Kestrel Bicycles (Santa Cruz, Calif.) announced that its new RT700 road model has received the “Road Bike Gear of the Year� award from the editors of Outside Magazine. The 2007 Gear of the Year awards are featured in Outside’s Spring Buyer’s Guide, which hit newsstands April 24.

“We are absolutely honored that the RT700 has been selected as Gear of the Year,� said Kestrel president, Kevin Kenney. “In designing the RT700, we pulled out all the stops in putting our 20-plus years of carbon frame experience to work to develop the best-performing, best-riding road bike in a hotly competitive market segment. As a result, for the majority of riders out there it’s the best all-around road machine we’ve ever made. To have this acknowledged by a national publication of Outside’s caliber is a testament to all the thought and hard work that our dedicated team here in Santa Cruz puts into every Kestrel product,� Kenney added.