£1400 bike - What to get?

My first road bike was a Giant Defy 3, got it in the sale for £500. Has a carbon fork. Served me well and not too bigger investment if I decided that cycling wasn't for me.

Now gave Canyon Ultimate CF SLX.

I've been riding my Ribble Winter bike over the last 18 months and it's been flawless. Still looks stunning after two winters (and three summers) of abuse.

Had to change the wheels when the Pro-lite Como's couldn't take the lardy punishment any more, but the Fulcrum 7's I got to replace them with are the mutts.

My advice would be to go for mid-range Shim chainset and a robust set of wheels.

Like the review says, it ain't no racer, but there's plenty of fun to be had. Mine is very stable when descending (longer wheelbase?) and with a fatty's 11-28 and compact front cog, can haul my 100kg's up most of the hills round the south of England (eventually)

I've been looking at getting a first proper road bike for a while and found:

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/best-road-bikes-under-1000-29719/

Which has a pretty good run down of sub-£1k bikes, the Ribble Winter Trainer is particularly interesting to me as I'd probably look to commute on it and, when I have the money to get a better bike it'll still be excellent as a winter training bike or something to use in foul conditions.

Canyon or Ribble. More bangs for your buck with the Canyon but he might find it too aggressive for a first road bike.

Mind you, both a heck of lot better than what I've started with!

Get something cheaper and use the rest for accessories and clothes. If she/he gets the bug then he will spend that, if not she/he won't have wasted too much.

got to say I went through all this (bigger budget though) - ended up building my own bike. But I was really tempted by the offerings of pedal force and Ribble.

Depending on what he already has a minimum of £100 for "extras" is a must - that's the price of a good pair of shoes - then there's helmets and all that slick lycra oh and currently a lot of wet weather gear.

with regard to test rides, I just bought my first "proper" road bike but really struggled to find shops willing to let you try them out 1st, I spent ages researching online and narrowed it down to two or three bike but trying to ride one... fat chance, ended up with a Cube Peloton SL really happy with it, and personally would think a grand is a more realistic amount to spend 1st time out

I'd go Dolan. Actually, I have gone Dolan. Brilliant.

go and test ride as many of your short list as you can, i had 2.5k budget, of all the bikes i rode, the caad10 won hands down and as it was the 2011 model i got it for 900 so spend another 400 tarting it up and buying a garmin

caad10 105, although 'only alu' its lighter than pretty much every rival. full carbonfork. and a superb platform. i have ahem.. tweaked mine a bit, fot it down to 7kg without hyper parts. and its faaaaaaaaaaaast,

Went for a Spesh Allez (low end compact) as my first road bike in Jan this year, but already looking at Ribble (amongst others) and thinking about my next purchase, even if it is years off

Wouldn't/couldn't spend 1400 on a first roadie, but that's just me. My Allez is a nice, if common, set of wheels to start with.

I've got a PlanetX Carbon Pro! Dura Ace, second hand. Awesome bike.

Am inclined to agree with bashthebox here - £1400 would get something pretty nice - Planet X Carbon Pro with SRAM Red would be a great choice, but it might be better to spend less until he's clear about what he wants.

Second the ribble as I went for the ribble New sportive for my first bike last year with full campag groupset and wheels although I didn't have the same budget was an excellent choice imo for a first bike

What sort of riding does he want to do?

Does he want 'race' geometry or the longer head tube / longer wheel base of the 'sportive' variety?

Go second hand and you can get a stiff carbon frame, dura ace and decent wheels - and a service to check it's all running.

To be honest though, spending £1400 on your first bike is a bit over the odds. Advise him to get something cheaper because once he gets into the hobby, he'll want to spend much more on something that suits him better.

Why not try a Canyon for size - seems to fit your requirements.

http://www.canyon.com/_uk/roadbikes/bike.html?b=2505

I know what I'm spending my money on.

Ribble Stealth with full Campag Athena and Scirocco wheels...

Personally, I'd buy a Boardman Team Carbon for £1300, and then use the extra £100 for some other bits and pieces.