Want to add road bike to my collection - advice please..

Hi

I already have a mountain bike & Thorne Rohloff commuter (former for dry weather, latter for wet/winter).

I would like to add something a little more nimble - also for dry weather only. This would mainly be for commuting (8 to 11 miles each direction), also occasional longer weekend ride. No racing. I'm 6'2" and would like a reasonably comfy riding position & feel.

Budget up to around a grand.

At the moment I am looking at several bikes/ brands e.g.

http://road.cc/content/review/50515-can ... ad8-tiagra

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165710

Also Giant Defy Composite & Cube bikes (stocked locally).

Unfortunately we don't have Evans in Leicester, and nearest Halfords with this Boardman bike in stock is Nuneaton.

I have had a few attitude issues with Julies cycles (probably Leicester's most well known bike shop). I have tended to use another shop which stocks Cube bikes - and recommended models ?

There is another local shop (Websters) which deal with Specialized I think ..

I'd have thought a purchase like this would definitely require at least sitting on the bike before shelling out, so prefer not to do this purely online.

Advice gratefully received.

Thanks