Bike of the Year is back!Its been another action-packed year in cycling tech, with a raft of exciting developments and design evolution across every category and Bike of the Year celebrates the bikes that embody this, as we deliver our verdict on the best of the bunch.So, let this serve as our opening salvo for the 2026 edition, where we explain everything you need to know about our Bike of the Year format.We'll be sharing our category shortlists over the coming days (look out for a full rundown of each category, and why we've picked each bike for consideration), before we announce the winners from Thursday 27 August.What Bike of the Year categories will there be? Bike of the Year 2026 will feature three categories. Scott Windsor / Our Media This year, were running three drop-bar categories for Bike of the Year. Road race bikes Endurance road bikes Gravel bikesAlongside this, our MTB team has been testing the best eMTBs of the year, with their winner to be announced on Tuesday 1 September.In each of our road and gravel categories, weve seen marked developments in how brands are designing their bikes over the past 12 months.Well delve into the trends that have defined each category in 2026 soon, and reveal the shortlist of bikes weve considered for each crown.How are bikes shortlisted for Bike of the Year in 2026? Last year, the Cannondale Synapse won our overall Bike of the Year award because of its progressive design and performance excellence qualities that will stand contenders in good stead again in 2026. Andy Lloyd / Our Media As we test new bikes year-round, we are always looking for the thing that helps set them apart and most importantly makes them worth your time reading about (or watching, for our YouTube channel subscribers).Every new bike our team of expert testers deems to be influential, important or innovative or part of a defining progressive trend is shortlisted for Bike of the Year.Importantly, bikes must have been tested by our team to be considered for the shortlist, with senior tech editor and stalwart of Bike of the Year Warren Rossiter leading our testing this year.What testing has BikeRadar done for Bike of the Year 2026? We've been testing bikes impartially throughout the year, culminating in Bike of the Year. Since the 2025 edition of Bike of the Year, we have tested dozens of new bikes that we know you, our audience, are interested in.Weve focused on reviewing bikes that have been updated and we know are popular, alongside new bikes that push design in an innovative or interesting way.Good examples are gravel bikes with wider-than-ever tyre clearances, endurance road bikes with aero developments, and race road bikes with modernised geometries (to name a few).Only the bikes we've tested are considered for Bike of the Year entry, and the chance to fight it out with the very best bikes of 2026.What makes a Bike of the Year category contender in 2026? We're looking for bikes that stand out from the crowd for the right reasons not just another cut from the same mould. Andy Lloyd / Ourmedia A Bike of the Year category contender must represent a meaningful step forward in design in the context of its competitors.While progressive designs don't automatically mean a bike is better, they are indicative of the direction of travel in bike design.We also consider a bike's performance compared to its contemporaries speed, handling, practicality, tyre clearance and many other elements are considered when we review bikes.This shortlist is built through our testing year, with the pros and cons of each bike assessed by our expert team.Well reveal what that means for each category soon, and the resulting shortlisted bikes.How will the winners be decided?The shortlist of bikes will be whittled down to a top-three podium. These three bikes are then placed in a shootout test, with each given an opportunity to shine.Their relative merits will be considered, and the winner will be decided by our team, led by Warren, a veteran of 15 years of Bike of the Year testing.