Originally Posted by
SamH1996
thanks do you mind me asking what your preferences are? I can’t see myself racing anytime soon so would you say endurance bikes for a more casual rider?
I'd hesitate to make any general statement on the matter, because of how fuzzy the categories are. "Aero" road bikes didn't come about because there was any specific user-end need for them to be their own category, but because bicycle manufacturers wanted to explore aerodynamic frame shaping without putting all their eggs in that basket. As the technology has matured, there's been a lot of cross-pollination: many "climbing" and "endurance" road bikes now feature a lot of aerodynamic shaping, for instance.
I don't think any of these considerations are necessarily deal-breakers for any of the use cases you're talking about. There are randonneurs who ride 1200km Brevets on "aero" bikes. There are racers who show up to road races on "endurance" frames and compete just fine.
If there's an aero bike that you really like and which will fit you, I don't think you should avoid it out of fear that it will be unsuitable for 70-mile rides. On the other hand, I don't there are many situations where it makes that much sense to worry much about specifically getting an "aero" bike either.