Difficult choices ... or, the pain of buying a new bike

I am in the market for a new bike. My road bike is, after all, 15 years old, and there's a limit to how far I can take it, however many parts I replace and upgrade. And whilst old faithful got me through LEJOG with no major issues, there were plenty of times I wished I'd had a faster, lighter, more comfortable and better equipped bike. In other words, it's time for a new bike, before I take on any other serious challenges.

Of course, to achieve a significant upgrade on what I've already got, I'm going to have to spend a fair amount ... but I don't have the budget to go crazy. Anything less than a grand will be no better than my current set-up; anything more than two grand will be out of my reach.

There are other considerations too, of course. I've spent a lot of time, effort and money making my current bike light - it's 8.3kg, pedals on. So any new bike needs to be light too. Then there's gearing - I currently have a 2x9 set-up, with 50-34 at the front and 11-30 at the back. To improve on that set-up, I'd like 2x10 or 2x11, so there's less of a jump between cogs, and in an ideal world a 32-tooth big ring at the back would be good. The next time I go up Bannerdown or the Lecht, I don't want to have to get off and walk any part of them.

Another requirement, and one that I haven't really bottomed out, is brakes - everyone says disc brakes are better, and certainly they were the popular choice on LEJOG. Coming down the Lecht in torrential rain, I had both my rim brakes fully on and was still doing in excess of 30mph, which could be described as a bit too lively, if I'm honest. But disc brakes add weight and, to this old-school home mechanic, maintenance complexity. Sure, they stop better in heavy rain, but how often do I cycle in really heavy rain?

There are other considerations too. I'm old and stiff, so I'm looking for something with an endurance geometry, rather than anything too racey. Oh, and because I'm shallow, there are cosmetic considerations - I have to like how it looks, and the colour has to fit with my cycling clothes, helmet and shoes.

So ... lots to think about. I've narrowed the options down to these four, across the spread of my budget, and have subjected to them all to my patented PCI analysis, below. That's Pro's, Con's and Interesting things.

The budget option Boardman SLR 8.9 105 - £1,100 from Halfords
	Pro's Carbon forks and frame ... ... at that price! Mostly 105 groupset 2x11 with 11-30 cassette Looks and colour Upgrade potential	Con's Long-reach brakes hard to upgrade meaningfully 9kg ... ... so upgrading would be inevitable It's not all 105	Interesting Attracts some Halfords-related brand snobbery, but I don't give a monkeys about that.
There's a strong case for the Boardman - it's a lot of bike for the money. The slightly high weight and mish-mash of compenents mean I'd want to upgrade bits straight away - the wheels and saddle first, but also the seatpost, stem and handlebars potentially. Suddenly it's not so cheap. But I could use the wheels, saddle and stem from my current road bike, to offset that. The result would be an 8kg flyer! So what's stopping me? Well, I'm not sure on the brakes - Tektro long-reach, undoubtedly fine but, if I'm going to stick with rim brakes, I'd like something sharper and lighter, and that's hard to find when you're restricted to long-reach.
The mainstream choice Giant TCR Advanced 2 - £1,999 from Giant
	Pro's 7.9kg Clean, simple aesthetic 105 groupset 2x11 with 11-30 cassette Carbon seatpost 52-36 at the front is great for speed Upgrade potential Available with 0% finance	Con's Two grand and still only rim brakes? Slightly racey geometry	Interesting 52-36 at the front might mean I'd need bigger than 30 at the back Is it over-priced?
I've seen this reviewed recently as "the best rim-braked bike you can buy today", the logic being that anything better inevitably has disc brakes. Also, my current road bike is a Giant, and has served me well since 2006, which inspires confidence and brand loyalty. I could shave even more weight off by putting my current saddle on, and adding an unused set of Ultegra brakes I've got; I'd probably want to upgrade the wheels too, though that would be far from an immediate necessity. What might be a concern on big hills is that 52-36 crank at the front, as that only gives a hill-climbing ratio of 1.2 when coupled with 11-30 at the rear ... my current bottom gear is 1.13, and that wasn't enough for some LEJOG hills. But how often do I have to contend with hills like that?
The bang for buck Vitus Zenium CRS - £1,899 from Wiggle
	Pro's Mostly Ultegra 2x11 with 11-32 cassette Disc brakes 8.19kg Carbon seatpost Endurance geometry Striking paint-job Deep, lightweight wheelset Available with 0% finance	Con's Availability issues?	Interesting Recent 5% price cut suggests this is a "clearance" item - will it continue, or be replaced?
On the face of it, this is a tremendous bargain. It has pretty much everything I'm looking for, is light (and could be made lighter still if I put my current saddle on), would give me Ultegra hydraulic disc brakes for downhill confidence and, with that (non-groupset) 11-32 cassette, a low gear ratio of 1.06, so no more getting off for hideous hills. So what's not to like? Well, it's only sold through Wiggle and Chain Reaction, availability is scarce (currently only available in XL), and a 5% price cut at Wiggle (not replicated at Chain Reaction) seems odd in the current climate, and suggests to me that it is "end of life". If I could get one, great. But that doesn't look very likely at present. And even if I could, should I wait to see if a new version is coming soon?
The left-field choice Van Rysel Ultra CF - £2,229 from Decathlon
	Pro's Full Ultegra 2x11 with 11-28 cassette Mavic Cosmic carbon wheelset 7.6kg Deda Zero 2 handlebar and stem Won't see many of these in the peloton	Con's A lot to pay for a rim brake bike Only a 28T big ring at the back Racey geometry	Interesting Van Rysel is a Decathlon own-brand, so again attracts snobbery
Buying a less heralded brand is a double-edged sword - sure, you lack the cachet but you also avoid the ubiquity. And this is a superlight piece of kit, and could be made even lighter with the addition of my existing saddle and stem, whilst the alloy handlebar would be a candidate for a future upgrade, and then you'd be starting towards the UCI weight limit (not that I go racing). All that aside, this does feel like a lot of pay for a bike with rim brakes; if they were essential, would the 105-spec Giant be a better buy? Because, let's not forget, this exceeds my two grand price cap.
The cat's pyjamas Canyon Endurance CF 8 - £2,249 from Canyon
	Pro's Full Ultegra 2x11 with 11-34 cassette Disc brakes Carbon seatpost Endurance geometry Available with 0% finance Looks the cat's pyjamas in Canyon blue or matt grey	Con's Slightly heavy at 8.38kg Exceeds my budget slightly So desirable, would I be scared to leave it locked up anywhere?	Interesting Has a set of top tube rivets, allowing a top tube box to be securely mounted.
Okay, so it exceeds my budget, but only by a bit, and it can be paid for in six instalments, interest free. And yes, it's a bit heavier than the Vitus, but if I put my saddle and stem on it would immediately shed 200g, so ... Besides, just look at it. A thing of beauty, and with a low gear ratio of 1 to boot.

So I have a lot to think about, and some tough choices to make, the first of which is should I even be thinking about this, at a time when inflation is spiralling, the cost of living is soaring and fuel prices are through the roof. Even the budget option feels a bit extravagant, when I have a serviceable, if ageing (and creaky), bike. Hmm... anyway, your question is: