Sorry, yet another ´Which Bike´thread

[cameramanjim]

Visited the bike show at Earls Court today and it´s left me reeling!
I´m using a Charge Plug for my commute but want to take advantage of the Cycle2Work scheme in November, so have been looking around for something around the 1000 pounds mark as a ´weekend´ bike.

I sort of had a shortlist (Condor, Allez Elite, Boardman Team Carbon) but after Earls Court...... Oh my god.
I thought I´d cracked it when i found the Argon ´Krypton´full carbon frame with Campagnola Veloce groupset and Conti ´Grand Prix´ tyres until I realised that the quoted 1199.00 was just for the frame. Duh.
My list has now expanded to include:

Wilier Triestina
Bianchi ´Camaleonte Alu Tiagra MX´ (950.00)
Colnago ´Prima´ (899.00)
Marin ´Toscana CX´ (999.00)
Marin ´Mill Valley´ (1095.00)
Specialized Secteur Elite (999.00)
Specialized Tricross (749.00)
or the Eddy Merckx AMX1 Tiagra (899.99)
Scott Speedster S20 (1099.00)

I´m seriously wondering if I´ll ever be able to decide. Being a newbie I´d appreciate any advice. I know I should try them out but would love to know if any of you have one of the above or have tried one even. Or even (heaven forbid!) if you wanted to recommend something that´s not on the list.

By the way I took pics of most of the above and plenty more besides and here they are: http://smg.photobuck...20Show/?start=0

 

[Soltydog]

For a 'weekend' bike I'd go for something other than the tricross. It's a great versatile bike, but not the kind of bike to keep for weekends. I had one until recently but much prefered my Allez Elite for the weekends

 

[Norm]

It depends on what you consider a "weekend ride" to mean.

Looking just at the two Specialized bikes, if your weekend rides are on tarmac, go for the Secteur and you will love every second. If you want to venture onto other tracks and paths, just to go for a ride without worrying about the surface, then the Tricross will devour them without any worries.

My Secteur Sport and Tricross Sport turned in pretty much exactly the same times on my commute. The way that the Tricross handled the crap road surfaces of South Bucks offset the extra weight.

 

[e-rider]

you forgot helium, neon, xenon and radon!