700 x 28mm tires
2022 Marin Gestalt 1
Key Features:
- A premium, bike model at an accessible price
- Capable to take on off-road rides without sacrificing the road bike features
- Compatible with rack mounts and fenders
This California-based, mountain bike-oriented company offers a road bike that incorporates mountain bike features into a fun road bike design, with a price range that’s well below $1000. Marin Bikes understands that the core audience would like a road bike without compromising its identity in the off-road market.
The bike features an aluminum frame with internal cable routing and Tektro mechanical disc brakes, providing consistent braking power in dusty and wet conditions. Riders will be surprised to know that the bike comes tubeless-ready, allowing them to install wider tires to take on gravel roads.
Marin understands that the road can be unpredictable, and the road bike must be ready to tackle as many terrains as possible.
Long-distance, year-long cyclists will benefit from the fender and rack mounts, along with the larger volume tires that help during bike packing. It’s a fun, lycra-free road bike that doesn’t pretend to be more than it should be. It’s a simplified road bike for those who primarily ride off-road and would like a change of pace.
Co-op Cycles ARD 1.1W
Key Features
- Female-specific
- Shimano Claris groupset
- 16 speed
The Co-op Cycles ARD 1.1W is a great value women’s specific bike. Being women’s specific means that the bike comes with a shorter top tube, shorter stem, narrower handlebar, and a female-specific saddle. All of this combined should help to put less strain on your back and allow you to cycle for miles in comfort.
The bike is similar to the Tomasso in that it features an aluminum frame and a Shimano Claris groupset. For the extra money, the ARD 1.1W comes with disc brakes and a carbon fiber fork.
The carbon fiber fork will help to lower the weight a little more and will also help to cancel out more of the vibrations created by the road, your hands and wrists will appreciate this.
The Promax mechanical disc brakes feature a dual-piston design. A dual-piston design means that both brake pads will be moved in and press onto the rotor. This design will make braking more powerful and a lot easier to set up and you should be able to avoid getting the scuffing sound that you’ll get with single pad setups that are badly setup.
Schwinn Fastback 1
Key Features
- Aluminum frame and carbon fiber fork
- Shimano 105 groupset
- 22 speed
The Schwinn Fastback 1 is another one of those road bikes where you can’t believe the value you’re getting. The Fastback 1 comes with a hydroformed aluminum frame and a carbon fiber fork, to help keep the weight down but your speed up.
The combination of an aluminum frame and a carbon fiber fork is great if you’re after a road bike for performance, if you want to beat your own PBs, this is the style of setup to buy.
The reason why the Schwinn Fastback 1 is such great value is you get a 22 speed Shimano 105 groupset on the bike. Shimano 105 is generally considered to be the point that you’re starting to get the top tier Shimano groupsets.
You’ll find the gears change quickly and with a satisfying click, your brakes will start to slow your bike down as soon as you start to think about stopping. The groupset on the Fastback 1 is a performance upgrade, and once you’ve tried 105, you won’t want to go back to the lower groupsets.
The Schwinn Fastback 1 is the bike to go for if you value function over form.
Savadeck Warwinds 3.0
Key Features
- Carbon fiber frame and fork
- Shimano Sora groupset
- 18 speed
The Savadeck Warwinds 3.0 is a carbon fiber road bike, being constructed from Toray T800 carbon fiber the bike is light and stiff. Savadeck is a Chinese carbon fiber bike manufacturer, and they sell the bike directly to you from the factory floor. You might then have to wait a few days more to get your new bike, but the savings you can make will be great.
As well as saving you some effort due to its lightweight construction, it has also been aerodynamically shaped. You should then find the bike a great option for helping you set new PBs, and you can even double the use of your bike by using it for triathlons or some local time trials if you add a set of aero bars.
To keep the price down, Savadeck has fitted the bikes with an 18 speed Shimano Sora groupset. The Warwinds is a great package that is worth upgrading as parts start to wear out. It will be a bike that will last you many years and could be a great investment in your fitness.
Giant Contend 3
Giant Contend 3 road bike combines an aluminum frame and fork with fairly standard components.
The Giant bike is suitable for most types of road cycling, and features an 8-speed cassette, including a 34t cog, making it ideal for both new or experienced cyclists who like that extra gear for climbing.
Additionally, the Giant Contend 3 has 28mm tires, which help deliver a more comfortable, stable, and smoother ride. With Shimano Claris dual-action brake levers and gear shifters, you’ll get good gear performance, shifting smoothly and easily when needed.
Overall, this is a great value bike with reliable and sturdy components. Everything you’d expect from a Giant bike, really.
Highlights:
- Sturdy aluminum frame
- Quite heavy
- Wide gear range making it great for climbing
Specialized Allez
For the price, the Specialized Allez really is a good bike. You get Specialized quality, comfort, and versatility. The Allez is made with an aluminum frame but includes full carbon forks.
The Allez features a Shimano Claris drivetrain with an 8-speed, 11-32 Sunrace cassette, and 50/34t chainring. It’s not the fastest but it’ll get you over tough climbs and has enough pace to keep up with the pack.
It’s got a really nice, relaxed geometry, making comfort a real focus. Tektro rim brakes don’t compete with disc brakes but they perform well enough, plus they keep the Allez light.
Highlights:
- Aluminum frame with carbon forks
- Shimano Claris 8-speed
- Lightweight with rim brakes
Liv Avail 1
Specific for women, it’s arguably the best entry-level woman’s bike available. The Avail 1 is made with an aluminum frame, perfectly suited for endurance cycling at an affordable cost.
From a geometry point of view, the bike promotes a relaxed, upright position, improving comfort. The Avail 1 features a 9-speed, 11-34 Shimano Sora shifting system, which is sturdy, reliable, and well-suited for long endurance rides.
The bike also includes an oversized headset bearing and tapered steerer tube to create a stiffer front end. That improves responsive handling. The Avail 1 is a great, cost-effective option for all.
Highlights:
- Shimano Sora 9-speed
- Aluminium frame
- Comfort geometry
Pure Cycles Classic (unavailable)
Key Features
- 4130 steel frame
- Shimano Sora groupset
- 18 speed
The Pure Cycles Classic is another classic looking road bike. Similar to the State, the Pure Cycles Classic uses a 4130 frame and fork to allow a classic skinny tubed steel look.
The bike also comes with a butted seat tube, to bring you a little more comfort for when you’re putting the miles in on the Classic. The main difference between the State and the Pure is that the Pure has 10 extra gears.
To bring you these 10 extra gears, the Classic features a Shimano Sora groupset. You’ll not get retro downtube shifters here though. You get the more modern Shimano Sora STI shifters. It will be a personal decision whether this ruins the retro aesthetic for you, or brings you a feature that you wish more retro bikes have.
Update: Pure Cycles Classic and Pure Cycles Pro (Shimano 105 groupset) Road Bikes are currently unavailable!
Diamondback Bicycles Century 2 (unavailable)
Key Features
- 7005 aluminum frame
- Shimano Sora groupset
- 18 speed
The Diamondback Bicycles Century 2 has a name that tells you exactly for, this is a bike that wants to take you on 100-mile cycles. Riding 100 miles is a milestone that everyone remembers the first time they broke it. To help you break that milestone, the Century 2 is a road bike that is designed with comfort in mind.
Take a look at the 7005 aluminum frame, and you’ll see a highly sculpted top tube and seat stays. The shapes of these tubes are designed to help remove road vibrations before they reach you. The seat stays acting as a small set of shock absorbers.
As with many of the bikes in our bike reviews, the Century 2 features an 18 speed Shimano Sora groupset. Most of the manufacturers are using Sora at this price point as it brings great shifting ar a great price.
Once you’ve used Sora to get the bike up to speed, then you’ll find a set of Tektro Lyra mechanical disc brakes to slow you down. Once these brakes are dialed in you’ll have great stopping power in the dry and wet.
Ridley Fenix A (unavailable)
Key Features
- Aluminum frame and carbon fiber fork
- Shimano Tiagra groupset
- 20 speed
The Ridley Fenix A is an endurance bike similar to the Diamondback. Ridley is a Belgian bike manufacturer, and as you can imagine, the bikes come with a little Flemish flair. The other good news is as they test the bikes over the bergs and cobbles of the Benelux countries you can be sure that they will be comfortable on long-distance rides.
The Fenix A features a 6061 aluminum frame and a carbon fiber fork to help tame road vibrations. Similar to the Diamondback, Ridley has used a variety of tubes shapes on their Fenix to try and dampen the buzz before it hits you.
The have also oversized the down tube and chainstays, and this is less about comfort and more about speed. You then have comfort at the top and speed at the bottom, the perfect match for an endurance road bike.
You’ll also find that this is the only bike with Shimano Tiagra in our reviews. Tiagra sits above Sora and below 105. You’ll find a wide spread of gears in the 20-speed options you have with Tiagra, and the changing is crisp and efficient. Tiagra is a very dependable groupset and looks very similar to the high-end groupsets now.
KHS Flite 150
The KHS Flite bike is firmly in the commuting and endurance category. That’s because it’s really comfortable and comes with fender and rack mounts. It has long-reach rim-brake calipers and 28mm Kenda K-176 tires.
That’s uncommon for a bike with rim brakes. It’s on the heavier side, made with Double Butted Alloy, so not suitable for racing, but because of the reliability and comfort, it’s great for longer cycles. It comes with a Shimano 7-speed groupset, so it’s certainly not the fastest.
Highlights:
- Comfortable riding position
- Large tire width for rim brakes
- Fender and rack mounts for commuting
Conclusion
If you want to buy a road bike for occasional summer rides when the mood takes you and for the odd commute to work then the bike to go for is the State Bicycle Co. 4130 Road.
It is a simple bike that should work whenever you pull it out of the garage and will require the least maintenance out of all the bikes in this review. It also looks cool, and when the summer sun is hitting it, you’ll feel great.
If you want to go fast and be fast all the time, then you’ll want to look at the Trek Domane AL 2. The Domane AL 2 (or AL 3) is a great bike at going fast, and it’ll be a little less comfortable than other bikes in the review, but it’ll be faster than the other bikes.
You can even take it criterium racing, and it should love all the sudden accelerations out of corners. It could be the perfect start to your racing career.
If you want to ride all day and just tick off miles, then the bike you want is the Ridley Fenix A. It is a bike that comes with all the knowledge of a small company who make bikes designed for all-day races and races over tough terrain.
The Fenix A perfectly melds going fast with being comfortable. You’ll run out of gas before the Fenix A needs a break. You’ll just jump on it and want to get and see the world.
The Co-op Cycles ARD 1.1W is a similar bike to the Fenix A but for women. If you’re female and want to get out and see the world, then the ARD 1.1W is a great beginners bike, and it will carry on going as you expand your cycling career.
5 tips for buying a road bike
1. Fit. Buy a bike that fits you. Many manufacturers will have a sizing guide, use that and try and get a size that you fit in the middle of the range.
A lot of guys, and it is always guys, will overestimate their height and buy a bike that is too big. Don’t let your ego get in the way and buy a bike that is too big, and it will be hard to control, and overstretching will eventually damage your body.
2. Color. Buying in a color you like is more important than buying the bike with the best spec for your cash. If you buy a bike in a color you love, you’ll find the motivation to get up from the sofa and use it. The bike’s specification can always be changed later.
3. Pedals. Your new bike will either come with no pedals or test ride pedals. Test ride pedals are not the best for riding long distances with and they can be a little bit slidey. You’ll want to buy a proper set of road bike pedals; thankfully we have a nice guide to help you pick your new pedals.
4. Weight. Weight is not the be-all and end-all. Most of the bikes in a similar price range will have a very similar weight. It is just used as an easy metric for magazines to quantify why one bike is better than another one. Buy the bike you like the look of, and again you can make it lighter over time if you decide to follow that path.
5. Disc brake or rim brake? One of the newest arguments is road cycling is whether you should or shouldn’t have disc brakes. Disc brakes that are set up correctly will bring you better-stopping power, particularly in the wet, and they will also not wear down your wheels rims as you brake.
They will also technically future proof your bike. That doesn’t mean you should avoid rim brakes though, and many people find them easier to set up and having brakes that work is more important than future-proofing your bike. We have also written a guide to the difference between rim brakes and disc brakes.
Related:
I’ve spent way more time in the bike trade than anyone should reasonably want to. In that time I’ve wanted to make cycling jargon and marketing easier to cut through to help people get the bike of their dreams.
When I’m not writing about bikes, I can be seen out bikepacking on single speed bikes or teaching kids how to ride.
