About

We started StenCycle because buying a bike in 2026 is harder than riding one. Twelve brands, four wheel standards, three bottom bracket arguments and a thousand words of marketing between you and a simple answer.

What we do

StenCycle publishes four kinds of page and nothing else. Buying guides answer “what should I buy with this budget”. Comparisons settle a specific either or decision. Reviews take one product apart properly. Learn articles explain the vocabulary so the other three make sense.

We cover road, gravel, endurance and commuting: bikes, groupsets, wheels, tyres, computers, trainers and the kit you actually need rather than the kit that photographs well. We do not cover downhill mountain biking or professional racing. Somebody else does that better.

What we believe

The trade off is the article. Every choice in cycling costs you something somewhere else. Lighter costs comfort or money. Faster costs stability. Cheaper costs weight. A recommendation that does not name the cost is not a recommendation.
Most riders are over biked. The honest answer to a lot of upgrade questions is tyres, a bike fit, or nothing. We will keep giving that answer even though it earns us nothing.
Old gear is often the best value in cycling. A three year old bike with a current groupset beats a new bike with a worse one at the same price, most of the time.
You should be able to check our work. That is why the testing policy is public and every number has a source.

Independence

StenCycle earns money through affiliate commission and nothing else. No sponsored posts, no paid rankings, no advertiser previews. A brand cannot buy a placement here at any price, and several have asked. Full details are in the affiliate disclosure.

Who Write This

StenCycle is written by riders who log the miles they claim. Every article carries a byline, a last updated date and a link to the testing policy. If you want to know the experience behind a specific verdict, ask us and we will tell you exactly how many kilometres it rests on.

We are a small editorial team that rides year round: commuting, gravel, trail and the school run. Our recommendations come from riding the gear, reading the spec sheets properly, and cross-checking long term owner reports for the failures that only show up after a wet winter.

We never take payment for a placement. Links to retailers are affiliate links, which is how the site pays for itself, and they never change which product we put first. Read the full method.

What is next

Our publishing queue is driven by reader questions. The categories most often asked about get tested first, so if there is a guide you want and cannot find, send it over. It genuinely moves things up the list.

Start with the guides

Pick a budget, get a shortlist, read why. That is the whole idea.