With the race season behind us comfort is rolling its way up our agendas. Perhaps it's always sat really high on yours. Either way, our Sportive and Endurance Bike Buyer's Guide does a great job of laying out the best comfortable bikes on the market; this piece will point you in the direction of the bargains.
Sportive and endurance bikes are designed for longevity and comfort. It's the relaxed geometry, frames designed to keep your ride smooth, and the ability to carry wider tyres that really helps with those longer days in the saddle. Disc brakes are also an addition to this genre that's become almost ubiquitous.
In today's Buyer's Guide Bargains round-up we've found discounts on the 2016 verisions of several of our Buyer's Guide identified top performers, including bikes from Kona, Boardman, Look, Cannondale, and BMC.
If you're into your steel, the Kona Roadhouse is a do-it-all machine that'll tick plenty of boxes for you. Novatech Road 30 wheels, a Shimano 105, Ultegra mixed groupset, and hydraulic RS505 Shimano disc brakes make up a top tech package.
As it's steel, the Roadhouse isn't the fastest, but it's stable and fun. Not only that, the entire package is almost perfect. That's what our man Mike Stead said. Read his review here:
It won't say endurance or sportive bike anywhere amongst the marketing spiel, but Boardman's Road Sport - also winner of our Budget Bike of the Year prize in 2013-14 - ticks all the right boxes for this category thanks to Boardman's sportive geometry.
Sure, it's a bit racier than most of the bikes in this round-up, but its long top tube and short head tube keeps everything comfortable. Wide tyres are an option and the frame features curved wishbone seatstays which flex slightly to increase comfort.
Up there with the racier of the endurance bike on offer today, the Look 765 is a cracking bike. It's the latest incarnation of Look's 765 endurance range and offers a less stretched out riding position.
The bike's got all sorts of features that'll make you feel comfortable on long rides, for example there's a layer of linen fibre has been positioned between the carbon thicknesses on the fork and chainstays to encourage the dissipation of vibrations.
Our tech editor Mat Brett gave the bike a solid 7/10 on road.cc review.
A skinny 25.4mm seatpost, sculpted stays and a shock-damping carbon layup pull Cannondale's Synapse ahead of the bunch throughout the range.
The super skinny seatpost has an integrated the seat clamp into the top tube so there is more exposed seat tube to flex which will keep everything comfortable. The tall head tube and the long wheelbase round off extremely effective and comfortable geometry.
The more expensive £2,499 Synapse Ultegra Disc won the road.cc Bike of the Year 2014/15 Awards, so you're know you're getting quality here.
Finally, the BMC GranFondo is another bike we've seen something of here at road.cc. We've not actually seen this specific model, but the more expensive GF01 model performed excellently on review.
The GF02 was developed alongside BMC's racing team, but the it evolved as an endurance bike. yres. BMC says that this carbon bike, with its high vertical compliance will perform perfectly while you're in the saddle for long days.
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