Let's get this out of the way first: carbon bikes are great. They're light, stiff, aerodynamic and represent just about the pinnacle of cycling technology for anyone who wants to ride as fast as possible. But even taking all that into account, we still have a major soft spot for a steel bike. Technology might move on, but style is eternal and there's something timeless and wonderful about thin tubes and a stainless steel finish. 

One bike that has this in abundance belong to Madison-Genesis rider Rich Handley. It's his Reynolds 953 Genesis Volare and we think it's easily one of the best-looking bikes you'll see anywhere, let alone in the professional peloton. 

Proving that steel doesn't mean retro, this Volare has a full Shimano Dura-Ace r9150 Di2 groupset and has internal routing for the wires along with external routing for the rear brake cable giving the perfect balance of aesthetics and practicality. 

This frameset here isn't available to buy, it was only made for a few select team riders that wanted one. But you can buy a 931 version of this frameset in a rim brake or disc brake version, with the rim brake being a revival for the 2020 model year. Both of these are dual compatible for either Di2 or mechanical shifting, so you can spec it however you want. 

Jul 24 2019
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Road cycling