Opinion— 2026 Cycling Forecast
Welp, cycling lives to die another year. As 2025 draws to a close, it’s time to forecast what Spaceship Earth’s next solar orbit will mean for our sport full of fads, planned obsolescence, and good old keeping up with the Joneses. Take this as you will— either as the CURB.WORLD editorial team’s crystal ball reading or a dictation of which trends ought to take off— but here is what the new year could mean for cycling.
An American road cycling renaissance will begin to take form.
It looks like the UCI is finally putting feelers out across the pond again. It wasn’t too long ago that Worlds were in Richmond and a young Pogacar was on debut at the Tour of California, but all that action preceded the covid bike-boom, which whether directly or not, put many of you on bikes in the first place.
A late-season UCI 1.1 one-two consisting of Philadelphia Cycling Classic and Maryland Cycling Classic, then some World Tour action north of the border in GP Cycliste de Quebec and GP Cycliste de Montreal— basically preludes for the following week’s World Championship festivities— means there will be a lot of hype about bike racing on the east coast. Pros from all over the world (well, Europe) will be anchored throughout the Atlantic Megalopolis doing group rides and taking selfies with fans; boomers will be complaining on Facebook about road closures; your dentist will get stoked and buy a $10,000 Colnago.
And in cycling, there is some level of trickle-down economics that does seem to ring true. All the buzz surrounding “Tour de France bikers” spending a few short weeks stateside has huge potential to deepen a casual cyclist’s curiosity about going fast. This August-to-September American race circuit could create thousands of new road cyclists. An optimist sees a future where shops will sell road bikes again, your local training crit will have record beginner fields, and maybe even a weekend race or twenty will crop up. The effects might not be felt in earnest until 2027, but the seeds will be planted in 2026, and it’s going to be awesome.
To take this prediction a step further, anticipate a boom in sales on models like the Giant Defy and the Cannondale Synapse, which have been praised for their tire clearance, blank-canvas feeling, and geometry that isn’t too far off from your average race bike. These bikes are often a better option for the common customer looking to get their year-round base miles and still throw down at a local race. In our post-gravel era, a lot of folks went out and bought a 50mm-tired doubletrack machine and found themselves mostly riding on roads. That customer can find a more appropriate ride in the new generation of endurance bikes.
The current Synapse Carbon 1, said to clear up to 42mm in the rear and 48mm in the front, looks quite race-y (photo by Cannondale).
Putting dumb shit on your bike for no reason is OUT.
Don’t get me wrong, utility rules. I’m glad there are still frame-sets with all the fitments for racks and fenders and whatnot, and I salute diehard commuters who do it milk crate style. There is an appropriate riding scenario out there in the cosmos for each possible configuration of bike accessories, but aren’t you beginning to feel a little freaked out by the proliferation of bike bags?
Around every corner is a 26er with a giant handlebar bag, a frame bag, saddle bag, dynamo hub, and a mug clipped on somewhere. And where is that bike going? The coffee shop? Nothing trashes a bike’s fun factor quite like adding extra weight to the front end, or anywhere for that matter.
Even the online bike community seems eager to shroud beautiful machines under piles of cordura and velcro, and the reason why is lost on me. Personally I miss the influence of #BAAW, back when showcasing a build’s elegance is what it was all about. What ever happened to jersey pockets or backpacks?
The gravel bubble will burst.
With the recent news of htSQD’s demise and Specialized reportedly snapping up gravel phenom Keegan Swenson, it looks like the spirit of gravel has officially gone corporate— like, for real this time. Industry mouthpieces have been shoveling gravel-oriented paid promotion down our throats for as long as many have been riding, and it won’t be long before audiences are looking for something new.
Seriously, how many more celebrity bike mechanics’ “concept” gravel builds are possible before everyone snaps out of it? One look at the associated comment section of a post showcasing one of these monstrosities will reveal that everyday cyclists are annoyed with this nonsense. The pendulum is swinging back, and brands will notice sooner or later. In a way, this sort of echoes the previous entry on this list. Maximalist “overbiking” is on the way out, and you heard it here first.
Black shoes are IN.
I don’t really have hard evidence for this one, but I bought myself some black S-Phyres as a goodbye-pro-deals present and I’m trying to rationalize. I have always done black shoes for off-road riding, and realizing that they just look a little classier with the same kit, I decided to try black road shoes too. White shoes have been the norm in road racing for years, but after one crash or rainy ride, admit it, they’re kinda toast. I remember in college when every frat party attendee had a fresh pair of white Nike Air Forces upon move-in. After syllabus week antics, those same shoes were creased, dirty, and clapped out. Historically, that’s what I’m trying not to do.
Common white shoe L.
Admittedly, white Forces will always have a time and place, but the readership here knows CURB.WORLD is more of a “black Forces” enterprise. Even with the availability of exotic colors and limited editions from Shimano, Specialized, and all the other go-to road shoe brands, it’s time for a change. Black shoes ooze class, grit, and “IDGAF” energy. And if you need fashion inspo, just google “Eddy Merckx.”
Lower saddles, higher stacks, the modern bike position are all IN.
We’re seeing a massive change in how people are positioning themselves on the bike. This could be partially due to the one and only Pogacar introducing 165mm cranksets to the masses. Jonas Vinnegard has been well documented using 150mm cranks. Even a 190-cm Wout van Aert has experimented with 165mm cranks. This has been matched with a rearward cleat position, a more forward saddle position, and longer stems to make up the space. We’ve also seen more pros running spacers for higher stack heights, allowing them to hold an aero position with horizontal forearms while in the hoods.
The key point is lowering your saddle for a healthy pedal stroke, which promotes things like better knee health, open hip angles, and an improved CDA (if you get the position correct). There is a plethora of Bike Fit James or Neil Stanbury clips on the internet for any Joe Schmoe to figure out their position at home, but get ready for GCN and other industry pundits to begin bandwagoning the low-saddle movement.
This will be CURB.WORLD’s best year yet.
2025 was cool. We put out some stuff, made some shirts, hosted a couple races, and hit 1k on Instagram, but that’s really it. Life threw me some Skenes-style splinkers that meant I didn’t write, shoot, race, or ride as much as I wanted to. Well, that’s all about to change. Behind the scenes, we (and I do mean “we” when I say it) have been outlining strategies to help CURB.WORLD grow its output, engagement, and reach. There’s also at least two deep-dive stories on the editor’s desk (my Google Drive) that are missing a certain je ne sais quoi. All in due time!
More importantly, we’re eyeing a supercharged 2026 racing calendar that spans every discipline and level of seriousness you can think of. We hope to see you out there.