i'd start my selection with the frame of the right geometry, weight and features such as threaded bottom bracket (i.e. non of the bb30, bb90, pf30, bbright etc nonsense), preferably external gear cables (brake cable can be internal as it almost never snaps), round seat tube without the braze-on tab, clearance for bigger tyres, no toe overlap, lively handling, mudguard and rack eyelets, hole in the fork crown as mentioned upthread, and of the colour that i like. i haven't found a frame that has all these features yet, perhaps custom is the way to go.
Boardman adv range? What do the panel think... e.g. the adv 8.9 (£1000) 8.8 (£750)
https://www.boardmanbikes.com/gb_en/products/2138-adv-8.9.htmlI notice it has external gear cabling
I contacted them re. some extra details:
has full mounts front and rear for mudguards
front fork stay mounts are locate on the inside edge of the fork blade
bridge mount on the fork crown is a threaded blind hole
rear mounts are threaded blind holes
two rack and guard stay holes at the bottom of each side of the dropouts which are threaded through holes.
Tyres fitted are 38mm.
Can go bigger with or without guards - depends on the model of tyre and the model and shape of guards that you intend to fit.