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I expectantly find myself bike hunting today.  Upon my arrival back at the depot after my round I was greeted by a nice lady from Evans Cycles who informed me that until the 20th April the company are doing the Bike to Work scheme through Evans.  The obvious downside is having to deal with Evans, my previous experience is not great.  Yes the staff are friendly enough, even when you go back with a problem, it's just they don't fill you with any confidence, you don't get that warm feeling that you would from a friendly local bike shop.

Grumbling about Evans aside I have in the region of £1250 to spend on bike and 5 accessories to claim 20% discount and bring us in at £1000, the limit for the scheme.  For those who don't know how this works, my employer buys the bike and I pay them £13 a week for 12 months, so at the end of the year I've got £1250's worth for £680! Can't be bad.

So the shortlist....

Wilier La Triestina- £1149

Cannondale CAAD8- £1049

Felt F75 - £1175

Any thoughts and opinions you may have are appreciated, currently I'm favouring the Wilier I think.  I like the internal cable routing and the prestige the name gives as well as it being a bit different, you don't tend to see too many out on a club ride.  However I'm told the Cannondale is a cracking ride and I quite like the look of the Felt.  I've phoned Evans and none are in stock for me to try and the Wilier takes 21 days to arrive so it doesn't leave me long to decide which one I want if the deal has to be done by the 20th April!

The purchase has been approved by Mrs H, when I say approved it's more like she's given in to my nagging ;) so a trip to Evans in the next few days to get the ball rolling I think as well as other bike shops to see if I can actually get a test ride within 21 days, nothing like striking whilst the irons hot!