example: you say ‘long rides out in the beautiful yorkshire countryside’ – i’d be an idiot to say you definitely needed a Cannondale Supersix Hi-mod.
spend about £700, get something you like the look of. get an ally frame, carbon forks, don’t ignore Sora (it’s reliable and cheap), room for 32mm tyres, discs or not (your choice, whatever).
then ride it a lot to find out what you *really* want.
On the other hand, some people don’t wan’t a comfortable cruiser, they want a race bike even if they’re not racing. A bit like going for a drive around “the beautiful Yorkshire countryside”, in a Lotus Elise or a Ford Mondeo. I’ve got a bike with 32mm tyres, an it is very comfortable, but it’s just not as involving/fun/responsive/fast (or if you like big tyres the racer is twitchy/tiring/draining/sketchy).
I’d go aluminium. I’ve ridden new carbon bikes back to back against my (now 12 years old!) aluminium racer, and TBH there is a difference, but it’s not enough to make me want to buy a new bike. And even if forced into buying a replacement I’m not sure I’d pay the extra, spending the extra on some Chinese carbon rims would make more of an impact on speed and (lets be honest) looks.
Ohh, and if it’s a whim, go secondhand, my Cannondale only cost me £300 12 years ago! OK, in the meantime every part has been replace with carbon, dura ace, Ritchey WCS, an handbuilt wheels, but it’s still the same frame going strong. An if I didn’t like it then the basic bike still goes for £250-300 on ebay 12 years later, how’s that for depreciation!