The wattage figures given are the result of standardised and independent wind tunnel testing carried out by TOUR. They apply to the specific model variant and specification indicated in each case; the ranking is based on the measured value in standard production condition. Changes to the specifications – particularly tyres, handlebars, wheels or drivetrains – can slightly alter the ranking, which is why we have deliberately refrained from assigning specific rankings. We discuss the potential of each bike in detail based on the specifications tested.
STORCK AERFAST.5 PRO: 195 watts
With the Aerfast, industry veteran Markus Storck gradually worked his way up to the world’s elite of the fastest aero road bikes. Sometimes the frame was optimised, sometimes the fork; the handlebar assembly also underwent several updates. With the model unveiled in 2024 – whose frame had been redesigned to comply with the new UCI regulations – the Idstein-based manufacturer finally just managed to break the 200-watt mark. A further tweaked setup featuring new DT Swiss wheels, narrower tyres and a new handlebar even saw 195 watts flash up on the display this year. To achieve this, Storck has pulled out all the stops: alongside the frame set with flat tube shapes, the single-chainring drivetrain, extremely tall carbon wheels and Conti Aero tyres stand out; even the handlebar tape has been trimmed at the ends. The weight of this speed machine, reduced to 6.9 kilograms with numerous tuning parts, is also quite acceptable. The only drawback: it rides extremely stiffly, and the limited gear range isn’t suited to steep hills. With a more everyday-friendly setup featuring a double chainring, different wheels and standard tyres, the bike still managed a very fast 203 watts.
- Model: Storck Aerfast.5 Pro
- Drive/Gearbox: SRAM Red AXS (1x12)
- Wheels: DT Swiss ARC 1100 Dicut 52
- Tyres: Continental Aero 111 TR/Grand Prix 5000 S TR 26/25 mm
POWER OUTPUT: 196 watts
What does it take to build one of the fastest bikes in the world? Dedication, design expertise and manufacturing technology. The small three-man firm Stromm from the USA seems to have all these elements well combined. This year, Stromm temporarily claimed the title for the fastest bike measured by TOUR, achieving 196 watts at 45 km/h in the wind tunnel. Shortly afterwards, Storck managed to break the record once again with the Aerfast.5. With a different wheelset and slightly narrower tyres, the RAKTT even clocked 194.9 watts. The bike’s enormous potential stems, on the one hand, from its design featuring slender tube profiles. On the other hand, the components are also optimised for maximum speed. A single-chainring crankset, aero tyres, tall wheels and a very narrow handlebar offer the wind little surface area to catch. The RAKTT is particularly fast when facing a headwind – a scenario that predominates when there is little wind or when riding at very high speeds. The bike pays for this performance with below-average frame stiffness. The design is better suited to solo rides than to precision manoeuvres in a tightly packed peloton. The equally low bottom bracket stiffness isn’t a noticeable drawback when climbing, but during vigorous acceleration, it lacks the defined feel that stiffer bikes provide. Anyone with a passion for speed, who enjoys riding bikes from niche brands and appreciates the feeling of riding what is currently the fastest bike in the world, will find the Raktt a perfect match.
- Model: Stromm Raktt SRAM Red AXS
- Drive/Gearbox: SRAM Red AXS (1x12)
- Wheels: Zipp 454 NSW
- Tyres: Continental Aero 111 TR/Grand Prix 5000 S TR 29/30 mm
MERIDA REACTO: 197 watts
Compared with its predecessor, the Reacto has taken a huge leap forward, improving from 208 to 197 watts – the second-best figure we have recorded to date for a production bike. This massive improvement is the result of a holistic approach. Not only have the frame, fork and cockpit been improved, but the components have also been carefully selected – at least for the ‘One’ spec, which is tuned for maximum speed and which we tested. The wheels and aero tyres are perfectly matched. This means that there is no loss of airflow at the front wheel during our 20-degree swivel test. From the front, the slim head tube and the deeper fork legs are noticeable. The Classified in-hub gear system – which eliminates the need for a derailleur – and the aero chainring together deliver those final two to three watts. The geometry is almost comfortable compared to other extreme models; overall, it’s a bit more relaxed, but not boring. The bike handles cobbles well, but is also a joy on a fast local loop. It rides without compromise, whether uphill or downhill. Anyone looking for a fast road bike that does it all will find the Reacto One an excellent choice.
- Model: Merida Reacto One
- Drive/Gearbox: Shimano Dura-Ace/Classified (2x12)
- Wheels: DT Swiss ARC 1100 Dicut
- Tyres: Continental Aero 111 TR/Grand Prix 5000 S TR 29/30 mm
SIMPLON PRIDE 2: 199 watts
The Simplon Pride, launched back in 2021, clearly stood out from the competition at the time with its bold design language. Simplon was the first manufacturer in the world to apply the UCI’s technical regulations, which had been amended at the time, and, together with the aero experts at Swiss Side, pushed the new frame shapes almost to the very limits of what was permitted. The result: an aero record of 199 watts, which was to stand for almost four years. At the time, neither aero tyres nor single-chainring drivetrains were even on the agenda, so there’s still scope to squeeze out a few more watts. Even today, the Simplon remains one of the fastest in the world, and it is to be hoped that further improvements will follow soon: the Vorarlberg-based company is currently in a phase of rebuilding following insolvency.
- Model: Simplon Pride 2 Dura-Ace
- Drive Shimano Dura-Ace (2x12)
- Wheels: DT Swiss ARC 1100 Dicut 62
- Tyres: Schwalbe Pro One 25 mm
VAN RYSEL RCR-F: 200 watts
French sports equipment giant Decathlon’s foray into professional sponsorship coincided with a major leap forward in the development of its road bikes: the models under its own Van Rysel brand have been among the world’s best in technical terms ever since. The RCR-F aero bike, unveiled at the end of 2024, immediately ranked among the fastest road bikes in the TOUR test. Fitted with aero tyres from Continental and Swiss Side wheels – whose expertise in aerodynamics also played a key role in the development of the frame set – the RCR-F broke the 200-watt mark. However, the trade-offs here are its rather high weight and a rock-hard suspension.
- Model: Van Rysel RCR-F Pro CF Dura-Ace
- Drive/Gearbox: Shimano Dura-Ace (2x12)
- Wheels: Swiss Side Hadron² Ultimate 625
- Tyres: Continental Aero 111/Grand Prix 5000 S 26/28 mm
STORCK AERFAST.4 PRO: 201 watts
Even the predecessor to the current frontrunner, the Aerfast.4 – which is still available – makes it onto the list of the fastest bikes. With its extremely flat and narrow fork legs, which were already dimensioned in accordance with the current rules of the UCI Commission, the bike shone in the 2022 TOUR wind tunnel test with 202 watts, surpassed at the time only by the Simplon Pride II. With the Aerfast.4, too, Storck ‘bought’ itself a slight advantage with an aero chainring and the absence of a front derailleur, meaning the bike is of limited suitability for everyday use in this configuration. Fitted with a Shimano Ultegra 2x12 drivetrain, the bike still managed 204 watts in another test. Further drawbacks include the lack of comfort and the heavy weight of 7.5 kilograms; Storck was at least able to improve on the latter with the successor model.
- Model: Storck Aerfast.4 Pro
- Drive/Gearbox: SRAM Red AXS (1x12)
- Wheels: DT Swiss ARC 1100 Dicut 62
- Tyres: Continental Grand Prix 5000 S TR 25 mm
FACTOR ONE: 202 watts
In the wind tunnel, the One performs on a par with other well-known designs (Canyon Aeroad, Cervélo S5), but fails to pull ahead. This is a slight disappointment, but is largely down to a sub-optimal choice of tyres: The 28 mm Conti TT tyres effectively expand to 31 mm wide on the Black Inc wheelsets. Nevertheless, the bike is very fast in absolute terms and can be made even faster with better tyres: As an experiment, we fitted a set of DT Swiss ARC 1100 65 wheels, shod with the slim 26-millimetre-wide Conti Aero 111 tyres, to the bike. With this setup, the Factor One breaks through the 200-watt barrier, clocking 198.2 watts. Without the front derailleur – which we removed for the experiment – the bike reaches 196.8 watts – right where it belongs according to its design philosophy.
- Model: Factor One Dura-Ace
- Drive Shimano Dura-Ace (2x12)
- Wheels: Black Inc Sixty Two
- Tyres: Continental Grand Prix 5000TT TR 28
RIDLEY NOAH FAST: 202 watts
Ridley sent an aerodynamically optimised setup for testing: it does away with the front derailleur and instead combines a single-chainring aero crankset with a wide-range SRAM Force XPLR 13-speed drivetrain from a gravel bike. The 65-millimetre-high DT Swiss wheels are fitted with Conti Aero 111 tyres, a tried-and-tested choice when it comes to aero performance. In the wind tunnel, Ridley’s design impresses with excellent all-round performance. We measured a weighted average of 202 watts for the Noah Fast. This is an excellent figure, confirming it as a genuine aero bike. This comes as no surprise, given that Ridley has its own in-house wind tunnel to draw on during development. A highly customisable, fun bike for riding fast, without the premium price tag charged by other brands.
- Model: Ridley Noah Fast 3.0
- Drive SRAM Force XPLR (1x13)
- Wheels: DT-Swiss ARC 1400 (65 millimetres)
- Tyres: Continental Aero 111 TR 29 mm
SCOTT FOIL: 203 watts
The silhouette and the name raise high expectations, which the Scott manages to live up to in testing: it leaves many competitors behind, particularly in terms of aerodynamics. Fitted with Schwalbe aero tyres, the test bike shown here recorded 203 watts in wind tunnel testing. Although the frame set is one of the heavier models, Scott manages, through a few clever design touches, to keep the total weight below seven kilograms. This is mainly down to the spectacular Syncros wheelsets, which are forged in one piece with the spokes. The Foil also dispels the notion that aero bikes are inherently uncomfortable: its sophisticated seatstay design provides better suspension than most others.
- Model: Scott Foil RC Ultimate
- Drive/Gearbox: SRAM Red AXS (2x12)
- Wheels: Syncros Capital SL Aero 60
- Tyres: Schwalbe Pro One Aero TLE 28 mm
CANYON AEROAD: 204 watts
When it was launched two years ago, the Aeroad still managed to secure a podium place in the wind tunnel rankings – only the Cervélo S5 and the (now discontinued) Cannondale SystemSix were slightly faster. As things stand, the 204 watts the bike achieves in its standard configuration are a fair way off the world’s best. However, this figure excludes ‘tricks’ such as a single-chainring drivetrain or aero tyres, but includes a narrow 25-millimetre front tyre. With a bit of tuning, Matthieu van der Poel’s bike is certainly a contender for the world’s best and a ruthlessly good all-round package: plenty of speed, low weight and decent comfort – few bikes can offer this combination.
- Model: Canyon Aeroad CFR
- Drive/Gearbox: Shimano Dura-Ace (2x12)
- Wheels: DT Swiss ARC 1100 (50 millimetres)
- Tyres: Continentral Grand Prix 5000 S TR 25/28mm
CERVÉLO S5: 204 watts
The predecessor to the current S5 set the benchmark for a long time with 202 watts. Although the version revamped in 2025 does not quite manage to set a new record, we measured 204 watts as the power required by the new S5, fitted with Shimano Ultegra, high-profile wheels and Vittoria Corsa Pro tyres. Nevertheless, the Cervélo remains part of the elite circle of the world’s fastest competition bikes, as neither aero tyres nor a single-chainring drivetrain have helped here either. With a different setup, the bike is likely to gain a little more ground. However, this speedy little machine comes with other trade-offs: even with the most expensive components, it weighs 7.5 kilograms and offers little in the way of riding comfort.
- Model: Cervélo S5 Dura-Ace
- Drive/Gearbox: Shimano Dura-Ace (2x12)
- Wheels: Reserve 57/64 TA
- Tyres: Vittoria Corsa Pro TLR 29 mm
COLNAGO Y1RS: 204 watts
Superstar Tadej Pogačar is a once-in-a-century talent, but he also has top-class kit at his disposal: in our wind tunnel test, we measured an aero power output of 204 watts for Colnago’s Y1RS bike. And yet the aerodynamic potential of our test bike, fitted with Fulcrum wheels and (as effectively measured) 30-millimetre-wide Pirelli tyres, was far from being fully realised. With fast DT Swiss wheels and the aerodynamically optimised Conti front tyre, which we fitted to the bike on a trial basis, the Colnago Y1RS even managed to just break the 200-watt mark, mind you, with a double chainring and a derailleur. Weighing well over seven kilograms, however, the bike is comparatively heavy.
- Model: Colnago Y1RS SRAM Red
- Drive/Gearbox: SRAM Red AXS (2x12)
- Wheels: Vision SC 45
- Tyres: Pirelli P Zero Race TLR 28 mm
Jens Klötzer
Editor