Another new bike from Cannondale is the Touring. Named because it does exactly what it says on the tin (or, more precisely, the top tube) the Tourer is a solid, good-looking bike made for racking up miles in style and comfort.

It comes with clearance for 40mm tyres, as well as mudguard clearance and reinforced pannier mounts – Cannondale have beefed up the areas that the mounts will attach to rather than simply adding them into a standard rear triangle. On top of that, the smaller frame sizes (48-51cm) use the same 650b wheels as the Slate, making fitting them easier than trying to force 700c wheels onto a small frame.

Both Touring models are made from 6061 alloy and come with SAVE stays at the back – just like the Synapse and the Supersix and, well, all of Cannondale’s bikes – that will add a little vertical compliance to the ride without compromising on the strength you’ll need for a fully loaded bike.

Gearing comes courtesy of a compact 50/34t crankset paired to an 11-speed 11-32 Shimano Ultegra cassette on the Ultimate and a 50/39/30 triple crankset with an 11-30 9-speed Sora on the Touring 2. The Ultimate also makes use of Shimano’s R685 hydraulic disc brakes in combination with the mechanical shifting while the Sora uses mechanical disc brakes.

The Touring Ultimate comes in at £1,899.99, while the eye-catching Midnight Blue Touring 2 (pictured) is significantly cheaper at £999.99.