In the world of road riding, the Paris-Roubaix is regarded as the most gruelling race in the world. Its cobbled stones and muddy paths make the racing conditions far from straightforward. It's hard enough being an athlete in this race, but for the world's premier bicycle manufacturers, the raceG provides one of the toughest challenges for their bikes.

Cervelo, launched in 1995 by Phil White and Gérard Vroomen, has quickly become the world leader in high performance road bikes. In conjunction with Team CSC, Cervelo have developed the R3 to take on the Paris-Roubaix and in so doing, have created arguably the best road bike on sale today. The result of this dedication – two wins in two years at the Paris-Roubaix. In April 2006, Fabian Cancellara took first place. 12 months later, Stuart O'Grady did the same.

The beauty of the Paris-Roubaix for research is that the cobbled stones mean the bike has to be very forgiving, whilst still being stiff and light for the climbs. So the general public can now buy a bike that is both suitable for relative beginners, due to the comfort, but equally perfect for the professional rider who races and trains daily.

The box shaped tubes are not shaped for aerodynamics (if out and out speed is your game, then Cervelo's Soloist is a better bet), but instead provide comfort and power transfer in equally great doses. Normally, a comfortable bike has more flex, causing power transfer to suffer, so having both attributes in the same frame is excellent.

Taking the R3 out on a Sunday morning 50 mile ride proved how great a bike this is. Starting out on quiet country roads gave a good indication of how quickly the frame transfers power, and then taking a more picturesque detour through a country park gave the R3 a taste of a gravel road. I rode through this in as much comfort as my mountain bike would.

So is this the perfect all round bike? Yes, in one word. In an ideal world, I'd have an R3 for the long rides, with a carbon Soloist standing by for triathlons and early morning sprints.

R3 Frameset (Frame, forks, headset and seatpost) - £1999

More information – www.cervelo.com and www.ultimatepursuits.co.uk