Hi Snarfindorf. First up, you need to choose a bike that you can enjoy riding, which is going to depend on what kind of riding you intend to do and your overall level of fitness and body shape.
I have five bikes, one of which is a Boardman Sport which I haven't actually ridden yet, I bought it when it was on sale at
Halfords (15% discount) and my plan is to ride it during the Summer purely as a get-fit bike. At the moment it's doing nothing but sitting there because I fitted clip-in pedals (I don't know why people call them clipless pedals) for which I need to wear my cycling shoes, and I have not yet developed enough strength in my core muscles (butt, belly, abdomen) to adapt to the seating position; it's painful and unpleasant and gave me dose of backache just from riding it 1 mile home from Halfords. I ain't ready for it yet. And I also need to buy clothes more suitable for the bike; I'm sure lycra/spandex is fantastic, but I'm never going to wear it - just not happening. Also ditto for shorts; I'm more likely to wear shorts than lycra, but even so, if I bought a pair they'd be put in the cupboard never to see the light of day again. So now I'm on the hunt for trousers.
My Boardman Sport is an excellent bike, I have no doubt about that, but it is not a
practical bike for me at the moment. My 1980's 3-speed Raleigh or 15 year-old Marin hybrid on the other hand are both comfortable and practical. I ride the Raleigh purely as a vanity-bike but it's comfortable enough, and my Marin is my ordinary practical everyday bike. As my riding has improved I've had to make the seat higher and the handlebars lower on both bikes, so I can see how eventually the crouched riding position on the Boardman bike does make sense, but I'm not there yet, and I would suggest that you'll probably run into the same problem. If you buy the Boardman and you're not used to being seriously bent over, you are going to suffer backache - that's what I predict.
I guess vanity
does matter too in choosing a bike, so you might be better off buying a bike you love the look of even if it's not the best bike, because you'll
want to ride it and show it off. It doesn't matter how good a bike is is you never ride it.
Price-wise, I'd suggest reducing your budget to around £300 so that you'll have money left over to invest in modifications and extras. Once you've gotten into the swing of riding, you'll start noticing things that aren't quite right; some things cost nothing to fix, like moving the seat back or forward or altering the angle of the handlebars (make sure you tighten them up properly.. *cough*) but you could easily spend over £100 on tyres, a rack, panniers, lights, kick-stand, lock, bell, different length crank arms, pedals, mudguards, ergo-grips, cycle computer, bottle cage, accessory bar, different shape handlebars, different size sprockets.. and that's before you've bought clothes.
Make
SURE the bike you choose is a good fit. It's the same as buying a pair of shoes; if they don't fit, they are the
wrong shoes. Don't assume that the frame size you used to ride is the correct size for your next bike. I assumed that the correct size frame for me was about 19" or 20" or a size medium, but three different bike shops very definitely pointed me to size large frames and so when I bought the Boardman I ended up with a size Large even though I was completely sure a size medium would be correct. There are guides on the internet - and presumably on this website - about setting up bikes and checking the size. Make sure you read or watch one first. It will matter a lot in the long run.
