6061 Alloy?

I'm hoping someone could shed some light on this for me, (apologies if its been covered before)

I'm looking at getting a modern bike through the cycle to work scheme. I've settled on a genesis, now I need to decide on a model: equilibrium or volant.

They're both attractive bikes, but which would be lighter? Reynolds 520 (Equilibrium) frame or 6069 ALX-9 Alloy (Volant) frame? I know with older frames, reynolds tends to be the way to go, but i know practically nothing about new bikes.

Now the cycle to work scheme allows a maximum of £1000 spend on a bike. I could get the Volant at £999.99, with full shimano tiagra groupset. Or the Equilibrium at £899.99 with a mix of shimano tiagra and sora.

So which is better value in your opinion? or should I be looking at a completely different bike all together? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Apologies if this is a daft question.

Thanks!

Personally I'd take the steel framed bike - all the groupset will be junk after two years of commuting - the shifters and brake callipers will be all that's left.

Steel bikes are tough and last.

If it's just for recreational riding, try each and buy the one that's nicer to ride. No paper spec will tell you that.

I've never had a proper road bike but if I did equilibrium is top of my personal list. 520 though? Sounds like this is the lower spec cheaper version of the 725 frame, just like the CDF verses the Croissant de fer.
Either way it should be nice my Genesis Day One is 520 and I love that bike. Try em both if poss

The Volant will be be the lighter bike, but the Equilibrium will have the more comfortable smoother ride. The Volant being aluminium will eventually fatigue as will its carbon fork. So if your doing 5,000 miles a year in a about 4 to 5 years your going to start wondering whether or not you should still be riding it. The 520 steel Equilibrium also has a steel fork and as 520 isn't heat treated it won't be super thin wall tubing. In short then, if treated well it will likley out last you. Also the Equilibrium can take proper full mudguards, which is a good thing for a commuter. As for which one you should buy, well, they're both great bikes!!!