New road bike advice

Yeah, my point was in the sticks you might find the dirt more appealing and your 2k roadie gathering dust. MTBs barely existed when I bought my first road bike. Mountains didn't exist where I lived.
Anyway I'd still get something substantially cheaper than your budget initially, especially if it's going to be used day in/day out commuting. You can get decent old road bikes on ebay for 2-300 quid.

Actually if you're still in the UK and the roads are still the same piles of shit I ride on I'd ignore most road stuff and go for fat tyre gravel kinda bikes that let you run 35mm+ tyres.

Ribble Audax are super cheap (I gave my old frame away), Kinesis 4S have fixed their issues by going to thru-axle so that's a decent option (I raced one of the old ones in 2xTCR 1xTABR). There are blinging frames that do the same thing but I'd rather spend that money on a trip somewhere than on a daily driver.

Ribble Audax

You can buy mine for £2k

It's an exciting predicament to have

I have done plenty of road cycling in the past on borrowed bikes, I just don't know whats good and whats not

Perhaps I've over budgeted, which suits me fine! Maybe I'm suffering from tunnel vision after spending too long on the Canyon and LOW websites

Funnily enough, I'm in the same boat as you fella... want to spend about 2k but need pedals, shoes etc... might treat myself to a new lid as well. The Aria is a nice bike, not mega light, but lighter than my cross bike, the non celeste colour ways are better imho.
I've looked at Canyon, but it doesn't help not being able to see it in the flesh... although that new Movistar colour combo is crackin.
You can grab a bargain now as 2019 bikes are out as well which is a brucey.
I'm stuck between 2-3 at the moment, need to see them all in the flesh though before I decide

You can grab a bargain now as 2019 bikes are out as well which is a brucey.

That's a good point. And there will be Christmas and new year sales on soon.

https://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/canyon-ultimate-cf-sl-9.0-di2-carbon-road-racing-bike-medium-55-56/1317475293 With last years bikes in mind, this caught my eye. Though this isn't a good enough discount for a 2nd hand bike IMO, and its too far away, but its encouraging

I'll give you a fiver and a slap on the arse. Deal?

They're got more bling options but like I said, if it's just for commuting and putting in a few weekend miles and you have no idea about what you what from a road bike, they work well.
https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/bikes/road-bikes/

This is the kind of thing I'm trying to prevent. £2k bike... does 1500 miles... for sale 12 months later.

I like this

https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-endurance-725-disc/

Lots of Giants and Spesh on ebay that can be had pretty cheap - people get into road riding, do one sportive and then sell them off.

I'm clearly fond of Kinesis even if I do keep snapping them (or more accurately cars running into me keep snapping them). I like the look of their new RTD.

Kinesis Aithein or Bowman Palace with Hunt wide aeros. Fast, stiff, fun, bounce-able

I moved out to the sticks last year and I've barely done any pure road riding. There are so many amazing bridleways to explore, and rubbish roads exposing glorious scenery that I daren't use my Sunday best bike. My CX bike with hydro disc brakes gets so much action now. I also barely use my MTB because it's so sluggish compared to the CX bike and so not as fun. I'd think really hard before committing to a pure road bike, especially if you are budgeting for 2k! If I were in your shoes I'd grab a alu/steel CX/gravel/adventure road bike - ideally with hydro discs - and get a second wheelset: one with slicks for road rides and one with fat knobblies on for versatile blasting on and off-road. Quick wheel change and you are off, whatever the weather.

That's not the Bowman model that keeps snapping is it?

I am grateful, but I'd love and cherish my new bike

Maybe 2nd hand is the best option. Do you know how easy it is to insure a 2nd hand bike with out its receipts? My current insurance only covers the cost of my frame, because it's the only component I bought new

Fat tyres rule.

Most policies now seem to require specified item insurance for bikes, so you basically tell them what it is and what it's worth and they go from there.

CX is really appealing and looks fun, but I've never done it, so getting a CX bike is more of a gamble than buying a road bike - I have done plenty of road cycling and I know I already enjoy it, I've just never personally owned a road bike

However I do see the benefit of having both sides of the coin with CX + the steel frame options seem good value and look great. Can you recommended any in particular?

great, thanks

Get a bike fit first, around £250.

Then spend £1750 on a road bike.

CX Is amazing buy don’t waste 2k on a CX bike - most of the guys in the London league are still on canti-brakes and you can pick up a bargain on eBay.

Re trek Edmonda alr disc. I had one. It was so brilliant that I literally didn’t ride any of my other bikes for over a year. If I was only allowed 1 bike I would buy it in a heart beat

Is it? Hadn't heard that personally

I have an aithein and ride it more than my 'nice bike' (wilier cento) because it's such fun. Very much want the disc version but can't justify it right now.

Also echo the fat tyre comments. I ride 28s on my aithein, but have 38s on a tripster atr which is also fantastic fun to ride without being painfully slow on tarmac

Get a decent workhorse and ride it to the ground. No point spending 2k in a race bike to find you just want to ride audax or cross

Using the secret pro as an authority on anything is comical. Spec, Trek and Canyons are all ridden by boring centrist dads.

Great bikes though