Road Bike purchase- suggestions

SurreyHills

Hi all,
I've been regularly cycling since May when I purchased a Trek 8.2 Hybrid, main reason for this is because I was living near various bridal paths and wanted to vary my run.
I have now moved and I'm looking for a road bike for the improved speed being that I will only be on relatively good road surfaces including some steepish hills.

I can spend up to £1000 and a brand I'm particularly interested in is Specialized (heard a few good things). I want the bike to last a good while and I'm also interested in disc brakes which usually require less adjustment?

A possible model is: Specialized Secteur Sport Disc Compact 2013 Road bike @ £1k.
Being that it is a "compact" in terms of gears, I'm not certain that it will have enough gears to handle steep climbs. However, I rarely use the "granny ring" on my current hybrid (only for long climbs of about a mile).

Someone has suggested cyclocross bikes to me for the improved strength but I'm not sure whether this is needed? I weigh around 90kg and do come across a few pot holes during my pursuits around Surrey.

Any help would be much appreciated.
Regards
joe

Wobblehead

Looks an interesting choice, don't worry about it not having enough gears for steep climbs, you only need one gear, it just needs to be low enough for your fitmess levels, a 34/30 should get most reasonaby fit people up most hills. Also few road bikes are running disks at present, a few coming to the market like the one you point out.

Most other bikes with discs will be cyclocross, main difference is clearance for mud around wheel / frame. You may find different gearing on a crosser as well, I think most will run 48/36 up front as apposed to 50/34.

The specialized will also take guards as well as having rack mounts if you need them.

There are always alternatives out there, depends on what riding you want to do, how far, how comfortable, how fast.

SurreyHills

Thanks Wobblehead. I got out most evenings (I love to be alone!) and do around 9 miles in 40 or so minutes. Average speed of around 13-16 mph and max speed of 28mph where I run out of gears.
I don't find the existing bike that comfortable and put some of this down to the straight handle bars.
Joe

SurreyHills

Missed from above:
I'm definitely after a good degree of comfort and wouldn't be using the bike for racing. Just want to get something of good quality which will last.
Thanks

smidsy

The fact that it is a compact means it gives you the best chance of getting up steep climbs. If you can not do it with a 50/34 you will deffo not do it with a standad double (53/39).

SurreyHills

Thanks Smidsy,
Looks like I will be going with the Specialized Secteur Sport Disc Compact 2013 after a test drive of course. I'm looking around for some "real world" reviews of this bike, hopefully some will turn up.
I like everything I'm reading about disc brakes and I'm confident the bike will stand up to a few pot holes now and then.
I'm looking forward to experiencing biking with the drop handle bars!