Probably should nip down Smiths as the mags seem to review this price point every month, whatd worth looking at? Planet X, Focus, Ribble?

Planet X Superlight seems hard to beat, read a couple of reviews saying it gets a bit of a wobble on, on high speed descents but tbh I'm all over the brakes by that point anyway.

I doubt very much that you will get better than this http://www.boardmanbikes.com/road/road_team_carbon.html for the money.

reviews saying it gets a bit of a wobble on

I've had my planet-x pro sl carbon upto 56mph with no wobble on at all

planet-x is good value for money, new nano's look lovely

Radoggair they mean riding it, not when it's on the roof rack 🙂

Radoggair – up hill?

Boardman Team Carbon wins reviews regularly,

I've got one and I can honestly say I think it's great, SRAM gears work flawlessly. Its light, quick and if you can get past the brand snobs you'll have a great bike.

Things to note – The standard bar tape is wafer thin, plan to replace it after your first 50 mile ride. The standard saddle is about the most uncomfortable thing I've ever had between my legs, I put my well ridden Selle saddle on on its place. With those modifications I've regularly clocked up 70 / 80 mile rides with no problems.

Alternatively, buy the Boardman CX and discover how much fun you can have riding drop bars off road!

planet x, boardman, focus. can't go wrong with either, just get the one you like the look of. or the sizing differences might lead you to favour one over the other if you know whats right for you.

Focus – http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Focus_Cayo_105_2010_Ltd_Edition/5360045298/

Available in more size options than the others, and you get a 30 day test ride period in which to send back for exchange if you're not happy with the size you went for.

i got the 2009 version, and they are SUPERB bikes. This year has got frame and wheel improvements. Cracking buy.

WHICHEVER FITS! And then after, CAAD9.

Boardman, hands down

I forgot about Boardman, Halfords hmmm, might have a wander down in the morning, I'll check the Focus, one brand I forgot to mention, Cube?

Gotta say I'm not into road bikes at all but boardman bikes seem so much better value than the competition whichever sector they are in.

Rival groupset, planetx wheelset and an off-the-shelf steel frame from a UK builder. Probably have enough change for a pair of tyres.

cannondale, ok it'll be alu not carbon, but i've had my caad 4 for years (6 in fact) and people still comment on it being a smart looking bike.

£300 as it left the factory, but with a worn BB, cheep heavy OEM bb though, previous owner had obviously spent more time polishing it than riding it.
£20 ultegra BB
£8 bar tape (yellow)
£40 2x conti GP4000
£35 shimano r-550's (best bargain upgrade ever!)
£35 new cassette and chain
£8 bar tape (white, fancied another change)

Recently its got a set of older 10s DA sti's, cassette, mech, FSA sl-k compact chainset and mech and some xxx carbon bonty bars, still well under the £1000 mark (nice light seatpost, stem, pedals and saddle) and very very happy with it 🙂

If its a 1st road bike I wouldnt bother with buying new, road bikes dont come in for the same kind of abbuse as mountainbikes, they dont even wear out components in the same way, a chain can last a year easily even if you only clean and oil it once a month.

Its light, quick and if you can get past the brand snobs you'll have a great bike.

TBH I've never seen anywhere anyone getting snobby about Boardman frames

Radoggair – up hill?

naturally 😉

I went through the same process as you. The boardman carbon was winning although I was worried about the wheels.

I'm about to take a big step……

I bought a Canyon.
http://www.canyon.com/_en/
Recommended by a friend. I originally went for the roadlite 7.0, Ultegra all round for just over a grand, that sounds like a great deal! Sadly delivery was well delayed so I changed to roadlite 6.0 which is 105 allover. The frame is alu, not carbon.

I am 100% happy with this bike, very well put together, it looks great and goes very quickly. Have a look, see what you think.

BTW, you have to order direct from Germany, no UK distributors.

I've got a CAAD9 in this year's team colours, wish I didn't, it looks so smart I'm now loathe to take it out in anything but the driest conditions, despite having two mountainbikes with last years mud still on them.

+1 for the Focus 105. Superb bike, very light, stiff and comfortable. I got mine for £835 delivered. Money well spent

thisisnotaspoon, where did you get your bike? Ebay, another site? £300 sounds like a bargain.

My choice was Genesis Equilibrium, classic steel frame, comfy ride and good spec. Not picked it up yet but great on the test ride.

£300 was off ebay in 2005 (its a 2003 bike), it went for £400 during a lunchtime as I was outbid at the last second, I sent a cheeky e-mail after it finished saying if it fell through I'd offer £350 collected, he e-mailed me back by 6pm that day saying if I could do it with cash he'd drop it round that evening as the buyer was making excuses. So 8 hours after loosing the auction I was the (very0 proud owner of a nearly new cannondale road bike 🙂

They still go for £340 ish on ebay so my plan is to upgrade it with ~£1000 of nice bits then maybe in a year or two get a new frame/forks and put all the old bits back on it and hopefully get my money back.

Bit like buying its much more expensive replacement on finance and getting this one and the upgrades to play on untill it arrives, still puts a grin on my face whenever I wheel it out of the shed.