Canyon, Ribble or Merlin? New bike decision time

That Decathlon bike with the Ultegra and rim brakes looks a bargain at the sale price.

Had a look at Decathlon? 

There's some bargains there, if you're happy with rim brakes then this looks good:

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/ultra-920-af-road-bike-grey-ultegra-id_84028...

If you still want disc brakes then this is a steal, however there's only stock left in Large:

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/ultra-520-af-gf-road-bike-rival-disc-id_8390...

Both bikes come with significantly better wheels then the ones listed in the original post.  

Don't dismiss the Praxis crankset, I took it off because I wanted to run 170mm cranks instead of 175mm. Noticed immediately how much lighter it was than the Tiagra crankset I put on instead. It was really nicely finished as well.

I put it up for sale and immediately got £80 for it.

Anyway, sorry to confuse you further! 

Most Merlin frames are made by Ridley and,as such, are quite well regarded. I suppose the brand name doesn't have the same kudos, though.

Specialized Allez Elite?

For £1050 you get full 105, rim brakes, and as stock it will weigh less than the Canyon Endurace Disc. It costs £300 less also which you could put towards nicer tyres (the stock ones are commuter tyres, heavy but robust, I fitted lighter Continental 4 seasons).

Also, check out Rose bikes, they do the Pro SL Ultegra for £1269 and if it's like their other bikes you can tweak some of the spec to suit your tastes. They also have the carbon Team GF Four on sale at the moment at £1450

I've tried discs for wet weather road riding, commuting and gravel and will now stick with rim brakes until they prise them from my cold dead hands. So much less noise in the wet, much easier to adjust if they start rubbing, no fear of contamination from road spray, and if I really need more power I just pull the lever a little harder 

I don't know about the other bikes, but I'm going to purchase the Canyon AL 7 with 105 groupset. I don't care for discs - I have mechanical discs on my winter bike and had a bike that was stolen with hydraulic brakes. Having used all 3 brake types I stronly prefer rim brakes. Much cheaper and lighter, not noisy and need for adjustments all the time, super easy maintenance. Disc are fine for MTB, foul weather etc or if you brake a lot going down huge mountains. I don't ride in the rain or the mud and I don't descend mountains. I also have no problem locking my wheels with rim brakes. Also, you don't seem to be a racing cyclist and the reviews complaining about the wheels are probably written by competitive cyclists. I couldn't care less. 

My experience has been with the Shimano 105 discs. Firstly,the hoods were bigger which for me were not as comfortable as Ultegra cable and the reach was increased.The pads and discs seemed to be constantly contaminated from road muck causing them to howl like banshees.

As for power. There is only so much braking you can put through a small contact patch of tyre onto the road and my rim brakes have no problems locking the wheels.

I see that for a bit less money you can get the Canyon Endurace CF 7.0.Saves you about a kilo. I have a higher spec carbon Endurace and can't fault it.

I've got this Canyon although with Ultegra and DT Swiss wheels.  Mine is in red although it is, in its own way, every bit as startling as the blue.  And I rate it highly, it's a testament to the advances made in aluminium frames over the last few years.

The 28mm tyres are great; it takes a while to get accustomed to the view from the cockpit but after a week you will wonder how you managed without their comfort and grip.  And the discs?  Genuine one-finger braking, which is handy if you break the other four.  You don't get that with rims.

Best of luck.

Does it have to be discs.Personally I would forego them in order to get a higher spec somewhere else on the bike,preferably the wheels. And yes,I have had a hydraulic disc braked bike but its rims for me.