A better bike will improve performance there's no doubt. I too ride with a club and there are grade levels A - D with a stop at C+. The first ride I made with this group I picked a C ride which is roughly 10 - 13 miles per hour average and the ride is generally under 40 miles. I was somewhat bored. I moved up to C+ which was about 14 miles per hour over the same duration. The B group is supposed to be 16 - 18 but it really isn't however the first B ride I did was 35 miles and hilly. We did the ride averaging 15.1 MPH on my computer and bike app. When we got back to the start I was spent. My point is that between C, C+ and B ride groups there was only a handful of miles per hour difference like 2 - 4. To jump from 16 to 20 is a lot different than from 12 - 16 and the bike is not going to get you there. The main difference in the group ride for the B range was how quickly after a stop sign or a red light did the group get back up to a 19-21 MPH pace on a flat area. The B gang has a very fast 0 to 20 whereas the C and C+ does not that's a big factor and how good they are at hill climbing. I want to hear back if you buy the Canyon Endurace I'm considering it also.