The first bikes to ever roll off a production line were made of steel. It’s the material that kick-started the industrial revolution and gave birth to the modern age.
But in an era of space travel and smartphones, why would you want a bike made from anything other than carbon fibre? Put simply, because it’s fun to be different and while there are drawbacks, steel has a unique charm and some real-world advantages over other frame materials. Let’s break it down.
Reviews of the best steel road bikes
- All-City Zig Zag: RRP £1,300 – Read our full review
- Cinelli Nemo Tig: RRP £2.049 (frameset) – Read our full review
- Condor Super Acciaio: RRP £1,700 – Read our full review
- Fairlight Strael: RRP from £1,399 – Read our full review
- Genesis Equilibrium Disc: RRP £2,699 – Read our full review
- Mason Resolution: RRP £1,595 – Read our full review
- Ritchey Road Logic: RRP £1359.99 – Read our full review
- Ritte Phantom Steel: RRP £2,137 – Read our full review
- Stayer Crit: RRP £2,200 – Read our full review
Keeping reading for full details of all these bikes
Related questions you can explore with Ask Cyclist, our new AI search engine.
Are steel bikes comfortable?
Steel bikes can be very comfortable but you should be wary of generalisations, as there’s a lot more to a bike’s personality than just its frame material.
Steel comes in many grades and variants but it’s overall a comparatively hard and stiff material. Good quality steel frames use carefully chosen tube profiles to target stiffness and flexibility where it’s needed.
Butting – where tubing varies in wall thickness along its length – allows bike makers to place more material where strength is required, and less where it’s not, to save weight.
One reason some riders love steel is because it doesn’t ride quite like anything else. It’s not magic, but steel has a distinct character that’s simply different to aluminium or carbon.
Steel bikes do tend to be strong and resistant to damage and, with care, they will usually last a lifetime. Although you’re unlikely to see one at the Tour de France, steel can also still form the heart of a proper racing bike.
Are steel bikes heavy?
With the exception of some one-off custom designs, steel bikes are always heavier than what you might expect from an equivalent aluminium or carbon bike, but don’t let that put you off.
A good quality steel road frame will weigh around 2kg, give or take a bit, in other words a good kilo more than a pretty average carbon frame. Many steel frames are also matched to steel forks, widening the gap even further.
Neverthless, it’s possible to build up a respectably light steel bike using premium components, even coming close to the 6.8kg UCI minimum weight limit.
Regardless, a bike doesn’t have to be ultra-light to be a joy to ride. We care more about the experience than the numbers, and the best steel bikes are sublime.
How we test and why you should trust our advice
We’re riders like you who love our bikes and our team of testers led by tech editor Sam Challis is immensely experienced. Between us we've reviewed bikes from every mainstream manufacturer plus countless smaller brands, covering everything from the entry level to the truly premium.
We've ridden every bike on this list, heading out in all weathers on roads we know well to decide if they're up to scratch.
Whether it’s a £500 commuter or a £12,000 superbike, we bring a critical eye to our reviews, and we prize bikes that combine good design with everyday usability and, above all, fun.
Read on for our favourite steel road bikes.
Best steel road bikes reviewed by Cyclist's experts
All-City Zig Zag
£1,300 (frameset) | View offer
- Pros: Decent weight for built bikes, 35mm tyre clearance
- Cons: All City brand being wound down, limited availability
- Highlights: 30mm tyres, clearance for mudguards, rack mounts
The All-City Zig Zag is a versatile steel road bike designed in the United States and manufactured in the Far East. It relies on generous tyre clearances and aggressive geometry for a fun riding experience.
Using custom-created tubing, even when built up with a modest component list of Shimano 105 groupset, alloy Halo Devaura wheels and alloy Genetic finishing kit, this is still a bike that clocks in at a respectable 9.4kg. Obviously, this won’t be troubling machines with carbon frames, but it’s pretty impressive considering the versatility and robustness on offer.
Our test bike was rolling on broad 30mm tubeless Schwalbe Pro One tyres and it was supple and smooth. There’s clearance for wider 35mm tyres along with eyelets for racks and mudguards, so it’ll take to rougher terrain too.
With a comfortable riding position and slightly longer than average wheelbase, the Zig Zag is happy to try its hand at other activities. It’s never so upright as to be lifeless and so always provides a nice mix of speed and stability. Better yet, it comes in some fabulous paintjobs.
The Zig Zag is currently available as a frameset only in the UK. It's been announced that All City will close down and will not be developing any new bikes beyond the 2024 model year, so there's limited availability of framesets and sizes.
- Read our All-City Zig Zag review
- Buy Now from Swinnerton Cycles £3,299.99
Cinelli Nemo Tig
£1,399 (RRP: £2,049) (frameset) | View offer
- Pros: Racy oversized frame, sub-8kg weight
- Cons: Now only sold with disc brakes in UK
- Highlights: Carbon wheels, last-gen Campagnolo groupset
It's a fast, purple Italian steel bike with rim brakes – what more could you ask for in life?
The Nemo Tig combines quite a modern fat-tube aesthetic with the oldest frame material in the world, producing a proper race bike that will certainly turn heads.
Our test bike with last-gen Campagnolo Chorus squeaked in under 8kg which is pretty good for steel, helped by those rim brakes and low-profile Miche carbon wheels.
The Nemo Tig should be high on your list if you want steel that isn't sedate. There's a disc brake version available as well for the non-purists, and that's the only option currently imported into the UK.
- Read our Cinelli Nemo Tig review
Condor Super Acciaio Disc
£1,700 (frameset) | View offer
- Pros: Lively ride, great descending
- Cons: Gauche dropouts
- Highlights: Custom Columbus tube profiles, quality paint scheme
Made in Italy from custom Columbus Spirit HSS tubing, the Super Acciaio was designed by venerable London bike seller Condor Cycles.
It's a fast-looking bike that’s legitimately race-ready with the right build.
Out of the stalls, the Super Acciaio has the feeling of an excited buck rather than a stately mare, and on the climbs the extra weight is mostly unapparent thanks to the front and rear stiffness on offer.
Even when facing the steepest gradients, we’d happily accept the slight extra drag for the way the Acciaio descends.
If the Acciaio has one standout strength, it’s handling. At low speeds it’s fine, but when the road plummets the handling becomes more responsive, with the overall feel of road-holding that much more assured.
Available only as a custom-build, our mechanical Ultegra and Mavic-equipped creation came out at £5,500 and 8.65kg.
The classic-looking Super Acciaio is a dashing all-rounder with a racing bent. It’s quick enough to compete on but still well-mannered enough to ride all day. We've also reviewed the Condor Acciaio Stainless if you want to keep rust at bay.
- Read our full Condor Super Acciaio review
Fairlight Strael
£1,399 (frameset) | View offer
- Pros: High and low fits for each frame size, classic steel looks
- Lows: Long order times, 9kg weight
- Highlights: Highly customisable spec, buying process
The Strael is British company Fairlight’s all-season, all-distance steel road bike made from a mix of Reynolds 853 and 725 tubing with custom forming.
Its versatility comes from the wealth of options that Fairlight offers, which includes a two-level sizing system to offer a more personalised fit for each rider and fantastic spec choices that go as far as adding a dynamo.
Weight-wise it’s about where you’d want a high-end steel bike – not as light as carbon but lightweight for the material thanks to those custom tubes, which are also ovalised to ensure stiffness and compliance come into play where you need it most.
That makes for a bike that has a high-performance feel paired with spades of comfort, and the external routing give it a classic look.
The spec we tested is a Shimano Ultegra Di2 build with Hunt 4 Season wheels, 28mm Continental GP5000 tyres and FSA components, which comes to 9.08kg in a size 58R.
- Read our full Fairlight Strael review
Genesis Equilibrium Disc
£2,395 (RRP: £2,699) | View offer
- Pros: Durable, hydraulic braking
- Cons: 10kg-plus weight, sedate ride
- Highlights: Shimano 105 groupset, WTB Exposure 30mm tyres
The Equilibrium Disc is designed to offer all-day comfort with a carbon fork that lets you eat up the miles. On the face of it, these attributes, allied to a 105 groupset and decent tyres, are a recipe for success.
Featuring a pronounced sloping top tube, the frame itself is constructed of Reynolds 725 tubing and butted to create strength where it’s needed and save weight where it’s not.
A slack head angle gives a predictable rate of turn-in and contributes to a sensation of being utterly planted to the road at all times.
Although it’s not a touring bike, it can do a decent impression of one if that’s what you want thanks to mounts and multi-terrain capable 30mm WTB Exposure tyres.
The full Shimano 105 groupset with hydraulic brakes means shifting and stopping is also uber-reliable, and the gearing range is generous too. There's a rim brake option available that shaves a bit off the pricetag.
At a touch over 10kg, there’s no getting away from the Equilibrium’s weight. The price is also perhaps a little premium. However, being both lovely to look at and charming to ride, it more than justifies its place on our list.
- Read our Genesis Equilibrium Disc review
Mason Resolution
£1,795 (frameset) | View offer
- Pros: Modern spec, four-season versatility
- Cons: Not very agile, too nice for all-seasons use
- Highlights: Wide range of luggage bosses, 35mm tyre clearance
Part of the joy of a steel bike is its timelessness. Now with bolt-thru axles and flat mount discs, but the same dialled-in geometry, version two of the Resolution has proved exactly that.
Racy to behold, the UK-designed Resolution nevertheless marketed as a four-season bike. How so? Because with the right accessories it can turn its hand to pretty much any road-based discipline.
Hidden all over the Columbus steel-tubed frame and carbon fork are a plethora of tucked-away bosses to secure mudguards and pannier racks. At a glance, you wouldn’t notice them, but check the inside of the fork legs or at the back of the chainstay bridge and you’ll find bolt holes ready to accept the necessary mounts to turn the Resolution into anything from winter hack to full-on touring rig.
Clearances are generous, with space for up to 35mm tyres (30mm with mudguards), suggesting the Resolution wouldn’t mind a spot of gravel riding to boot, yet strip it back to its bare essentials and the geometry is just about racy enough for someone who wants to mix it on a crit circuit.
Delivering all the bike you’re likely to ever need, this racy machine will adapt to your whims, yet never threatens to be anything other than a blast to ride
- Read our full Mason Resolution review
Ritchey Road Logic
£1087.99 (RRP: £1359.99) (frameset) | View offer
- Pros: Stable, comfortable ride
- Cons: Rim brake only, sub-par wheels and tyres
- Highlights: Ritchey branded components, quality frame
Few bikes blend new and old with more panache than a steel Ritchey – the Road Logic is a truly handsome thing.
We tested a build that arguably didn't do the bike justice, but as a frameset the Ritchey is a much more appealing prospect, with classic lines and 30mm clearance in the rim brake version. If you buy a complete bike, budget for a spec upgrade. There's a disc brake option available, as well as the classic rim brake frameset that we tested.
- Read our Ritchey Road Logic review
Ritte Phantom Steel
£2,096 (frameset) | View offer
- Pros: Stiff and responsive, classic lines
- Cons: Direct road feel, limited UK availability
- Highlights: T47 bottom bracket, clean frame welds
Proof that a skinny-tubed, steel bike can still deliver a stiff and responsive ride, the Ritte Phantom Steel is based around a Reynolds 725 frame that’s exquisite in every detail.
Made from heat-treated tubes using a process that allows them to have extremely thin walls, these deliver stiffness and performance at a weight within sight of carbon frames.
Our SRAM Force-equipped test bike weighed a respectable 8.59kg and featured a slew of modern features including a T47 threaded bottom bracket, internal cabling, flat-mount disc brakes and thru-axles.
The Phantom features full-on race geometry. Add this to its minimal mass and the result is an appreciably spritely feel on the road.
It’s stiff for sprinting and although there’s a degree of damping, it offers a pretty direct relationship with the road.
The Phantom is a recognisably modern road racing bike, but made of steel. It's a classically handsome bike replete with clean lines and elegant welds.
- Read our full Ritte Phantom Steel review
Stayer Crit
£2,200 | View offer
- Pros: Small batch build, comfortable ride
- Cons: Not a full custom build, unlike Stayer's other frames
- Highlights: Full 105 groupset, can choose your own colour scheme
Despite the name, the Crit isn't just for short, fast laps. It's lively and smooth on the road and the geometry allows tight, fast cornering and over-the-bars steep climbing, while the narrow steel tubing provides flex and spring to the ride, but not to the detriment of pedalling efficiency.
The bike is hand-built in East London in small batches with set geometry, rather than being a full custom build like the brand's other bikes, bringing down the price and lead time. You still get to choose colour, groupset and other details. Plus there's a distinctive, handmade look that sets the Stayer Crit apart from mass market carbon frames.
- Read our Stayer Crit review
Love steel but looking to ride the rough stuff? Head to our buyer's guide to the best gravel bikes for some steel gravel options
