As founder of run-as-root and a passionate road cyclist, I spend a lot of time thinking about both fast bikes and fast websites. While it's easy to obsess over marginal gains on the road, there's another kind of speed that matters in our digital age: web performance.
That's why I decided to combine my two passions and take a closer look at the technology, performance, and user experience of nearly 250 cycling-related websites from around the globe.
The goal? To understand what powers the cycling web—and how well it serves its users.
This wasn't just a technical curiosity. For brands, retailers, clubs, and communities, websites are the critical link to riders, customers, and fans. Every second counts—whether you're sprinting for a finish line or waiting for a homepage to load.
I set out to answer a few big questions:
What technologies are cycling websites built on?
How do they perform against modern web standards?
What are the common strengths, pitfalls, and opportunities for improvement?
To get there, I pulled back the curtain on a range of technical and user-centric areas.
Here's a taste of what I examined:
I catalogued the building blocks behind each cycling website, with a special focus on the e-commerce capabilities. My analysis includes:
E-commerce platforms — What solutions are cycling brands using to sell online?
CDN usage — Are sites leveraging content delivery networks to speed up global delivery?
Marketing automation — What tools are being used to engage customers?
Real user monitoring — Are sites tracking actual user experiences?
… and more technology metrics
You can't talk about web performance today without mentioning Google's Core Web Vitals:
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) — How quickly does the main content appear?
First Input Delay (FID) — How fast is the site to respond to your first interaction?
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) — Does the page stay stable, or do things jump around as it loads?
… all CWV metrics explored in the complete report
How much JavaScript and CSS are loaded? Are there opportunities to ship less code or deliver it more efficiently? I looked at:
Overall bundle sizes
Use of deferred and async loading
Amount of unused or render-blocking code
… and several other performance metrics
Cycling is a visual sport, and cycling websites are full of stunning imagery. But are those images helping or hurting performance?
Are images sized appropriately for their display?
Are modern formats used?
Is lazy loading in place for offscreen images?
… and more optimizations
A fast site isn't enough if it isn't usable. I checked for things like:
Proper use of alt tags on images
Logical heading structure
Keyboard navigation and focus states
… and more
Google PageSpeed provides additional optimization hints that can significantly impact user experience.
Text compression: Are sites using GZIP or Brotli to reduce payload size?
Web font loading: Does text remain visible during web font loads?
Redirect chains: Are sites using multiple page redirects that slow down loading?
… and more optimization opportunities identified
For cycling brands and communities, your website is your storefront, clubhouse, and information hub all in one. A slow or frustrating web experience can mean lost sales, missed opportunities, and a bad first impression.
Performance impacts:
User engagement: Fast sites keep users happy and coming back
Search ranking: Google rewards sites that meet Core Web Vitals standards
Conversion rates: Every extra second of load time can mean fewer sign-ups or sales
What suprised me was the number of cycling websites still not implementing basic image and text compression techniques. In 2025, delivering properly sized, compressed images in modern formats should be standard practice. Yet surprisingly, many cycling brands and retailers are missing these fundamental optimizations.
These optimisations should be quick wins that can dramatically improve performance, without sacrificing the visual impact that's so crucial in showcasing beautiful cycling products and experiences.
If you're curious about how cycling websites stack up, what the common challenges are, and where the sector is headed, you'll want to check out the full Cycling Report.
Whether you run a cycling business, a club, or just love the intersection of bikes and tech, there's something here for you.
Let's talk about making your site as fast as your bikes!
26.05.25
