US bike brand Specialized has confirmed to road.cc that the controversial limited edition Playboy electric bike it unveiled at a bike show in Berlin earlier this month will not be on public sale because “it does not align with our brand values.”

The Morgan Hill, California-based company had been accused of sexism after pictures were circulated on social media the weekend before last of two women dressed as Playboy Bunnies promoting the bike at the trade show.

Some 40 examples of the black and gold e-bike were offered for sale on the German market. But in an emailed statement, the company told road.cc today: “‘The Limited Edition Turbo in collaboration with Playboy will not be sold.

“We are a brand for all riders and acknowledge this brand partnership does not align with our values.”

Specialized had already apologised for the PR stunt, with chief marketing officer Slate Olson saying the brand “stands strong with female riders and we do not support the objectification of women in any way, in any region.”

The company added that “this market activation was carried out locally by the regional marketing manager, and was not discussed with or approved by our global marketing team.”

> Specialized apologises for Playboy Bunny e-bike promotion

Specialized has donated $1,000 to a Seattle bike shop damaged in a gas explosion to say “sorry” after contractors mistakenly put up posters advertising the US-based brand’s bikes on a hoarding protecting the front of the shop while repairs take place.

G&O Family Cyclery, which is not a Specialized dealer, tweeted a picture of the poster, which said “better bikes come from better bike shops,” prompting an apology from Specialized as well as the unexpected donation to a crowdfunding initiative aimed at helping the small business recover.

Hey @iamspecialized plastering the wreckage of our destroyed bike shop with your ads seems to be in poor taste. pic.twitter.com/yf9zTK8hmv

— G&O Family Cyclery (@GoFamilyCyclery) April 5, 2016

In a comment on the Go Fund Me website, where more than $43,000 of the $45,000 target has now been reached, Specialized said:

Hello G&O Family Cyclery, we hope you accept our donation to rebuild, and continue to make a positive impact on families and cyclists in your community.

We are deeply sorry for the regrettably placed poster on your shop earlier this week. As you are aware at this point, our team had worked with an outside agency to put up posters on vacant buildings and by a stroke of bad luck and an uninformed street team, the poster was placed.

We want to reinforce that this was in no way intentional or malicious, and instead an honest mistake. We are taking the appropriate actions to have it removed immediately.

We very much respect and stand strong with local bike shops such as yours, as owners like you are what keep the bicycle culture thriving. Regardless of bike, brand, or location, we want to see local bike shops succeed and continue to serve their communities. – The Team at Specialized.

The firm that put the advertising up has since matched Specialized’s donation, saying:

The posterGIANT team is honored to contribute to your rebuild and we hope you'll accept this donation. We regret any part in this misunderstanding and we look forward to seeing you back in business as soon possible.

Specialized’s global marketing manager, Erick Marcheschi, told the Seattle Bike Blog: “I feel bad about it, it was 100% not intentional.”

He said the company contracted to put up the posters in Seattle and elsewhere was ”looking to opportunities where there are plywood surfaces they can put these wheatpastings on,” adding, “it’s really unfortunate that this was one of those surfaces.”

As one of the biggest players in the global bike industry with local operations in a number of countries worldwide, the odd public relations gaffe is perhaps inevitable, but ones made by Specialized do seem to attract particular scrutiny.

In 2013, the brand was criticised on social media after its lawyers attempted to get a bike shop in Alberta to change its name from Café Roubaix, claiming – apparently incorrectly, as it turned out – that Specialized owned the rights to the Roubaix trademark in countries including Canada.

Following widespread calls for a boycott of its products, the company’s founder and majority shareholder, Mike Sinyard, visited the bike shop in person to apologise.

> Specialized and Cafe Roubaix meet over trademark dispute

Perhaps as a result of the negative publicity that episode caused, the business seem more disposed now to listen to its critics, as happened last month when pictures circulated on social media showing models at a bike show in Berlin dressed as Playboy Bunnies flanking a Specialized e-bike produced in partnership with the adult entertainment brand.

Specialized said the marketing initiative had been undertaken by its German subsidiary without the approval of its headquarters in the United States, and subsequently confirmed the limited edition bike would not be sold.

> Specialized confirms controversial Playboy e-bike won't be sold
 

In just a few years aero road bikes have gone from The Next Big Thing to a mainstream bike option. The latest models have been tweaked to be faster than ever, according to the manufacturers, and to alleviate the harsh ride that characterised some early aero bikes.

Aero road bikes essentially draw the aerodynamic features from time trial bikes into a road frame, and balance the demands of weight and stiffness into a package that, on paper, looks to be the ideal all-round choice.

At any decent speed, most of your effort goes into overcoming air resistance, so reducing a bike's drag means you'll go faster, or ride at any given speed with a lower power output. Who doesn't like the sound of that?

Most of your air resistance comes from your body. Wearing non-flappy clothing will help, as will losing weight. But the 20% or so of air resistance from your bike is enough for engineers and designers to focus on making road frames and products more slippery in the air. In the pro peloton aero road bikes have been quickly adopted, where the margins of victory are very slim and there has been a focus on gaining ever smaller performance gains over the years.

Weight, and the lack thereof, used to be the main driving force of frame development. Along with stiffness, these were the two cornerstones of bike design. These days most bikes are light, many well below the UCI’s 6.8kg weight limit (which doesn’t affect non-racers anyway), and come with more stiffness than is sometimes comfortable.

All that has made aerodynamics more important for manufacturers. Specialized has built its own wind tunnel, for example, and most manufacturers are testing in wind tunnels. Nevertheless, aero road bikes haven't converged on a perfect, slippery common shape. Different engineers prioritise different ways of improving aerodynamics but there are shared design trends: skinny, aerofoil-shaped tubes, integrated brakes, and internal cable routing.

Let's take a look at the latest aero offerings.

Merida Reacto 5000 — £2,000

The Merida Reacto 5000 is an aero road bike that combines plenty of speed with agile handling and a respectable amount of comfort. If you have £2,000 to spend on a race bike, it deserves your serious consideration.

It is, in a word, quick. The Reacto 5000 is at its best on flat and rolling roads when you just want to get your head down and do some hard work. Slam it into a big gear, wind up the speed, and you bowl along beautifully.

Rear our review of the Merida Reacto 5000

Find a Merida dealer

Merida Scultura 6000 — £2,300.00

The Merida Scultura 6000 just feels right when you get on it. The position, the ride, the comfort… it's one of those bikes that gives you the confidence to push it as hard as you want, knowing that it isn't going to bite back. It's a bit of a bargain too when you consider the frame is being ridden in the pro peloton and weighs a claimed 750g. It's a hell of a lot of bike for the money.

For this revised version of the Scultura frameset Merida has concentrated on increasing comfort, and it's obviously paid off. The frame is handmade in Taiwan, and by tweaking the carbon layup in certain areas it has been able to bring in quite a bit of extra damping without sacrificing stiffness.

Aerodynamics was another target for Merida, using computational fluid dynamics in the design process and wind tunnel testing of various incarnations. It even used a dummy with moving legs to replicate the effect the rider's pedalling has on wind resistance.

Read our review of the Merida Scultura 6000

Find a Merida dealer

Boardman Elite Air 9.2 — £2,799.99

Boardman's Elite Air 9.2 is just the ticket if you're looking for a fast bike with a good spec but you haven't got very silly money. It's a good package and the performance is impressive straight out of the box.

If you're buying an aero bike, chances are you're doing so because you want to go faster; that, or you just like the look of deep-section tubes.

Do you go faster? The anecdotal evidence suggests a yes: you go faster on this than on standard road bike. Our tester grabbed a downhill KOM on Strava, hung on longer before getting blown out the back of a crit with riders a grade above him and added 10km/h to his top speed on a favourite descent.crit with riders a grade above him and added 10km/h to his top speed on a favourite descent.

Read our review of the Boardman Elite Air 9.2

Find a Boardman dealer

Storck Aerfast Platinum — £10,949

At £10,949, the Storck Aerfast Platinum is a massive outlay, but boy, oh boy do you get one hell of a return on your investment. It's a sub-6.5kg race weapon, with aerodynamics that work in the real world, and it offers comfort levels to challenge most endurance bikes.

Taking plenty of things it's learnt from its astonishingly good Aernario, Storck has pushed the design even further down the aerodynamics route, and what it has created in the Aerfast is a bike that's not only unbelievably fast, but light and stiff too.

If you're in the market for an aero bike, speed is going to be topping your list of priorities, and it's where the Aerfast truly excels. Below about 23mph the Storck feels like any other bike to ride, any other superlight bike that is, but all the same it feels like it requires some effort; you've got to work at it.

Get above that speed, though, and the aerodynamics really come into play. It feels like a permanent tailwind is nudging you along, a friendly hand on your back as you watch the numbers climb on the Garmin – with no more effort required than there was 5mph ago. It's a wonderful feeling, and one you never tire of.

Read our review of the Storck Aerfast Platinum

Find a Storck dealer

Cervelo S5 — £ 3,999

Long hailed as the fastest aero road bike by people who know a lot about aerodynamics, the Cervelo S5 has received quite a makeover this year. It still looks like an S5 but Cervelo claims to have finessed every tube profile and found significant drag reductions. It’s also increased frame stiffness in the head tube and bottom bracket to improve handling. Another change is the shorter head tube to put the rider in a lower, and more aerodynamic, position. Cervelo has also developed its own aero handlebar which is compatible with a regular stem.

Read our coverage of the Cervelo S5 launch
Find a Cervelo dealer

Ridley Noah SL — £5,399.99

The Noah FAST packs a lot of innovative aero technology, including slotted forks and seat stays, integrated v-brakes and small ridges on the leading edges of the frame surfaces to smooth airflow. It’s still available, but the Belgian company has released the new Noah SL which is lighter than the previous Noah with a 950g claimed frame weight. It still features the innovative F-Splitfork, but there’s no slotted rear stays and the raised ridges have been incorporated into the tube shapes. The integrated brakes are gone, in their place regular caliper brakes in front of the fork and at the seat stay.

Read about Greg Henderson's Ridley Noah SL
Find a Ridley dealer

Pinarello Dogma F8 — £ 3,899 (frameset)

Developed in collaboration with Team Sky and Jaguar, the Dogma F8 is the first aero road bike from Pinarello, and it’s just won the 2015 Tour de France, though we reckon Chris Froome could have won on any bike. The F8 uses FlatBack tube profiles, a Kamm Tail sort of shape, with a rounded leading edge and chopped tail. Pinnarello has also lowered the seat tube water bottle cage and it’s further shielded by the down tube. Meanwhile, up front the fork has been derived from the company’s Bollide time trial bike with an aerodynamic shape, and the crown closely nestles into a recess in the down tube.

Find a Pinarello dealer

Canyon Aeroad CF SLX — £6,699

The second-generation Aeroad CF SLX has been inspired by the work on its futuristic Speedmax time trial bike, with razor sharp aero tube profiles and an optional one-piece handlebar and stem assembly. Much of the company’s focus with the new bike has been in reducing the frontal surface area, so along with the new handlebar there’s a narrower and hour-glass shaped head tube to help reduce drag. Other changes include the new tube profile, a variant of the Trident shape used on the Speedmax, and a seat tube that hugs the curvature of the rear wheel. Unlike some aero road bikes that integrate the brake callipers, Canyon has opted for direct-mount Shimano brakes in the regular positions.Shimano brakes in the regular positions.

Read our review of the Canyon Aeroad CF SLX 70 Di2

Specialized Venge Vias — £6,499.99

Out with the old Venge, in with the new Venge Vias. The Venge has had a radical makeover, with an all-new aero frame with the most interesting integrated brakes we’ve ever seen. Manufacturers have been integrating brakes into the frame in an effort to reduce drag, but the Specialized approach, with custom designed brake calipers, is claimed to produce zero drag. Elsewhere, a new aero handlebar and stem provides full internal cable routing, there are almost no visible cables on this bike, a further measure to reduce drag.

Read about Mark Cavendish's Venge at the Tour de France
Find a Specialized dealer 

Scott Foil — from £2,299

The Foil arguably kicked off the whole aero road bike trend, bringing aerodynamic design that was once the preserve of time trial bikes to regular road bikes. This update has been a long time coming but it’s evolution, not revolution that is the news here. Changes to the front-end see the down tube lowered and wrapped around the fork crown, and a smaller rear triangle and new internal seat clamp in the top tube. The rear brake is also positioned underneath the chain stays.

Read our coverage of the 2016 Scott Foil launch
Find a Scott dealer

Trek Madone — from £4,499.99

Once an all-round lightweight race bike, the Madone has been given a complete aerodynamic makeover this year. It features a version of the Isospeed decoupler borrowed from the Domane to provide some comfort (aero road bikes have traditionally compromised comfort in the quest for speed) and it’s wrapped up in a frame with Kamm Tail shaped tubes. Like Specialized, Trek has also developed its own brake callipers, and they’re concealed within the fork and seat stays. To keep the cable routing of the centre pull front brake nice and clean, the head tube features flaps that open and close when the fork is turned.

Read our coverage of the 2016 Trek Madone launch
Find a Trek dealer

Merida Reacto — from £749.99

Merida’s Reacto features tube profiles shape in accordance with NACA airfoil principles, and using the popular Kamm tail approach of chopping off the trailing edge, tricking the air into acting as if the trailing edge were there. More than any other bike here, the Reacto looks like a time trail in drag. There’s an aero seat post, internal cable routing and the rear brake is positioned underneath the chain stays. The front brake, meanwhile, is found on the front of the fork.

Read our review of the Merida Reacto 300
Find a Merida dealer

Canyon Ultimate CF SLX — from £2.699

Canyon has given its latest Ultimate CF SLX a light touch of aerodynamic influence. It has developed a new D-shaped down tube, seat tube and seatpost, which along with a new internal seat clamp, adds up to a claimed 10% reduction in drag compared to the previous non-aero Ultimate. It doesn’t challenge Canyon’s Aeroad CF SLX for outright slipperiness in the wind tunnel, but does point to a future where all road bikes might one day be shaped in the wind tunnel.

BMC TimeMachine TMR01 — from £2,099

Launched in 2013, the TimeMachine grew out of the understanding of aerodynamics BMC derived from its TM01 time trial bike project. It uses a truncated wing profile (not unlike a Kamm tail) for the main sections of the frame. To reduce the air turbulence over the frame members BMC puts a smooth groove at the leading edge of forward facing sections, called a Tripwire. This delays flow separation and keeps the air attached for as long as possible, minimising drag — in essence it's doing the same job as the dimples on a golf ball.

Read our coverage of the BMC TimeMachine launch
Find a BMC dealer

Giant Propel Advanced — from £1,299

The Propel Advanced SL 3 was Giant's bold entry into the aero road bike fray and gave rise to a whole range of highly-regarded Propel bikes. 

Key to the frame is the AeroSystem Shaping technology that is the result of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) research and wind-tunnel tests. Every tube has been carefully shaped, with a teardrop shape in evidence wherever you look. Interestingly, the down tube has been shaped with a water bottle in mind. It’s flattened where the water bottle normally protrudes from the sides of a conventional down tube.

Read our review of the Giant Propel Advanced 1  
Read our coverage of the original Giant Propel launch
Find a Giant dealer​

You may have seen video of the huge crash caused by a stalled motorbike at the Red Hook Crit in Brooklyn, New York City on Saturday evening – and now, more footage has emerged showing that in the qualifiers too, the event lives up to its reputation for riders coming to grief.

> Video: Stalled moto causes massive stack at Red Hook Crit

Now in its ninth edition in New York City – it’s also expanded to Barcelona, London and Milan – the event is confined to fixed-gear bikes, so get a line into a corner wrong, for example, and you don’t have the get-out that a standard road bike’s brakes would give you.

Suffice to say there are bodies everywhere in this bikecam video of Saturday’s qualifiers posted to Instagram by user Biketuhl.

 

Nice try red hook, can't get rid of me that easy. Qualified for the finals #rhc #aventon #fixedgear #redhookcrit #singlespeed #aventonbikes #ridebiker

A video posted by Tristan Uhl (@biketuhl) on Apr 30, 2016 at 12:40pm PDT

Meanwhile, one of the riders involved in the crash with the motorbike at the start of the final, Manuel Velez, has shared a picture of his frame on Instagram; it’s a write-off.

 

After watching the video from last night's crash over and over. I realized what I hit was actualy the motorcycle. I hit the guy straight on, first my front tire then my elbow. After that I was under a pile of bikes and people Goodbye to the new frame that I was loving so much. Glad I'm ok. #redhookcrit

A photo posted by Manuel Velez (@manuelvelez_) on May 1, 2016 at 7:21am PDT

And just to show that the Red Hook Crit isn’t just about the crashes, here’s a video from Specialized showing its apparel and technical graphics designer, McKenzie Sampson, coming up with custom designs for a bike, shoes, helmet, and skinsuit used in New York.

Specialized will be doing similar customisations for the other three events in the series this year.

Hargroves Cycles have rolled into town with their deal guns blazing. Not only are they firing red hot deals and fantastic discounts your way, they're offering up to £250 worth of FREE stuff when you buy a 2016 road bike from them.

If you're looking to upgrade your ride for the summer, it looks like Hargroves is the place to go. Regardless of your budget you'll be able to take home a selection of free bike bits, the size of that selection however does depend on your budget.

The Spend & Save offer goes like this:

Buy a 2016 road bike between the prices of £500 & £749.99 and you'll get a £50 discount; between £750 & £999.99 you'll receive a £75 discount; £1000-£1499.99 will see you with £100 to spend; buy a bike worth £1500-£1999.99 and you'll get £150 to spend; anything between £2000 & £2499.99 will get you a £200 voucher; and anything over £2500 will see you with a huge £250 worth of free bike stuff.

If that's not enough for you, in today's DealCatcher we've also got a 1/3rd off a Bianchi Intenso Tiagra bike, 57% off Specialized's full RBX Expert Kit, up to 40% off Tifosi sunglasses, and 26% off a fantastic smartwatch from Garmin.

Happy shopping!

Up to £250 of FREE kit when you buy a 2016 road bike
Cube's 2016 Attain GTC Disc | £1799.99

Cube Attain GTC Dsic 2016.jpg

First up we've got the Spend & Save deal that we mentioned above for you.

Hargroves have a huge selection for 2016 road bikes, but Cube's 2016 Attain GTC Disc road bike caught our eye.

If you opt for the Cube, you'll be getting an extra £150 to spend on bike kit.

Cube's Litening range is a favourite of ours here at road.cc and the new-for-2016 disc-equipped Attain has already got our mouths watering.

Cube's new Comfort Flex carbon frame has a tapered head tube and an integrated headset and is supposedly surprisingly stiff - despite the choice of name.

The rear end seas Aero Flex stays, which bizarrely do flex, and make the ride significantly more comfortable than the front end would suggest, which is just as well, this is a high performance long-distance racer.

The rest of the componentry features Shimano's Ultegra groupset, Shimano BR-RS505 hydraulic disc brakes, DT Swiss Spline R24 wheels, and Schwalbe One Kevlar tyres.

- Read more: road.cc's Cube Litening C68 Pro Blackline review

33% off Bianchi's 2015 Intenso Tiagra 
WAS £1500.00 | NOW £999.99

Bianchi Intenso Tiagra 2015.jpg

Away from the Spend & Save hullabaloo, there are some fantastic deals to be had on Hargroves' stock from last season.

This 2015 Bianchi Intenso features a full Shimano Tiagra groupset, a geometrically comfortable high-end carbon monocoque frame, Shimano WH-R501 wheels, and a San Marco Era Startup Power saddle.

As far as bang-for-buck bikes go, this one's pretty high on our list.

- Read more: road.cc's Bianchi Vertigo review

57% off Specialized's RBX Expert Bib Short & Jersey bundle
WAS £115.00 | NOW £49.99

Specialized Pro RBX jersey shorts combo.jpg

Even if you're not prepared for the summer yet, you can at least get your wardrobe up to scratch. And it's even easier with Hargroves' massive discount on Specialized's RBX Expert kit.

This RBX jersey and short bundle, with its 57% discount, offers incredible value for money.

The jersey's got a comfortable fit, which means you won't be sticking to the inside of a skintight race jersey in the blazing sunshine. There's a hydrofit finish on the elastic SL 130 fabric that helps moisture evaporate, speeding up the drying process. A full front zipper will help keep you cool, reflective stripes will keep you seen, and UPF50 UV protection will keep you not sunburnt.

The bib shorts offer good value too. Their anatomic shape, heavy Action Elastan material offers fantastic muscle support from a compression standpoint, elasticated hems and silicon grippers will keep the shorts in place too.

30%+ off Hargroves' range of Tifosi glasses, including:
40% off Tifosi's Pro Escalate S.F.H. Glasses
WAS £149.99 | NOW £89.99

Tifosi Pro Escalate SFH Glasses.jpg

We like Tifosi sunglasses, we've reviewed quite a few of them. We've even reviewed the Pro Escalates that feature here as recently as March.

When these goggles passed across our review desk our man Dave Atkinson snapped them up, took them out for a spin, and finished up giving them a solid 8/10.

He said they the Tifosi Pro Escalates are a "versatile eyewear system that gives you a good range of frames and lenses in one case."

He does go into more detail in the review, which you can read below, but we'll note that while these are Tifosi's most expensive pair of glasses, Dave says they "still represent decent value because they're really versatile, and it's good to have everything you could reasonably need in one place.

"If you're looking for one purchase to cover all your eyewear needs - on and off the bike - these are definitely worth looking at."

- Read more: road.cc's Tifosi Pro Escalate FSH glasses review

26% off Garmin's Forerunner 630
WAS £389.99 | NOW £289.99

Garmin Forerunner 630.jpg

Finally, if you missed yesterday's DealCatcher, Hargroves' deal on Garmin smartwatches featured.

This is the Garmin Forerunner 630. It features a stunning full colour touchscreen and metrics that can monitor distance, speed, and your lactate threshold, as well as your stride length and running performance when you decide - god knows why - to leave your bike at home.

We also mentioned yesterday that you can also buy one of seven Garmin smartwatch options for bargain prices right now. That offer is made even more appealing thanks to the extra £5 Hargroves are offering off of the Forerunner 230 & 235 with the coupon code 'Garmin5'.

Check out the full range here. 

Peter Sagan could be headed to Astana for the 2017 season on an annual salary of €4 million according to a report in Italian daily La Gazzetta dello Sport.

The newspaper says that Specialized – bike sponsor of Astana, as well as Sagan’s current Tinkoff team, which folds at the end of this season – is behind the rumoured move.

Etixx-Quick Step, likewise supplied by the US bike firm, has also been reported as wanting to sign the man who will be the hottest property in the coming transfer season – and moreover, a rider Specialized seems determined to retain.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, a potential move to Etixx-Quickstep, while making sense from a sporting point of view given the Tour of Flanders champion’s prowess over the cobbles, has floundered since team manager Patrick Lefevere is unwilling to meet the 26-year-old’s wage demands.

Astana, which will see 2013 Tour de France champion Vincenzo Nibali depart at the end of this season, therefore appears to have moved into pole position for the Slovak’s signature, although no official announcement can be made until 1 August, when the transfer season opens.

While Fabio Aru will lead the team’s Grand Tour ambitions, the team would also have a new focus on the Classics, spearheaded by Sagan, who besides that Flanders victory - his first in a Monument - also won Gent-Wevelgem this year.

At the weekend, the Slovak won the points jersey at the Tour of California for the sixth time in seven editions – the sole blank being last season when that prize went to Mark Cavendish, but Sagan took the overall.

He has also topped the points classification at the past four editions of the Tour de France, a record bettered only by Erik Zabel who won six in a row at the turn of the Millennium.

The DealCatcher's been over to Cycle Store today to check out their wares. Amongst those wares are some pretty spectacular bargains, including a 70% discount on some slightly out of season jackets.

Those slightly out of season - and thus fantastically discounted - jackets are Altura's Raceline range of water repellent and windproof jackets which we reviewed very positively here at road.cc - check that review out below.

CatEye's Stealth Evo cycling computer follows, another product we reviewed positively here at road.cc. Over at Cycle Store it's seen a 30% price drop.

Following that we've got a 63% discounted pair of Specialized gloves, 40% off Specialized's fantastic S-works Prevail Helmet, and a pair of Tifosi Lore sunglasses at a 44% discount.

Enjoy!

70% off Altura's Raceline Windproof Jacket
WAS £119.99 | NOW £35.99

Altura Raceline Jackets.jpg

As far as the road.cc review of the Altura Raceline jacket went, the only question mark we really had over it was the price tag.

With Cycle Store having completely blown that stumbling block out of the way, what's stopping you from adding this totally windproof cool weather jacket to your wardrobe?

If you get a bit toasty, which would be understandable should you decide to use this jacket to keep out biting early morning breezes before somewhat warmer afternoons, it does a good job at wicking away sweat.

That said, this jacket will really come into its own later in the year, so this isn't so much an investment for the next few months as it is for the few months after.

- Read more: road.cc's Altura Race  Line Windproof Jacket review

30% off Cateye's Stealth Evo GPS Computer
WAS £79.99 | NOW £55.99

Cateye stealth zero.jpg

We reviewed the Stealth back in 2014, before this upgraded version hit the market. Now you can measure your maximum and average power outputs, your heart rate and cadence measurements, and your power balance with the device.

Even before the introduction of the features above, our man Steve Worland, had plenty of positive things to say about the device. It's fair to say in its current incarnation, and at its current price the Stealth would score even better than the 7/10 it received from Steve.

- Read more: road.cc's Cateye Stealth GPS computer review

63% off Specialized BG 74 Works Glove
WAS £39.99 | NOW £14.99

Specialized bg74 gloves.jpg

There's something incredibly classy about leather cycling gloves. A long way from the occasionally tacky feel of lycra and synthetic materials, Specialized have bagged a good looking leather winner here, especially at this discounted price.

Of course, if you've been wood by a more expensive pair in the past, like the Rapha Grand Tour Gloves - the review of which you can read below - these are a fantastic alternative at a tiny fraction of the price.

- Read more: road.cc's Rapha Men's Grand Tour Gloves review

40% off Specialized's S-works Prevail Team Helmet
WAS £159.99 | NOW £95.99

Specialized Sworks helmets.jpg

If you're looking to upgrade your helmet game to professional levels, look no further.

We reviewed the Specialized Prevail S-Works helmet back in 2012, and our tech editor David Arthur loved it.

It walked away with an 8/10, and David called it "Specialized's best ever helmet,"and a "seriously light, well ventilated, and comfortable helmet with easy adjustment."

- Read more: road.cc's Specialized Prevail S-Works Helmet review

44% off Tifosi's Lore Gloss Black Clarion 3-Lens sunglasses
WAS £69.99 | NOW £38.99

Tifosi Lore glasses.jpg

Sure, we started off this DealCatcher on a wintry note, but we're certainly ending it with an eye or two on the incoming days of sunshine!

Tifosi's Lore sunglasses are super lightweight and incredibly durable, and thanks to their framelessness won't suffer from the same problems that their similarly priced Tifosi Dolomite brothers suffered from when we reviewed them last year.

- Read more: road.cc's Tifosi Dolomite 2.0 sunglasses review

With temperatures set to hang around the mid-twenties this week, we think it's safe to say that summer's well on its way. So, with that in mind, the road.cc DealCatcher's got some summery deals just for you guys.

Starting things off are Cycle Surgery and their fantastic 50% discount on the superbly summer Mavic Infinity Jersey. If you're not a fan of tight fitting jerseys, make sure to check out the Mavic Infinity relaxed fit, which has also had half of its price tag sliced away.

Second up are Chain Reaction Cycles and their 62% discount on MET's Stradivarius helmet. It's one we reviewed very favourably, and it comes in a great range of summery colours.

Finally, over at Cycle Store you can currently get your hands on some great Specialized bib shorts at a 50% discount. We've picked out their racing range, partly for the great colour selection, and partly for how well suited they are to warm weather, but there are others.

Cycle Surgery

50% off Mavic's Infinity Jersey
WAS £124.99 | NOW £61.99

Mavic Infinity Jersey.jpg

White jerseys are a classy option, and they make so much sense when the sun's shining, like it's meant to do for much of this week.

Reflectivity in hot weather conditions is probably what the bunch over at Mavic were going for when they were sat around their designing table. Combating heat makes sense from a colour perspective, especially when you're putting as much effort into the tech to keep riders cool as Mavic are in their Infinity range.

It's Mavic's Wick Matrix that sets the infinity apart. The fabric is incredibly lightweight and fantastically breathable. The composite construction pulls water away from the skin to keep you cool, dry, and relatively sweat free.

It also comes in a relaxed fit, if you're not fond of the body-hugging types.

Chain Reaction Cycles

62% off MET's Stradivarius HES Road Helmet
WAS £129.99 | NOW £49.99

MET Stradavarius helmet.png

As the temperature moves closer to the 30's you'll be wanting to find as many ways to keep yourself cool as you possibly can. Whether that's buying an insulated water bottle to keep your drink cool, investing in a specialist warm weather jersey like the Mavic one above, or improving the airflow in that stuffy old helmet of yours, every little helps.

There's not much you can actually do to improve air flow in a helmet without compromising its structural integrity, which is a pretty vital aspect of helmetry.

Alternatively you could invest in a 62% discounted MET helmet that our tech editor David Arthur called "cool, comfortable, [and] lightweight with great airflow."

Seriously, the Stradivarius is a great warm weather helmet option that offered good value at full price. Right now it's a stone cold, or cool, bargain.

- Read more: road.cc's MET Stradivarius Helmet review

Cycle Store

50% off Specialized's Pro Racing Bib Shorts
WAS £74.99 | NOW £37.99

Specialized Pro Racing Bib shorts.jpg

Finally, check out the short options over at Cycle Store. They've currently got 50% off their range of Specialized bib shorts which includes these fancy-looking Pro Racing Bibs.

These, though, are a great summer bib option. Not only do they come with UPF 50 UV protection, they're soft, lightweight, and comfortable, while giving you some fantastic leg support via the inclusion of muscle compression technology.

The road.cc DealCatcher's paid a visit to the deal doctors over at Cycle Surgery this afternoon and has returned with a mountain of bike deals for those of you with meagre budgets, to those of you looking to blow the hinges off of your savings vaults.

The highlight of the range is Cycle Surgery's exclusive deal on Orbea bikes. Both the full carbon Orbea Orca M35SE and the Avant M60SE are available at incredible discounts, especially when you consider they're both this year's models.

After we've emerged from that deep pool of Orbea deals, we're plunged straight into a sea of bicycle bargains ranging from the £649 Wilier's Montegrappa Elite all the way up to the £4500 Specialized's S-Works Venge

We're sure you'll find something amongst the list below that fits your needs, Cycle Surgery are pretty sure, too.

If you can't, check out the rest of their bike deals, here.

30% off Orbea's Orca M35SE 2016 Road Bike
WAS £1999.00 | NOW £1399.00

Orbea Orca M35SE.jpg

Cycle Surgery's exclusive deals on Orbea's Orca and Avant road bikes are incredible offers, especially considering the extra £200 and £100 that have been swiped off of their respective price tags.

Back in 2014 we reviewed the Orca's more expensive Shimano Di2 running big brother. You can read that review below, but all you really need to know is that we liked it.

- Read more: road.cc's Orbea Orca B M10 review 

This Orca, though, runs Shimano's 105 groupset, carries a full carbon steerer, a Vision Team 25mm wheelset, a Prologo Kappa Evo saddle, and FSA Gossamer Compact handlebars.

It's not as racey as the Orca we reviewed in 2014, but it should be right up your street if you're looking for a full carbon ride that'll be quick, comfortable, and incredibly good value.

33% off Orbea's Avant M60SE 2016 Road Bike
WAS £1199.00 | NOW £799.00

Orbea Avant M60SE.jpg

The second Orbea in today's DealCatcher is the Avant M60SE road bike. Another 2016 model, and a very capable one at that.

Running Shimano's excellent Tiagra 4700 groupset, which we reviewed very positively, and a full carbon frame with internally routed cables, the Avant is an absolute steal at £799.

The bike also has a carbon fibre seat post, a Prologo K3 saddle, Vittoria Runnino 25mm tyres, and a Shimano R500 wheelset.

35% off Wilier's Montegrappa Elite 2014 Road Bike
WAS £999.00 | NOW £649.00

Wilier Montegrappa Elite 2014.jpg

Next up is the cheapest of our other selections.

A 35% discount brings Wilier's Montegrappa Elite road bike down from £1000 to £649.

We covered the Montegrappa Elite when it was announced back in 2014, and noted it's skinny seatstays that are designed to add an extra level of comfort to your ride.

The aluminium frameset is accompanied by a mixture of Shimano Tiagra and 105 components, Maxxis Detonator tyres, WARP rims on Shimano Claris hubs, and a San Marco Era saddle.

- Read more: road.cc's coverage of Wilier's 2014 range

31% off Giant's Avail Advanced 2 2014 Road Bike
WAS £1899.00 | NOW £1299.00

Giant Avail Advanced 2 2014.jpg

One of the last bastion's of Giant's female range of bikes before the rebrand to Liv, the Giant Avail Advanced 2 became the Liv Avail Advanced 2 just a few months after its release in 2014.

- Read more: road.cc's Liv Avail Advanced launch coverage

The Avail Advanced launched under Liv's branding was an endurance bike, and while the Giant Avail we've got here isn't pegged as one, it's more than set up to offer long comfortable days in the saddle.

Running Shimano's 105 20-speed groupset, Giant P-SL1 wheels, a Fi'zi:k Vesta MG saddle, and Giant's Contact stem that's designed to give their carbon OverDrive 2 steerer that extra bit of precision, the Avail Advanced 2 here offer's a hell of a lot for £1299.

36% off Wilier's Zero 9 Ultegra 2015 Road Bike
WAS £2499.00 | NOW £1600.00

Wilier Zero 9 Ultegra 2015.jpg

Here's Wilier's Zero 9 road bike. A racer which apparently draws from Wilier's 109 years' worht of design and innovation experiesnce.

It looks sleek, and we know it rides well, as you'll discover below.

We also know that for your money you're getting a great deal: full carbon monocoque frame and fork, Vittoria Rubino Pro tyres, Shimano's RS21 wheelset, and a Selle Sam Marco Aspide saddle.

When we went riding on it though, it was kitted out with Campagnolo's Chorus groupset.

- Read more: road.cc's First Ride on the Wilier Zero 9

While we can't comment too much on how the Shimano Ultegra 6800 groupset available here gets on with the Zero 9, we don't imagine it'll have too much of an effect on things like the excellent comfort we felt while riding, or the bike's overall ability to "get around the course as fast as possible."

35% off Cube's Litening C68 SL 2015
WAS £3399.00 | NOW £2199.00

Cube Litening C68 SL 2015.jpg

Described as featherweight by Cube, the Litening C68 is a very fast and responsive racing machine.

For a smidge over £2000 you're getting an incredibly capable racer here, we should know, we reviewed its slightly cheaper Blackline brother and praised it to the high heavens.

Read more: road.cc's Cube Litening C68 Blackline review

The Blackline was cheaper primeraly because it ran Shimano's slightly inferior Ultegra groupset. This one runs the top of the line Dura Ace BR-9000 groupset.

The Advanced Twin Mould frame is the same - Cube's special carbon folding process that eliminates weak points in the frame - as are the handlebars and seatpost.

You'll be getting Fulcrum's Racing 44 Aero wheels, and Selle Italia's Flite MG saddle too.

30% off Specialized's S-Works Venge 2014
WAS £6500.00 | NOW £4500.00

Specialized S-Works Venge 2014.jpg

Finally, Specialized's pro favourite Venge is on offer at a huge £2000 discount.

We've seen a few of these looking pretty fancy in the pro peloton over the years; not too many in this racey orange though.

- Read more: Peter Sagan's 'camo' Specialized Venge

- Read more: Mark Cavendish's 'special' Specialized Venge

We've never actually reviewed a Venge here at road.cc, so we can't give you any immediate feedback on how the thing rides, though the general consensus is: they're very quick.

This one's hooked up to some of the best bike bits money could buy when it was released. Check out the Shimano Dura Ace groupset, the Roval Rapide CLX wheelset with ceramic bearings, and the Body Geometry Romin Evo Pro saddle.

The frame is Specialized's FACT 11r carbon, as is the fork. It's a lot of money, but it's also a huge amount of bike, too.

The Specialized Airnet is a comfortable, well-ventilated and lightweight helmet that is a good candidate if you have a £100 budget.

It has the appearance of an aero helmet, and that's because the shape is based on the company's Evade aero lid, but critically it boasts more vents for superior ventilation. In the wind tunnel, Specialized claims that while the Airnet isn't as slippery as the Evade that it's loosely based on, it's less draggy than the long-running Prevail. (I reviewed the S-Works Prevail back in 2012 – you can read that test here.) 

> Find your nearest dealer here

The low-profile shape of the Airnet is also evocative of the old leather hairnet hats that cyclists used to wear before polystyrene helmets really took off and became mandatory in the professional peloton. If you're wondering what one of those looked like, here's a photo or two...

Specialized Airnet Helmet - front.jpg

On the head, the Airnet is very comfortable and feels very similar to the Prevail. It's heavier, but the weight difference is easily overlooked when you look at the £60 price gap between the two. There's the same turn-dial retention system found in Specialized's more expensive helmets, and it does an excellent job of gripping your head without any excessive pressure.

Specialized Airnet Helmet - bag.jpg

Merino pads provide good moisture management but it's the 23 vents that ensure the helmet deals well with hot weather. In fact, it's one of the best-ventilated helmets I've tested and certainly competes well against similarly priced rivals, and even helmets costing much more.

Specialized Airnet Helmet - inside.jpg

Hands up if you like to park your shades in the helmet from time to time... Me too, and the Airnet accommodates shades very well, with gripper material to ensure they stay put, handy when grovelling up climbs.

> Read our buyer's guide to performance helmets

My only criticism is the lack of adjustable straps. The plastic Y junction that brings the straps together, fortunately, sits comfortably below my ears, but it would be nice to be able to adjust them to suit.

Verdict

Comfortable and well-ventilated helmet

Your saddle is one of the easiest things to upgrade to save weight and improve comfort.

Few component changes constitute a genuine upgrade as much as a new saddle. The right seat can lop a substantial amount of weight off your bike, and make for a more comfortable ride at the same time.

Fizik Kurve Snake Aluminium saddle - underside

In the last few years saddle designers have become very adept at blending features that both reduce weight and improve comfort. Most of the improvements have come from composite materials that allow carefully tuned flex in a very light hull so the saddle better absorbs shock and moves with you as you pedal.

On top of a lightweight hull, you'll usually find a thin layer of very dense foam and/or gel. This helps spread your weight over the hull, but with modern flexible hulls it's less important than it used to be. Some very light saddles do without it altogether, and even manage to be fairly comfortable anyway. 

The search for better foams and gels has even led to saddle makers branching out into other fields. A few years ago, Selle Royal, owner of Fizik, span off a subsidiary company to make memory foam pillows and mattresses incorporating the Technogel material it originally developed for saddles.

Lighter rail materials make a big difference to saddle performance too. The slight flex of titanium rails helps absorb shock, while carbon fibre rails save save a lot of weight.

Selle Italia Flite Tekno Flow saddle - underside

You’ve never had a wider choice of saddle shapes and widths. Companies like Specialized and Bontrager make their performance saddles in a range of widths, Fizik tailors its designs to a rider’s flexibility and Charge offers saddles in three width classes and each model in three different shapes.

To help navigate this thicket of choices and find the right saddle for you, you’ll probably want to quite literally get your bum into a bike shop and get fitted for your saddle with one of the measuring devices many saddle makers now supply their dealers. This will tell you the spacing of your sit bones, the first thing you need to know to get a saddle that fits and will therefore be comfortable.

If it’s on offer, take up any chance to test-ride a saddle. The only way to be sure a saddle is right for you is to ride it for long enough for your bum to get used to it.

A typical stock saddle on a £1000 bike weighs about 300g, so for each of the saddles below we’ve calculated the Hairsine ratio – the grams saved per pound cost. This gives an indication of value for money, at least from the ‘lighten your bike’ perspective.

12 great performance saddles

B'Twin 900 Sport — £19.99

Weight: 247g Hairsine ratio: 2.65

BTwin 900 Sport Bike Saddle

The B'Twin 900 Sport Saddle is an own-brand product from sporting megastore Decathlon, designed for 'sport' bikes rather than, say, leisure or commuting, hence the slim profile and narrow nose. It's comfortable, reasonably lightweight, pleasing to the eye and remarkably good value.

It’s not featherweght, but for 20 quid you don’t expect it to be. The weight is pretty reasonable and it’s a very comfortable saddle. We used it for short training rides, and for a couple of more relaxed 100-mile outings as well. After a month of using it, our tester decided he liked it so much he left it on his bike.

Read our review of the B'Twin 900 Sport

Essax Adrenaline R titanium — £48.99

Weight: 157g Hairsine ratio: 3.04

Essax Adrenaline R saddle

The 130mm wide version of this keenly-priced saddle weighs 157g, which is light compared to others at a similar price range and beats many that cost more than its £104 RRP. It can currently be found for half that, which makes it a heck of a bargain if you’re looking to shed bike grams on a budget.

When riding, the saddle's flat design is apparent and you notice it's not the most flexible. Although it's not uncomfortable as such, as you get further into a long ride you can feel that it is a saddle that has little flex and padding, but it makes up for in other areas. According to Essax: "padding is added to the key areas where the ischium sitbones contact the saddle to offer comfort where you need it most on a performance saddle".

Because the saddle is so stiff, it feels like you're not wasting any power in flex. It is worth noting though, that it saves your power, but it is certainly not a seat that is armchair-comfortable over many hours of riding.

Read our review of the Essax Adrenaline R titanium

Find a Essax dealer

Arte Selle Dakar Double — £50

Weight: 172g Hairsine ratio: 2.56

Arte Selle Dakar Double saddle

Arte Selle's Dakar Double saddle is a high quality bit of kit that we found really comfortable. It packs a couple of surprises too, the first of which is the price: it costs just £50.

The rails are titanium while the carbon-infused base has just a little bit of flex. You get a middling depth of padding here; enough to provide decent cushioning but not so much that it feels spongy. It's smooth down the centre while the side panels have a slightly textured matt finish.

In use the Dakar Double feels great. It's a tried and tested shape similar to that of plenty of other race saddles. If you get on with the Selle Italia SLR, for example, the shape of this saddle isn't a million miles off. We found the comfort provided by the shell and the cushioning to be spot on.

Read our review of the Arte Selle Dakar Double

Selle San Marco Concor Racing — £59.99

Weight: 200g Hairsine ratio: 1.67

Selle San Marco Concor Racing Fluoro Flash Edition 2.jpg

The rebirth of a classic design from the late 1970s, the Selle San Marco Concor Racing Fluoro Flash Edition is a firm, light, racing-orientated saddle.

It's firm enough to provide a solid power base but offers enough flex to provide stability even on the longest of rides. It's a well made, supportive ride at a reasonable price.

Read our review of the Selle San Marco Concor Racing

Find a Selle dealer

Bontrager Serano RL — £89.99

Weight: 225g Hairsine ratio: 0.83

Bontrager Serano RL saddle

Bontrager's Serano saddle draws on a design that has been around for many years, which is why they call it a 'classic shape'.

We clocked several hundred kilometres and didn't think twice about the Serano, and our tester felt no need to rush back to his old saddle. We're willing to bet this saddle shape will work for a lot of people; it simply supports the bottom so well and provides adequate padding in the key areas.

It's available in three widths: 128, 138 and 144mm. A Bontrager dealer will be able to help you find the right one for your sit bones.

Read our review of the Bontrager Serano RL

Find a Bontrager dealer

Specialized Women’s Ruby Expert — £85

Weight: 205g Hairsine ratio: 1.12

Specialized Ruby Expert saddle

There aren't many performance saddles aimed at women. Saddle makers tend to go for width and padding when making women's saddles, which doesn't make for low weight.

In a small field, this is an excellent saddle. It's available in a choice of widths including a properly narrow 130mm to suit your style of riding and just as importantly your sit bones too. It's a firm saddle, but very light. In comparison with most female specific saddles, it's a pared down seat, ideally suited to aggressive road riding and racing.

With the trademark BG cut-out, it's designed to relieve pressure where it's needed without sacrificing ride efficiency. Hollow titanium rails help keep the weight down, and at just 205g for the 143mm size that we tested, it's definitely one of the lightest women's saddles on the market. The cushioning is placed exactly where you need it to support your sit bones, alleviating any discomfort or feeling of pressure.

This saddle is at its most comfortable when riding in a stretched forward position, but still gives all-round day long comfort too. There was little feeling of loss of power, with the saddle remaining a background feature of the ride, rather than making its presence actively known. Given the choice of widths, this is a good option for any female road rider looking for a comfortable performance saddle.

Read our review of the Specialized Women’s Ruby Expert

Find a Specialized dealer

Fizik Antares R5 with K:ium rails — £93.49

Weight: 175g Hairsine ratio: 1.34

Fizik Antares Saddle

For riders with intermediate flexibility, the Antares is a light, comfortable road saddle with a good depth of padding. The K:ium rails — Fizik's hollow titanium alloy — help keep the weight down while it's comfortable thans to the Wingflex feature it shares with other saddles in the family.

Your weight is carried primarily on your sit bones which are easily supported by the wide rear section, but the dense foam and flex in the shell do a good job of cushioning the road shocks and vibrations. The padding remains thick all the way up the nose, allowing you to move forward for those long turns in the drops or big climbs in comfort, a welcome change for a lightweight saddle.

Read our review of the Fizik Antares R5 with K:ium rails

Find a Fizik dealer

Fabric Scoop Flat Pro — £109.99

Weight: 190g Hairsine ratio: 1.00

Fabric Scoop Flat Pro saddle.jpg

Fabric offers three versions of the 143mm wide Scoop: flat, shallow and radius. If you want something wider, there’s the 155mm Cell, while the 134mm ALM is your choice if you want something narrower. There isn't much padding, but there is loads of flex in the one-piece base and it's this flex that really provides the core of its magnificent comfort. The carbon rails provide a surprising amount of flex too.

The real beauty of the Fabric Scoop is the construction. The waterproof microfibre cover isn't stitched or stapled into place, it's moulded to a one-piece nylon base. It's really very impressive and if you get the chance to fondle one in your bike shop you really should, it's a marvellous bit of design.

Read our review of the Fabric Scoop Flat Pro

Find a Fabric dealer

Fizik Kurve Snake Aluminium — £170.99

Weight: 220g Hairsine ratio: 0.47

Fizik Kurve Snake Aluminium saddle

Fizik’s Kurve saddles have a clever hull design that moves with you as you pedal, making for a very comfortable seat. The three-model range follows the shapes of three of Fizik’s regular saddles; the long, flat Snake is equivalent to the popular Arione.

Despite the movement as you pedal, the seat still feels stiff. In fact you can't feel anything unusual at all. Even from the first ride the saddle just feels right. There is very minimal padding between the shell and the elastic cover but it's all you need.

Read our review of the Fizik Kurve Snake Aluminium

Find a Fizik dealer

Selle Italia SLR Tekno — £230.69

Weight: 96g Hairsine ratio: 0.88

Selle Italia SLR Tekno saddle

The Selle Italia SLR Tekno is an extremely lightweight saddle although its lack of padding makes it feel firmer than most so it has to fit you very well if you're going to stay comfortable on longer rides.

The SLR Tekno's main selling point is its weight. Ours hit the scales at just 96g (Selle Italia claim 90g). You could reasonably say that anything under 200g falls into the lightweight category, sub-150g is superlight, and below 100g is nuts.

We can't say this is among the most comfortable saddles we've ever used but it's far from the least. It feels firm but we could live with it easily enough, especially when used on a bike with a fairly flexible 27.2mm diameter seatpost. We know of people who rack up 100-milers on this saddle and think nothing of it. We'd save it for race day. I'd certainly use it for a crit or a short road race where weight is a more important factor than long-ride comfort. You might be saving just 100g or so over a regular lightweight saddle, but if you're a weight weenie focusing on marginal gains it all counts.

Read our review of the Selle Italia SLR Tekno

Find a Selle dealer

Selle Italia Flite Tekno Flow — £194.99

Weight: 137g Hairsine ratio: 0.84

Selle Italia Flite Tekno Flow saddle

The Selle Italia Flite Tekno Flow saddle is an updated classic that's lost weight and some of the usual depth of cushioning, and gained a slightly flatter and wider shape. It’s a lightweight saddle with a fairly shallow amount of padding, but the flex in the shell, especially through the central section, means it feels firm rather than harsh.

At its £313.99 RRP this is the most expensive saddle we’ve ever tested, but it can be found a lot cheaper than that eye-watering figure.

Read our review of the Selle Italia Flite Tekno Flow

Find a Selle dealer

Prologo Zero C3 Nack — £239.90

Weight: 164g Hairsine ratio: 0.57

Prologo Zero C3 Nack

The Prologo Zero C3 Nack is a light, thinly cushioned and beautifully finished saddle, although it's an expensive one. The fairly shallow cushioning means that the it’s quite a firm saddle, although flex in the base – not loads, but some – helps smooth over road vibration and takes the edge off bigger hits.

We didn't find its firmness to be a problem, though. It was perfectly comfortable for both short and long rides, although it's safe to say that if you're after a soft, deeply cushioned saddle, this isn't the one for you.

Read our review of the Prologo Zero C3 Nack

Find a Prologo dealer

The DealCatcher's got three massive cycling brands - Specialized, Shimano, and Castelli - for you lot to drool over in today's DealCatcher.

Getting things off to a roaring start are Evans Cycles. They've currently got a massive sale on their 2016 Specialized bikes, including this stunning 25% discount on this year's Allez Sport.

Second are Ribble Cycles and their deal on Shimano's incredible Ultegra 6800 groupset. We reviewed it incredibly favourably a little while back, so at a 54% discount, you're certainly on to a winner here.

Finally, Cycle Surgery have a great deal on a particularly summer Castelli 5.1 Aero jersey. We've not had a chance to review the 5.1, but we have reviewed the 5.0 - a link to that review can be found further down.

Evans Cycles

25% off Specialized's 2016 Allez Sport
WAS £750.00 | NOW £562.50

specialized-allez-sport-2016.jpg

Speciailized must be doing something right. Not only do their Allez models sell like hotcakes year after year, they alos represent - at least they did in 2014 - the third most stolen model of bike in the UK.

We expect their 2016 model to follow suit - not in the theft stakes - rather in the quality stakes.

When we reviewed the Allez Comp back in 2012, our tech editor Mat Brett called it "value-packed" that "puts in a strong performance across the board."

This year you'll be getting Shimano's 9-speed Sora shifters and chain set, a Sunrace cassette, an AXIS Classic wheelset, all hung on Specialized's excellent E5 Premium Aluminium frame.

- Read more: road.cc's Specialized Allez Comp review

Ribble Cycles

54% off Shinamo's Ultegra 6800 groupset
WAS £925.00 | NOW £429.99

Shimano Ultegra 6800.jpg

There's not much more the DealCatcher can do here that our man Dave Atkinson hasn't already dne in his Ultegra review to convince you that Shimano have hit the ball out of the park with their Ultegra groupset.

So, we'll leave the convincing of quality to Mr Atkinson - the 9/10 review can be found below - and we'll just make you aware of the incredibble price drop you've got infront of you here.

Over two years, a 54% drop in price is fantastic. You were already getting fantastic value for money at full price, but at £430, this groupstet that offers "fantastic braking and great shifting" is stunning value for money.

- Read more: road.cc's Shimano Ultegra 6800 groupset review

Cycle Surgery

22% off Catelli's Aero Race 5.1 jersey
WAS £90.00 | NOW £70.00

Castelli Aero 5.1.jpg

Finally, Castelli's Aero Race 5.1 Jersey rounds off a terrific set of deals in today's DealCatcher.

if you want to spend the summer scything through the wind, this is your ticket to victory.

Equally, it'll scythe through the wind in any season, we only suggest the summer because the jersey is exceptionally light - weighing in at 103g - so you'll stay nice and cool even if you're not powering to glory.

If you want more of an idea what Castelli can do in the aerodynamic jersey department, check out our review of the 5.0's cousin, the 5.1 jersey.

- Read more: road.cc's Castellie Aero Race 5.0 jersey review

The road.cc DealCatcher been whipping around the country's top online retailers to find the best cycling deals for our readers.

Hargroves Cycles, Wheelies, and Science in Sport feature in today's round-up with bikes, shoes, and hydration tablets - all of which will give you a boost on your summer adventures.

Starting at Hargroves Cycles the DealCatcher's got his hands on - or his feet in - a pair of Specialized's Comp Road Shoes. They've had a 27% discount too, which is nice for those of you looking for a new pair of 'kicks'.

Next up is Wheelies. They've sliced 15% off their asking price for 2016's Cannondale Synapse Hi-MOD Disc road bike - it's running SRAM's RED groupset too.

Our final deal of the day comes by way of Science in Sport. They've currently got a smashing offer on their Hydro GO hydration tablets. You can get three tubes for £10.

Hargroves Cycles

27% off Specialized's Comp Road Shoes
WAS £129.99 | NOW £95.00

specialized-comp-road-black.jpg

Specialized's Comp Road shoe features all of the high-end features you've come to expect from one of the world's top bicycle manufacturers.

High levels of adjustability via their Lightweight BOA S2-SV dial closure system which allows the rider to modify the shoe's fit while on the move, coupled with the Body Geometry injection-moulded nylon composite sole allows for lossless power transfer .

Reflective details on the heel will help keep you safe, and the synthetic upper meshing will keep you well ventilated and comfortable throughout the day.

At a 27% discount you'll be getting excellent value should you choose to upgrade your footwear this summer.

Wheelies

15% off Cannondale's Synapse Hi-MOD Disc RED 2016 Road Bike
WAS £4499.99 | NOW £3824.99

Cannondale-Synapse-Hi-MOD-Disc-RED-2016.jpg

Cannondale's timeless Synapse endurance range is back once again in 2016.

Coming at you with 10 different models with varying levels of componentry and customisation.

This number - available at Wheelies for an excellent 15% off - comes with SRAM's RED groupset.

In our round-up of this year's best endurance bikes, in which the Synapse of course featured extensively, our tech editor David Arthur said:

" To provide the necessary smoothness customers demand from such bikes, Cannondale has used a combination of design features — a skinny 25.4mm seatpost, sculpted stays and shock-damping carbon layup — that together produce a buttery smooth ride.

As well as that super skinny seatpost, Cannondale has integrated the seat clamp into the top tube so there is more exposed seat tube to flex. The head tube is 2.5cm taller than the racier SuperSix Evo and the wheelbase is longer, while the reach is about the same as the Evo."

- Read more: road.cc's guide to 2016 endurance bikes

Science in Sport

3 for £10 on SiS GO Hydro tablets
WAS £20.97 | NOW £10.00

SIS GO Hydro tubes multi.jpg

The final item on today's deal list is this nutrition nerd-confirmed bargain in the way of three of SiS's selection of GO Hydro tablets for £10.

The 3 for £10 offer stands for incredible value - the savings end up coming in at around 52% - and the tablets will be more necessary than ever over the next couple of - hopefully - very hot months.

We know they're good value because we gave them a pretty solid 8/10 when they came our way for testing.

- Read more: road.cc's SiS GO Hydro Tablet review

The Dolce Sport is Specialized's female equivalent of the Allez Sport, aimed at the sportive market, commuters and road bike beginners. However, it's designed to be more of an all-rounder than the Allez, with a more relaxed geometry comparable with the Trek Domane or Specialized's Roubaix.

Its Specialized A1 premium aluminium frame, with 'Women's endurance geometry' and a Fact carbon fork with Zertz inserts, is fitted with a Shimano Sora drivetrain, with a wide range 9-speed 11-32 cassette and 50/34 compact chainset – pretty standard for this style and price point.

> Find your nearest dealer here

With the aim of balancing comfort with performance, the bike has a fairly upright riding position, well suited to road bike newbies, with some neat features for added comfort including curvy seatstays and a sloping top tube.

Specialized Dolce - seat tube junction 2.jpg

Overall, the ride is very smooth; the aluminium frame and carbon fork absorb road surface imperfections with no discernible buzz or harshness. Thin and curvy seatstays help create a comfortable rear end, and form a continuous line with the sloped top tube. This leaves plenty of the 27.2mm alloy seatpost exposed, helping to damp shocks even on very poor road surfaces, working well with the Fact carbon fork and its shock-absorbing elastomer Zertz inserts up front.

Specialized Dolce - fork.jpg

Decent sized chainstays and a large down tube lend rigidity to the bottom half of the frame and the bottom bracket area, helping to transfer power from the pedal stroke, though it's not as stiff as some and acceleration suffers slightly as a result.

Specialized Dolce - bottom bracket.jpg

Generally, the Dolce Sport provides a great riding experience, being reassuringly steady even at speed, though with that upright position I tended to move back in the saddle on fast, flat corners and descents for extra stability. Tight corners at slow speeds posed no problems, and urban riding is no sweat on the Dolce Sport, if you're looking for a commuter bike.

Specialized Dolce - riding 1.jpg

The Specialized Comp handlebar, with its short reach, is comfortable, and the shallow drop makes finding various positions easy without feeling like a stretch. Brake and gear levers are easily accessible, even for small hands. The Specialized 3D stem sits on top of three spacers, should you want to lower the handlebar and progress to a more aggressive riding position.

Specialized Dolce - shallow drop bars.jpg

The bike comes fitted with 25mm Specialized Espoir Sport tyres, following the current trend for wider tyres. They roll well, providing adequate grip on the road, with a wire bead and double BlackBelt protection to reduce the risk of punctures. Wheels are Axis Classics, and performed well enough.

Specialized Dolce - tyre.jpg

I found the Body Geometry Women's Riva Sport saddle, which is used on many of Specialized's women's bikes, comfortable without being too squishy or too hard.

Specialized Dolce - Saddle.jpg

Looks-wise, to my mind the Dolce has a little bit of the mountain bike about it, with Specialized's distinctive curved, sloping top tube like many of its women's hybrids and road bikes, harking back to the early Tarmac design. The internal routing is pleasing and, while the blocky blue graphics aren't too inspiring, look closer and you'll notice the paintwork has a subtle sparkle that is rather beguiling in direct sunlight, almost imperceptible otherwise.

> Read our guide to the best road bikes between £500 and £750

To balance the spangly paintwork, the Dolce Sport has a rather pleasing blade-like top tube, which tapers from an oval cross-section at the head tube to an almost flat profile where it meets the seat tube, like someone pinched it.

Specialized Dolce - integrated seattube and seatstay.jpg

I was between sizes, so ended up a little cramped on a 51cm frame. Generally speaking, it didn't hamper my enjoyment of the bike, which is smooth, nippy and fun to ride on the open road and in town. Overall, it's an excellent entry-level bike that will not disappoint as a sportive machine or commuter ride.

Verdict

Very decent entry-level, beginner-friendly road bike that's smooth, manoeuvrable and fun to ride