Kinesis Racelight T2 review

The Kinesis Racelight T2 is an aluminium all-rounder that specialises as a winter trainer has been resprayed and up-specced for 2015, but is still priced at a penny under £1,000.

Kinesis Racelight T2 1
Cycling Weekly Verdict

The Kinesis T2 is already a popular winter training bike. Kinesis has a good reputation with UK riders for creating bikes specifically suited to British riding conditions. With this new, improved spec we would expect it to be even more popular. The T2 in this build offers excellent value for money, and the two most important elements — the frame and the gears — are spot on. Better tyres would improve its grip in the wet — which on the WTBs is non-existent — and better mudguards could be adjusted more easily, would ideally have breakaway clips and the rear one would be a little longer as a courtesy to the rider behind. With those simple upgrades — plus binning the frankly weird saddle — this could almost be the perfect winter bike: tough, reliable, fast and cheap enough to not worry about when road conditions turn really nasty.

Reasons to buy
  • +

    Tough, durable alloy frame

  • +

    Light for a winter bike

  • +

    Pleasing traditional look

  • +

    Smooth shifting

  • +

    Ride-to-work scheme friendly price

Reasons to avoid
  • -

    Tyres slippery in the wet

  • -

    Saddle too padded and with a sticky surface

  • -

    Mudguards lack key features

You can trust Cycling Weekly. Our team of experts put in hard miles testing cycling tech and will always share honest, unbiased advice to help you choose. Find out more about how we test.

The frame of the Kinesis Racelight T2 is made from 7005-series double-butted aluminium tubing, a standard type for bikes at this level. Perhaps not so standard is that the tube profiles are round, giving the T2 a pleasingly traditional look. The frame’s two concessions to relative modernity are the sloping top tube and the hourglass-shaped seatstays, which are intended to flex a little, adding comfort to what might otherwise be a very stiff frame. Kinesis claims 1.64kg for the size 54, which is not bad.

>>>Winter bikes: do you really need one?

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