Cycling is a confusing world to navigate, especially if you’re just starting out. There are unspoken rules (that you can definitely ignore), and a myriad of new terms that can feel like they’ve been deliberately created to bemuse and befuddle anyone trying to get into cycling for the first time.
There are seemingly endless types of bike, from aero road bikes, through gravel-adjacent offerings, to what most people would class as a mountain bike with drop bars. Even if you know what sort of bike you want it’s easy to get scared by the eye-watering price tag found on the best road bikes, so we’ve got a handpicked list of the best budget road bikes and the best budget gravel bikes too , to get you started if you need a new steed to get rolling.
Will joined the Cyclingnews team as a reviews writer in 2022, having previously written for Cyclist, BikeRadar and Advntr. There are very few types of cycling he’s not dabbled in, and he has a particular affection for older bikes and long lasting components. Road riding was his first love of him, before graduating to racing CX in Yorkshire. He’s been touring on a vintage tandem all the way through to fixed gear gravel riding and MTB too. When he’s not out riding one of his many bikes he can usually be found in the garage making his own frames and components as a part time framebuilder, restoring old mountain bikes, or walking his collie in the Lake District.
Height: 182cm
Weight: 72Kg
Rides: Custom Zetland Audax, Bowman Palace:R, Peugeot Grand Tourisme Tandem, 1988 Specialized Rockhopper, Stooge Mk4, Falcon Explorer Tracklocross