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A bike for every day has to have a lot to offer. For discerning cyclists, what counts above all is comprehensive, sensible equipment with suitable components, solid riding behaviour, uncomplicated handling and a certain degree of robustness and reliability. If you decide to do most of your travelling by bike, you often can't choose when or in what weather the next ride will take place. That's why good lighting, effective moisture protection, uncomplicated luggage transport and safe parking are also part of the specification.
However, the versatility of the bike used, its smooth handling or sleek riding behaviour are also important, depending on personal preference. Last but not least, the most important thing for most new buyers is the most attractive price possible. Because it's not just the saver's heart that leaps for joy: the more expensive the new bike is, the more expensive wear and tear, loss of value and possible theft will be. So it's good if the bike and spare parts are robust, but not so expensive that they break the mobility budget in the long term.
Requirements for all-rounders
In our test field, the mix of price and quality is just right. In the vast majority of cases, everyday cyclists are well served by such an all-rounder bike with a light, stable aluminium or steel frame. The riding position should be neither too upright nor too stretched out: A slightly inclined riding position on the bike provides more riding safety thanks to balanced weight distribution, better aerodynamics than a Dutch bike and therefore noticeably less discomfort from the headwind.
An overly sporty posture with an overstretched neck, on the other hand, quickly impairs your overview in traffic and puts a lot of weight on your shoulders and hands. The derailleur gear system is the ideal drive system with the widest possible gear spread and number of gears, which means that even longer climbs or journeys with luggage can be tackled more comfortably. A derailleur system is usually lighter, cheaper and offers more gears than a gear hub. But there is one thing you have to accept: The open chain and sprocket system wears out with every kilometre ridden and does not work without a minimum of maintenance and care.
The 8 all-rounders in the test
- Bulls Cross Lite
- Cube Travel Sport
- Diamant Elan Grand Deluxe
- Kalkhoff Endeavour 30
- KTM Life Force
- Raleigh Rushhour 6.0
- Stevens Esprit Gent
- VSF Fahrradmanufaktur T-500
Our test field documents a current trend: the move away from the classic 3x10 derailleur system. The three manufacturers Cube, Diamant and KTM equip their bikes with only one chainring at the front but twelve sprockets at the rear. The largest rear sprocket has up to 51 teeth. The front derailleur is omitted. Bulls also offers a combination of a classic ten-speed cassette on the rear wheel with a compact double chainring at the front.
Coming from mountain bikes, gravel bikes and e-bikes, these modern shifting variants are preparing to conquer the trekking bike as well. The lower number of gears does not necessarily mean that there is a lack of mountain gears: the easiest gear is at about the same level for the single, double and triple drivetrains in the test. Things tend to get tight in the fast gears. If you also want to pedal at 40 km/h, you are better off with 3x10. Not everyone likes the larger gear steps of 1x12 either. They often comprise six, eight or even ten teeth, which means a big difference in speed when changing gears in practice.
In addition, all gear changes on 1x drivetrains have to be made with the right thumb and index finger - sometimes hard work for the thumb, as the uphill gears on the largest sprockets are somewhat sluggish on both SRAM and Shimano because the chain and rear derailleur have to stretch a lot. The considerable chain skew in the largest and smallest gears causes some noticeable noise. Nevertheless, independent tests do not reveal any significantly higher wear on the chain, chainring or sprockets than with ten-speed drivetrains.
The simpler operation with just one gear lever and strictly consecutive gears speaks in favour of the 1x12 drivetrain. It shifts as intuitively as a hub gear system. By dispensing with the left shift lever and shift cable, front derailleur and chainrings, a 1x12 drivetrain can also be somewhat lighter than one with several chainrings - but this should not be overestimated: The two largest (steel) sprockets of an inexpensive twelve-speed cassette largely cancel out the weight saving.
In the end, all gear variants offer enough gears for almost every everyday riding situation. However, if you often pedal your all-rounder uphill for long periods, perhaps even with luggage, or are frequently exposed to changing altitudes or wind directions, you will miss one or two intermediate gears with 1x12 and wish for the finer gradation of a 3x10 combo. The manufacturer certainly saves assembly costs with 1x12. Whether they pass on this price advantage and therefore fit higher-quality headlights, tyres or wheels, for example, is difficult to find out in individual cases.
The wheels in detail
- Bulls Cross Lite
- Cube Travel Sport
- Diamant Elan Grand Deluxe
- Kalkhoff Endeavour 30
- KTM Life Force
- Raleigh Rushhour 6.0
- Stevens Esprit Gent
- VSF Fahrradmanufaktur T-500
You can download the complete comparison test of the all-rounders, including all test results and individual ratings, as a PDF below the article. The test costs 1.99 euros.
