Deciding which bike to get? This is what our Olympians ride.

Sir Chris Hoy (@ChrisHoy)
Considering the fact that we’ve started with Sir Chris Hoy, then let’s cut to the chase and examine his wheels. As an aside, you’ll probably have realised this already, but you need a few bob for any of these two-wheelers as they’re not cheap bikes. These are the best bikes as chosen by the best riders on the planet, so if you’re deciding which bike to get then read on dear rider, read on.

Sir Chris is master of the velodrome and as such, spends many a day whizzing round in circles (well, ovals to be precise) as well as not whizzing anywhere at all when he’s busy training in the gym. Sir Chris’ chosen stallion is a specially designed bike that we mere mortals can’t unfortunately just pop into Halfords to buy. His Track frame weighs a meagre 1.4kg but when the bike’s built up it weighs 6.8 kg and therefore meets the international guidelines for minimum weight. Contributing to that additional mass are a Sprint fork, a steerer tube, Sprint bars and Mavic wheels. Not your average bike. Not your average man. Not a cheap bike.

Bradley Wiggins (@BradWiggins)
Moving on to another bicycle legend, an odds-on Knight-in-the-making, and another rider of one of the best bikes on the planet. Ask Bradley Wiggins which bike to get and we’d be surprised if he didn’t recommend the Pinarello Dogma 2. This is the bike he mounted to achieve hero-status during the 2012 Tour de France and can be yours for a mere £3,950. It’s a beautiful piece of kit and is generally considered to be the best balanced and most efficient bike every created.

Alistair Brownlee (@AliBrownleetri)
Perhaps not widely known prior to the London 2012 Olympics, Alistair Brownlee has confirmed his place in the spotlight by also confirming his place as the No.1 Triathalete in the World with a Gold medal. An incredible athlete, after swimming 1.5km and then cycling 40km, Alistair ran his 10km faster than some of the finalists in the 10km event in the Olympic stadium. Not bad Son. Unsurprisingly, Brownlee (and his brother, a Bronze medallist) rides one of the best bikes on the market so if you’re still unsure which bike to get then the Brownlees would no doubt recommend the Boardman AiR/9.8 which they both rode to victory (only £1,399.99 for the frameset). They stick a pair of Zip 404’s FireCrest wheels on the bottom and a SRAM Red groupset and bob’s your uncle and Alistair’s your Gold medallist.

Victoria Pendleton (@V_Pendleton)
Having widely announced her retirement from competitive cycling, Victoria Pendleton has clearly got her head screwed on as well as her two wheels. She’s launched her own range of female bicycles which we think are stunning. As a track cyclist read above for her competitive cycle, but we think if you asked Vicky which bike to get then she’d be silly not to recommend the Pendleton Somerby Hybrid bike. It’s a cheap bike by Olympic standards coming in at a competitive £279.99. Give that girl a gold medal for her business nous alone.

Mark Cavendish (@MarkCavendish)
When the Manx Missile that is Mark Cavendish had his big shot of glory in the road race then he binned his Pinarello and took to a road-going version of the GB track bike. Mark’s bike was designed by Dimitris Katsanis, the former sprinter turned carbon expert (interesting career change we think) and perfected by our very own Chris Boardman. This little number isn’t available to the public but if you’re still trying to decide which bike to get then we’ve still got a hot tip.

You, the Judge
Well when it comes to the good ‘ole British public then it appears that cost is king with the trusty Raleigh being the UK’s best seller. This really is a cheap bike coming in well under £100. It’s fair to say that it’s not exactly one of the best bikes, especially when in this esteemed company, but it is one of the cheap bikes which is probably what pushed it up to the Gold medal position on the podium.

Author: Ben Reynolds