shopping for my first road bike!

[cathleen]

Thanks, CMac, Emily & Pedal!

You ladies have given some nice advice.

I will certainly insist in a good, comfortable fit - there's just no way I would spend money on the "wrong" bike. (Current bike is a little too tall for me, so I have a strong appreciation for good fit, you could say!) And, of course, I'm not going to buy anything until I take them all for a spin.

Fortunately, I don't think finding the right size is going to be difficults for me. (I'm 5'6" and slightly long-legged, so I'm not having the same difficulties as my dad's wife, who stands 4'11"!)

Pretty much everything in my price range are alm frames and several have carbon forks. I'll be looking at carbon seat posts, tires other tricks to deal with road chatter - so thank you for the tips, Pedalfaster!

Oh, and everything's had 9 in the cassette, so, I guess I don't have to worry about that too much. However, I do think I am going to ask for a triple chainring setup.

I have been to 2 LBSs so far. 1 is a big store with lots of stuff & the usual brands: Klein, Trek, etc. The other is a smaller place that tends to carry ones that aren't QUITE as common.

So far, the ones in my price rance are:

Lemond Tourmalet (just a little over budget, but maybe I can chip in a few bucks of my own.)

Specialized Allez Sport

Trek 1200

Felt F80 (the company I've never heard of before)

Gonna get my shorts on and go do some fits & test rides next week.

This is turning out to be really fun. Hee hee.

PS: Southwest Michigan Shout-Out to CMac - I don't blame you for moving to Albuquerqe. (I was there on vacay 2 years ago & loved it!)