Specialized Amira SL4 Comp – £2,000

Want a bike that rides like it was put on this earth for one reason only, that being to race? Then the Amira is for you.

The frame shares its geometry with the top end version ridden by World Champion Lizzie Armitstead in her title winning race, so you know this is an aggressive attacking ride.

Lizzie Armitstead Receives Custom World Champion S-Works Amira

Described as ‘stiff, snappy, responsive’ – our own TWC editor rides this bike and couldn’t agree more. With a full Ultegra groupset, including the brakes (which are often compromised by brands trying to save cash) you can be as confident in the stopping power as the acceleration.

Buying Guide: Road Bike Wheels

The only let downs are the Fulcrum S4 wheels, which you might want to upgrade at a later date. These are shod with Specialized Turbo Pro tyres – still race rubber, but you might want to swap them for a slightly faster rolling, more supple option come ‘the season’ proper.

Trek Silque SL Women’s – £2,200

When we reviewed the 2015 version of this bike, the key take away was that it’s silque by name and silky by nature, in fact we called it “as smooth as a well brewed flat white.”

Little (or perhaps nothing) has changed for the 2016 model – the bike still features Trek’s famous IsoSpeed decoupler – which acts as a buffer between the seat tube and top tube, preventing lumps and bumps from being transmitted. The OCLV carbon is super lightweight, but engineered not to lack stiffness – though we’d say this ride does feel more relaxed than a more aggressive race oriented bike.

The groupset, as you may have come to expect, is full Ultegra with a 50/34 compact chainset, and an 11-32 cassette – great if you’re heading to the alps, but if you’re a confident climber you may prefer to swap that cassette for a narrower ratio 11-28 option. This will mean that you won’t find big gaps between the gears, but should give you plenty of spin for the likes of UK climbs.

If you’ve got your sights set on a Trek, but are specifically after the lightest bike you can get, check out the feather like Emonda SL6 which is also £2,100 and is available in a women’s specific fit.

Bianchi Intenso Damabianca Ultegra 2016 Womens Road Bike – £2,100

Known for their beautiful, passion filled Italian Stallions, Bianchi have a range of women’s options which share unisex geometry with smaller sizes available, shorter cranks, narrower handlebars and women’s saddles.

As a rule, Italian bikes feature shorter top tubes than most American or UK brands offer – so you shouldn’t be too concerned about finding you’re overly stretched out, though of course bike fit is always personal. The length is shortened with a 70mm stem on smaller models, and a 90mm stem on larger sizes.

Fitting a Female Body to a Unisex Bike

The Intenso is Bianchi’s endurance focused model – though this women’s version doesn’t come with discs as some of the unisex models. The Vittoria Zaffiro Pro Slick 7 tyres are 25c, but there’s clearance for 28c rubber if you want something wider for rougher roads.

The groupset is full Ultegra, with a compact chainset and pretty standard 11-28 cassette.

Specialized Alias Tiagra 2016 Women’s Road Bike

This one is for those thinking of attacking triathlons or time trials this season, but only have space or cash for one bike. There are plenty of lovely road bikes, and plenty of lovely time trial bikes out there – but none are truly proficient at race and training duties as the Alias claims to be.

What to Expect at a Club 10 Time Trial

The Alias comes with clip on bars and two seat post options – a standard and a zero offset that will put the rider in a position that is more aerodynamic when teamed with the bars. Unlike simply attaching clip on bars to any road bike, the geometry is fine tuned to create a true TT/triathlon set-up which will allow the rider to get much lower, much more aero, and thus much faster.

Where do you lose out? You’re paying £2,000 for a Tiagra groupset with Axis 1.0 wheels and brakes – so a much lower spec than those above at the same price. However, you do get a machine you can love in training and on race day – which is a rare treat – and groupsets can always be upgraded come your next Birthday!

These are seven of the bikes that have really caught our eye, from brands that are making a clear effort to include women’s models in their ranges. When shopping, don’t forget to keep an eye on unisex models. Depending on your height and personal measurements, you might get on just as well with a unisex model – read more about this heavily researched topic here.