Cycle2Work Suggestions

A lot of bike shops will soon be selling off 2016 stock at reduced prices. Leave it until June, shop around for a bargain - get higher specs for your money. 

You'll love it bender, I have the 2015 defy Advanced 2 and it's an absolute corker. TheSpyres are pretty good, powerful and dead easy to maintain. I may replace them with hydraulics someday but I'm in no hurry.

Is the Defy 1 a disc? If so that's just what I've ordered on C2W as well. Top looking bike, will be great. Spyres are good brakes. Wheels could stand an upgrade in due course but not urgent.

If it were my money, the Giant, the Boardman or the Cannondale - there's a reason these brands sell in great quantities, they are great bikes.

The Giant has quite an upright position, the Boardman quite stretched out and the Cannondale somewhere in between.  Try them and buy the one you find most comfortable.  No-one cares what groupset their bike has when their back is killing them.

I may be a tad biased here but I'd go for the Giant . Tredz is showing it at £899 by the way.

I will second tje comments of alotronic and arfa.

If you're planning to commute year round, I strongly recommend disc brakes.

Rim brakes are less reliable in the wet and you'd be amazed at how abrasive city road muck is. It eats rims in a way that rural road slime doesn't get close to.

I know you're in London and although it rains less there than in my part of the world, stopping in the wet is still a consideration.

I ride a Boardman CX and after a couple of modifications think it's pretty much ideal for my 14 mile commute across Glasgow.

I carry a laptop, paperwork and a full change of clothes both ways and on 35mm Vittoria Hyper slicks, the ride is fast and comfortable. (The tyres were 9.99 from Planet x a while back).

I did use a hybrid before that, but switched to the CX for the option of a lower position into the wind... Which is most days on the way home. If wind is less of an issue on your commute a hybrid is a perfectly viable option.

For comparison, I occasionally use a vintage race bike if the weather is good and I have been able to leave the laptop overnight. As fun as it is, the ride is much more challenging as a (my) race bike doesn't handle well when carrying loads other than me. I wouldn't do it in the wet.

You might be surprised by how much wear and tear you get with caliper brakes commuting year round in London. You have lots of braking and I've never got more than 5,000 miles out of caliper braked rims commuting. The OP has 13 miles a day, that'll soon clock up. Conversley my disk braked wheels are as good as new after 10,000 miles.  Not having to replace wheels is quite a significant saving in my book.

Disagree about "needing" discs for rim life... maybe if your commute crosses the South Downs but not in London (though I'm told it does rain there occasionally so some Raceblades or Crud roadracer guards might be worthwhile).

There is a bewildering range of brands and models under £1,000 to choose from. Best bet is to visit some shops, my preferences won't really help you (probably a Giant or Cannondale, in case you're wondering). They are all very good, it's really down to personal preference. The wider tyres and clearances of CX and 'gravel' bikes are worth considering, I agree with alotronic about them being as fast as a road bike, and those model names are worth investigating.

Road.cc buyer's guides:

£500 - £750 - http://road.cc/182603

under £1000 - http://road.cc/178113

gravel - http://road.cc/174720

Unless you're fortunate enough to have secure storage then a good lock (or two) is absolutely essential. A D-lock such as Kryptonite Series 2 for rear wheel & frame then something like an Abus steel-o-flex to secure the frame and the front wheel to something, otherwise it won't last long.

When you say "road bike", do you mean drop handlebars? There are lots of lightweight flat-bar hybrids with good specs too. Some people prefer these due to hand position, braking or whatever, and they're not just good for shorter journeys.

I don't think Evans will accept Halfords vouchers.

I know wiggle and tredz do though.

You'd probably be really most 'in tune' with a CX/gravel bike - coming from MTB 'normal' road bike brakes are going to scare you! Specially in London. You get room for guards if you want them and racks if you want a long weekend. 

Personally would go for Evans over Halfords, but really you have to go on the bike first. Halfords have got Boardman crossers which always rate well.  Evans have a few sligtly more 'interesting' brands like Jamis, and I would take a really good look at the Pinaccle range - not one for the brand-conscious but really good value and they do a couple of bikes in this kind of area that would suit you well. Genesis are all good, well-thought out bikes with good choices from the very touring (Tour de Fer) to the Croix de Fer and the CDa any of which would be a good buy for the money and offer various levels of raciness, though Pinnacle will trump them for showroom floor value. 

Hub gears would be nice (I think Evens do Genesis and some of them have alfine hubs) but you'll pay a little more for them. If you are allergic to any maintenance a good idea - or buy a single-speed, even better - but if you're used to cleaning MTBs then a 11sp setup shouldn;t present you with any problems, though 10 is less fussy and 9/8 even less fussy again! For that money you should start to see 105 drivetrains which will serve you well.

Coming from a MTB you probably won't notice the draggy tyres these bikes will all have on them - switching to 28c road tyres like Duranos will make them very nearly as fast as a 'proper' road bike.

A

Year round commuting? - Look for hub gears, mudguards, rack and lights if possible in the deal.

Hub gears and guards will make the bike much more resisistant  to the harshness of wet commuting and make it easier on you the rider. Lights powered by a hub dynamo are another godsend for year-round commuting. They just work, and never need batteries or remembering to charge. Being bolted to the bike means they are effectively unnickable as well.

I'd happily recommend Halfords.

Halfords are able to order in a lot of makes. I ride a Moulton and was able to order my TSR2 though them. I had to use Halfords as my empoyer's cycle2work was through them. 

Sadly a TSR2 out of the box comes with nothing I mentioned above and you'll need to budget another couple of hundred quid or so.Bloody great commuting/urban bike though and something  different to stand out from the crowd. My commute is about 16.5 miles each way

The 20% card is quite useful as well. I've bought a fair bit from Halfords. the website has lots on there for click/collect and is competitive as well.

The staff at my local Halfords have been friendly and great and they do know how to service bikes well (at least the bread and butter stuff), but obviously stores and staff vary. 

I had a serious warranty  issue with mine about 6-7 weeks after purchase and I had absolutely no issues. I just wheeled the broken bike in and they took care of everything with no quibbles whatsoever. Exactly as it should be.

Evans are pretty good if an option for you as they usually throw in a free service ?
Have you got somewhere secure to store the bike at both ends ? If not, my curve ball suggestion would be to consider a Brompton s type in 3 or 6 gear version. They are very durable, quick and fold and store easily. They also hold their value well.
If you are after a road bike for commuting, you absolutely do want discs as they will extend wheel life and perform in all conditions.
I commute on a cannondale synapse with 25mm tyres year round and can't fault it.
Try before you buy is good advice and good luck

If you're used to MTBs. you may want to try a few road bikes out before you splash out.  Evans Cycles are the only shop/retailer I could find (when I was buying a year ago) that let you demo bikes.   Smaller bike shops do have demo bikes and will let you have them for a good period of time, but they tend to be higher end (my lbs demo fleet starts at £2.5k.  I took it out anyway, and was so impressed thought long and hard about finding the extra £1500...) Evans will let you try anything in the shop, or you can order it in from the warehouse a few days later.  You'll have to book, leave a credit card deposit and your contact details, but you'll get a much better idea of how the bike feels on proper roads, and whether it is stable or twitchy etc etc.

I would think the best advice is a cx/gravel bike, or one that can take wider tyres and mudguards than a more pure "racer".  Wider tyres give more cushioning over broken tarmac, and mudguards make a big difference when it is raining or the roads are still wet.  These bikes are versatile and can do soft roading like canal tow paths with no changes, or with more grippy tyres can go almost anywhere an mtb can.