Hi everyone,

I'm currently looking at getting a new bike for the summer months as although my cross bike is a lovely dependable thing for the winter I do feel it can be a bit of a drag and am looking for something a bit more spritely.

I have a bit of a love affair with european brands, especially Bianchi, so have immediately written off all the specialized/giants/cannondales etc. I was in London recently and tried out a bike from Condor cycles and I have to admit it was very nice. It is very expensive though and there is obviously a lot less information online about them and I was wondering if anyone here had any experience with their bikes.

Also as a slight side question, which would you recommend out of the Bianchi and BMC lines for a good all round carbon road bike with a limit of around £2500.

could you please explain why a CX bike would be a bit of a drag on the summer? I also own a CX and would like some other reasoning to buy a road bike

I couldn't think of a reason if you just use 25mm tires and lighter wheels?

Because it's an old heifer with a geometry designed to be stable rather than inspiring, a ride that is far from plush and what can only be described as sedate power transfer. It's one of the breeds of CX bikes that's designed to do double duty as a commuter/light tourer and for that I love it, but I'm not sure I want to be doing fast centuries over the summer on it, especially considering I'll have to keep up with the rest of the club on the climbs and most of their bikes are probably half the weight of mine.

Also because I want a new bike. I'm sure 90% of the people on here when they buy a bike already have a working bike.