Le Tour De France is now in full swing and although most people will never get to be in it, let alone win it, you can ride a Tour winning bike.

When a frame has won the Tour de France as often as Trek’s Madone - seven times in the hands of Lance Armstrong and last year with Alberto Contador - you expect great things of it. The latest incarnation used by the pros is the 6.9 . Its rapid acceleration, balanced geometry and an impressive degree of comfort make for a bike fit for Tour de France winners. And if it’s good enough for them, it should be more than good enough for the rest of us.

The Madone family of bikes is made up of three parts. There is the 4 series, the 5 series and the 6 series as well as women’s specific models designated WSD. The team issue 6 series frames are made from OCLV2 Red carbon with a full carbon XXX Lite asymetric carbon fork. It has BB90 internal bottom bracket bearings as well as full internal gear and brake cable routing. It is also available to purchase through Project One which allows the customer to not only choose from a wider palette of colours but to also spec the groupset. Want Campag on a Trek? no problem with Project One.

The 5 series frames are upgraded for 2011 to now include internal gear/brake routing. It shares BB90 with the 6 series but is made from the slightly heavier TCT carbon and has a Race X Lite fork with aluminium steerer.

The 4 series are also made from TCT carbon but do not include BB90 and have a conventional seatpost instead of the seatmast used by the 5 and 6 models. These are not available to purchase through Project One either

The 2010 Madone range starts at £1599 for the 4.5 Madone, up to £5800 for the 6.9 Madone Pro.

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The Secteur range of bikes was introduced by Specialized for 2010 and continues the tradition established by the popular Roubaix range. They offer the all day riding comfort and stability at a more affordable price  since the cheapest Roubaix is now £1,699.

At only £1,000 the Secteur Elite has  Shimano 105 10 speed STI shifters and gears which provide more efficient and durable shifting than the cheaper Tiagra range. The external bottom bracket cups on the triple chainset are also a nice feature not found on the cheaper Sport Model. In fact the overall spec is similar to the Roubaix Elite apart from the carbon frame and that make it £700 more. Also the price falls nicely within the Cyclescheme limit.

A good all round bike to go exploring the local lanes or for that challenging Sportif or Charity ride you have planned.

With the first races just around the corner, training is being ramped up, and all the new things for the year are being tested out. Firstly, the Whyte 19 Carbon. Quite simply the best mountain bike I have ever ridden, and I have ridden quite a few! It feels so fast and responds to you putting the power down like no other bike. I have yet to give it a proper test off road, as the New Forest has turned into a lake, so I will let you know how it handle the rough stuff after the Gorrick race on the 7th March. I have also been eating Mule Bars on long rides this winter, which, unlike most energy bars, actually taste nice as well as give you the energy to keep on riding.

So, racing starts in a week, the new bike is all set up and ready to go, training is going well, time for a reward. I am off to get pizza!

Will let you know how the first race goes, wish me luck!

Each month we select one bike and share it with you in more detail about why we like it so much

This week it’s the turn of the Whyte 19 Carbon Hard Tail MTB.

We’ve just had some delivered so here is a sneak peak at the new model that was such a hit in 2009.