If Porsche sold as many cars as the brand has fans, other manufacturers would have a lot to worry about. However, if you look at the registration statistics, the sports car manufacturer was at the bottom of the league in 2004 - which is hardly surprising when the cheapest Porsche costs 43,000 euros.
The situation is similar with racing bikes. Fantastically light carbon racers for 5,000 euros and more may put many racing cyclists to sleep. But when it comes to actually buying a bike, cool heads usually prevail over fiery passion. On average, TOUR readers spent 1,835 euros on a new road bike last year. Not a Porsche, then. And why should it be? Today, sensationally good road bike technology is available for 1,835 euros. Improvements that are first introduced on top racers are regularly found a year later in the next price category down. As a result, mid-range racers are often only mid-range in terms of price, but almost top of the range in terms of function and appearance.
This is roughly the conclusion of our current mid-range test, for which we analysed 20 road bike models between € 1,800 and € 2,000 in the laboratory and in practice. Unlike in previous years, this time the test field was smaller and the price range narrower, which makes the bikes shown easier to compare.
You can find these bikes in the test:
AKTM Strada 4000, Barellia 505 Race, Basso Reef, Cannondale R 900 CAAD 8, Felt F55, Focus Izalco, Hai Speed Carbon Team Issue, Isaac Pascal, Koga Miyata Gents Lux, Merida Road 906, O By Roy Hinnen 04, Poison Opiat, Rocket Team Race, Rowona Pro Team SL, Soil Super Prestige, Solution Daytona, Steppenwolf Prisma RC, Stevens Izoard Pro Carbon, Trenga DE TDR 6 Pro, Viner Evolution
(Text: Manuel Jekel/Matthias Borchers, Uwe Geissler/Daniel Simon)
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