I bought a 2008 Vita Sport by Specialized. It is equivalent to a 2009 Vita Elite. They call it a flat bar road bike. It has a Dolce seat. It is a WSD small which is 51cm (I'm 5'3"). From the moment I got it, it was so comfortable. No complaints in the seat area, shoulders or hands. It weighs 22 lbs. (unlike my first comfort hybrid Globe which weighed 35 lbs.) The various models are between $500-$880. It goes faster and is easy to ride. I bought a bigger rear cassette for hills, and some ergonomic bar ends for longer rides.

I wonder when I read this forum and am around bike club people, why they consider this bike a 'cute little hybrid'. I read about the Sora components as if they are cheap and not good, but it seems to work fine. I don't think I would ever use drop handlebars, so why would I need them? Is this some sort of status thing to pay lots of money for a road bike, or are they really that much better? I also read about all the body pains and complaints with these more aggressive styled bikes, and I don't have any. So, perhaps if I rode one I would notice a difference (or not). Right now this suits me just fine and I think you might like to test one yourself.