Carbon vs Ally Discs vs Caliper

I'm on Holiday riding a caad12 rim brake hire bike I own a Supersix Evo hi-mod which is the same geometry.  The only difference between them is a bit of weight the Evo can be a bit flighty the extra weight of the Caad12 helps with that.  I'd be more than happy with a Caad12 it's brilliant.  

Personally I'd go second hand. I bought a really nice condition full Dura ace (7900) Colnago C59 last year for (the equivlaent of ) GBP 1200. On the discs vs calipers, I think you hit the mark with "being used perfectly fine for the last 50 yrs'. Modern rim brakes are pretty good for the kind of riding you're going to be doing. You're unlikely to overheat your brakes on major col descents. Discs are certainly a step up, but if the 'cost' of discs gets you in to the frame you want, I dont' think you'll miss those discs in 5 yrs time, but you'd always wonder the 'what if' about the frame

Try a bike with cable or hydraulic discs but be prepared to not want rim brakes afterwards. 

Just get a Giant TCR Advanced 1 and be done with it. 

Carbon frame, Ultegra 11, 7.7kg, £1.5k RRP. The only upgrade you'll want or need is new wheels, but the stock will do you proud for long enough. 

If you want a 'very cheap' reasonably well specced (105/Ult mix) Alu bike then the Giant Defy 0 may be worth a look. You could spend extra cash on some lighter summer wheels.

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/defy.0/24964/90515/#spe...

or if Carbon/Discs then the Defy Advanced 2

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/defy.advanced.2/19188/7...

Cube Attain SL/Raleigh Criterium also within the price range.

None of these have the 'Italian' flair mind...

You could do worse than getting a 2016 MEKK Poggio 2.6 (sportive/enduro frame type)

http://www.mekkbicycles.com/Poggio-26.aspx

Start at Evans cycles if there is one near you.  They have the best demo bike policy of any retailer I found when I was looking 18 months ago.  You have to give them your bank  and contact details, and you will have to book it with them, but you can pretty much ride anything they have in, and they can get other things they sell from their warehouse with a couple of days notice.  I had at lest an hour on two different bikes, helped me rule both out of my shortlist.

Lots of shops have demo fleets, but they tend to be the £2.5k to £3k version, not sure how similar they are to the lower end ones as wheels, groupset and probably the manufacture method (carbon lay up) will be different.  I rode a £2.k Giant which was absolutely out of this world, and signed up for it, only to get cold feet at how much out of budget it was and what the wife would do to me if she found out.

I'd go for carbon, I'd never ridden carbon before so it was an itch I wanted to scratch.  Although the CAAD 12 gets great reviews...

I decided not to go with discs, 18 months ago if you went for discs you definitely missed out elsewhere.  I think you should be able to get Ultegra, and almost all will be 11 speed.

I bought a Giant Propel for £1650, which I loved then and love now, 10,000 km later.  The current model has a more reserved paint job, which would put me off now.  To my eyes it looked better than anything else I could have bought at the time, and arguably still does now.  My decision came down to looks and colour as much as anything else, within £100 most bikes have very similar specs.

I've seen an ad somewhere for a 2015 Scott with Dura Ace, down from £3.5k to £1.8k.  Lot of bike for the money, if you don't mind it being "old".

+1 for going test riding - and not just a pootle round the car park - I'd say 5 miles at least (unless you know from the first few yards that you don't like it). 

Do all you can to have each bike set up as close as possible to how your current bike is set up (saddle to pedal, saddle to bar drop, reach, etc.) so that you can really understand which bike you like.  Otherwise, you risk dismissing a bike because the set-up is a bit off.

And then just buy the bike you fall in love with.

Given time of year, I think you've got a good budget.  Depending on the specific bike, you may just get carbon/ultegra especially if it is not full ultegra and includes one or two 105 parts, or (e.g.) FSA cranks (although probably not with discs, probably not Italian, and it might be a bit of a stretch hitting that price from a physical shop).  But per article a few weeks back on road.cc on difference between 105 and Ultegra, you really don't need to fret about the difference between the two - focus on the other features.

There really are some great deals out there at the moment - I got an email last week advertising PX Pro Carbon with SRAM Rival for £700, which I think is a steal.  It's not the bike for you, but just an example of how much you can get for your money at the moment.

Personally, at this point, I would not worry about the calipers vs. discs issue, unless you anticipate doing an awful lot of descending, or if you think you are often going to need to brake sharply in wet weather.  But if you are a light braker and find that it takes you eons to wear through brake pads / rims, you'll find calipers are perfectly adequate.

Now is the time to buy - shops are clearing out their 2016 stock and lots of places have some good deals although if you're a "normal" size (54/56cm) you often have to be quick - there tend to be more options at the 49/50cm and the 60/61cm end of the sizing!

I would say don't get hung up on details. It depends what sort of discount a particular manufacturer/shop is offering. Sometimes you might find a £3000 bike reduced to £1800, sometimes that £3000 bike only has £400 off, depends on the make/model/shop.

Set aside a couple of days, go to somewhere with a reasonable number of good shops (London would be your best option by a long way!) and have a day of shopping and test riding. If you find a model you don't know much about, google it, there'll be a review of it somewhere.

Be aware of some of the "standards" in use - things like thru-axles, proprietary components etc which may make it difficult to upgrade or replace in future, other than that just see what you like.

From a purely personal point of view, if I was buying a new road bike I'd go for something with full hydro disc brakes. However ultimately it comes down to what you like and what you can afford.

At this time of year, with 2017 models launched, if you are prepared to go with a 2016 model, there are great deals to be had. Only yesterday another post flagged up a 2015 Addict at £999 - an excellent bike at half price, although I suspect the traditional styling of that model won't be to your taste. At your budget however you will get a deal on a 105 spec from almost any quality manufacturer, and at this price you should expect a decent frame. At this price it is pretty much Audi versus BMW versus Merc. There are many models which will do a decent job, blindfold they would be hard to tell apart, but as aesthetics are important to you, it is hard for others to make recommendations. Have fun, go round the bike shops and see what takes your fancy, then read a few reviews before you sign. I agree that at this price it is worth a little extra to get a proper fitting at an LBS. As for the calliper versus disc debate, done to death on here and very much blue touch paper.