Cycle To Work Scheme

I also use the bike for commuting to work and I'm pretty interested in Specialized Allez e5 Sport as a new acquisition. I took it for a test ride a few weeks ago and I fell in love with it.

I have just taken delivery of a Ribble Sportive Racing 105 (£1000) with a couple of finishing kit changes to Deda stuff and it is awesome. In the higher tax bracket it is costing me £48 per month. However with Ribble they charge you an Admin fee of £65 and Delivery of £20 but it was worth it cause the bike is amazing. Not sure what the final amount will be but all in it shouldnt cost me any more than £700

A colleague got a Giant Defy on our CTW scheme last year as a winter bike.  I think it was about £800, it can take mudguards so he uses it as his winter bike.  He finds it very smooth and a good all rounder, but he still likes getting on his more expensive carbon speed machine when he thinks the weather is good enough.  You could do a lot worse than a Defy!

I've never ridden an endurance/sportive bike, so am a bit sceptical.  When I got my bike last year I looked at the kind of rides I do, and 250 out of 300 in the year before were 2-3 hours.  I therefore decided I didn't need a comfort orientated bike and went for a Giant Propel.  It's the best bike I've ever had, I love the thing, comfort wasn't so bad I couldn't do a 27 hour Everesting on it a month after I bought it.

If you can, try a few different types of bike to see what you really like.  Evans do a good demo scheme where you can try almost anything they sell.  You have to book it, give them a deposit etc, but you can then try as many as you want, within reason.  Most shops only have demo bikes that are the wrong side of £2k, which is still great to try but if that's double your budget there isn't much point.

I'm in the same position (well using Cycle to Work). I currently looking at the Pinnacle Dolomite 5, Trek Domane 2.3, Platet X RTD-80 (which would need a slight top up) and Ribble Sportive 365.

All available for the £1000 mark that we need to hit.

Unfortunately I think I could probably only test ride the first two.

Be aware of the 7% fee at the end for a bike £500-£1000. It's less under £500. It's something that HMRC have forced them to do for the last few years to keep the tax status.

You can still make a good 25%ish saving though. If you're buying at the right time of year, you can often save more than this on last year's model. (Don't be tempted to buy the wrong size on a sale deal though.)

Most schemes are limited to £1k (or under) bikes I think, which is a bit of a shame. Still plenty of good bikes under this, but the best bang for buck for many brands is a little higher IMHO.

As to which bike, advice from others above is sound. As comfort is an important factor, try to get a bike with clearance (on the frame and forks) for the biggest road tyres that you can. I run 28mm for comfort but think that even wider could make sense for many riders.

I'd recommend one of the "endurance" Road bikes. 

Beyond that, the best one is the one that fits right, you like the colour of and is stocked by the shop / chain your voucher is valid for. 

Cannondale Synapse won all the awards last year.

Giant Defy 0 2016?