Thanks for everyone's input. I think I'm going to stick with the OCR-3 from the LBS. I think my boyfriend thinks I'm crazy, but we went back to look at it & I sort of already named it (Oscar), so I figure since I've named it, I've obviously become attached. I've been looking them up on the net & see that I can upgrade all sorts of stuff as I develop, so I think for the price, it's a steal.

As for the fam, I sort of went off on them-see my dad is a huge fishing fellow who owns 4 boats, and my boyfriend does war models--so when they told me they thought cycling was too expensive, I asked how it compared to their hobbies. Next thing I know, they are telling me that if I'm going to do it, I better do it right I also think it calmed Kirk's(my boyfriend) nerves when we went to look at the bike & I was able to show some of the stuff I learned--like why I want road versus comfort.

So, I'm gonna put it on layaway tomorrow, expect to have it out by June 1(I work for the state, so only get paid once a month), and until then I'm sticking with my spin class. I'm hoping to train for "Conquer the Coast" which is a 45 mile ride around Corpus Christi Bay. It's September 30, 2006.

I'm super excited I found this site!