Thinking of a road bike, steel? Touring?

[molasses85]

First of all, it is so cool to be among all of you! There's such a wealth of knowledge.

My thread might be a little similar to Jaybee's...sorry if it's long!

Currently I'm riding a Specialized Myka HT. I enjoy riding it on my own and with my family, esp. since I just put Ergon grips.

I'm looking into road bikes (I never ever thought I would do that!!!) since I ride mostly pavement. I've tried out a Specialized Vita, Ruby, a Fuji Finest, Trek FX 7.5 WSD and a Surly LHT that was way too big for me (46 cm). None of them really did anything for me and I esp. didn't like the road feel on the Vita and Trek (both carbon forks).

A couple of days ago I tried a Cannondale Quick CX hybrid (not bad) and a Cannondale Synapse size 44 (alloy w/carbon fork). I was very surprised that I liked the Synapse. I was even ok with the drop bars! Standover was the highest (touching) but overall comfort was pretty good (though the parking lot was pretty smooth). The guy at the store said that the top tube might be a hair short. The other drop bar bikes I tried I felt too stretched out, maybe I'm not used to the positioning.

However, considering my riding needs I wonder if I should look into specifically a steel bike instead of carbon. I have tennis elbow from my music hobby and sometimes carpal tunnel (I'm so glad for those Ergon grips).

I want a solid ride that will be comfortable. Not looking for speed but efficiency. I would like a bike that in the future I can bike to my church 8 miles away (and up a pretty steep hill) and handle the rough pavement. I like the idea of being able to put larger tires to handle the rough stuff but don't know if a bike with say 28s can be good for that.

From my research I'm wondering about touring bikes like a well fitting Surly LHT (except I don't like the bar end shifters) or a regular steel road bike like a Jamis Coda or Bianchi Eros Donna that I'm looking into. I've been talking to a shop that may try to get a Jamis Coda Comp for me to try.

I would really appreciate any help!!!