I went for this :- http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/defy/7842/45446/
Giant Defy1 £925, great fast bike and very comfortable for long rides. Tried a TCR2 which is near as damn it the same price. But the TCR has a slightley more race geometry lay out than the defy. Sounds great but in reality it is a more streched out riding position, which as im not racing it and wanted a bike to do avg 30-50mile road rides and the odd 100miler here and there i opted for the bike with the more comfortable riding position.
Yes the Giant bikes in the £1000 range only have 18speed as against some other brands in this price range with 20speed. But i liked the fact that the whole groupset on the defy 1 was the same and not diluted down. The hubs, brakes, crank, B-bracket, Derailleur are all the same groupset (shimano Tiagra). Granted Tiagra may not be the most fashionable in the full on roadie race world when compared to the likes of Shimano Ultegra. But for a training bike/general riding it all works and works well. (think SLX compared to XTR)
One day when i can afford it/ justify a £4500 road bike im gonna go for this http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/defy.advanced/7841/45444/
Defy Advanced 0 (carbon version of my bike, with upgraded groupset) perfect 😀