I'll vouch for the Contend line. I went with the Contend 1 for the upgraded hardware but both of them ride smoothly on the road. I bought mine wanting to get my foot in the door with a limited budget then upgrade in the next year or two (3rd baby on the way and we needed to buy a bigger vehicle this year) but after doing 1000+ miles so far this summer, I don't really feel like I need an upgrade, I really enjoy everything about this bike. You could certainly find cheaper on the used market though. I've even seen a few Contend/Defy's lately at around the $400-$600 price point. If you know what you are doing then there's no reason to spend extra I guess. I'm still learning how to maintain bikes so for me LBS was the better option.