Don’t get all hung up on disc brakes. Cantilever (not sidepulls, by the way) are an effective brake and not nearly as bad as many make them out to be. My touring bikes has seen a lot of rainy downhills and their cantilevers have stopped it just fine in everything I’ve ridden through. I’ve never once…including a drenched downhill at 45mph in the Smoky Mountains…thought that the brakes weren’t going to work.
You are correct in thinking that the Ridgeback Voyage looks better than the other two. The crank is a better crank and can even take a 22 tooth inner which lowers the gearing significantly. You can even, with some surgery, get a 20 tooth 64mm BCD chainwheel that lowers the gearing even more. The rest of the bike looks pretty good. 32 hole wheels aren’t the best but wheels can be changed (and/or built) to be stronger.