Do I need to be talked into or out of a new-to-me bike?

[owlice]

sorry dear, we only encourage here. Go with the love. if it feels good, go for it.

I suspect the choice of forum on which to ask shows a certain bias; I could have posted this on a "save all your money for the future" forum.

I would take the cash, add it to the tax refund and buy the best road bike I could afford.

I can't justify spending that much. About $1K is all I'll lay out for a bike/s (for me) this year. That "college" thing, you know, and I'd like to buy the kid a bike this year, too, since he's way outgrown his last bike. (Putting books on his head didn't help; he still grew.)

I should probably not even consider this until I ride it, which I'll do tomorrow. I was looking at it this morning, though, and it's prettier than I'd remembered...

There's always a few accessories that you want/need.

Already in the budget: lights, new rack, helmet. Anything else will have to wait.

Good idea to start testing road/touring bikes, though. Such a chore, but I'm sure I can manage.