I've been switching out my tires on my mountain bike now that I understand that the slick tires are better on the road. The first few times are a bit difficult when the tires are new and stiff, but after that it's not a big deal. You may want to try that for a while until you decide what kind of bike you really want. I've decided I want to go for a road bike since I'm aiming to do centuries and the like. I'll just switch the tires out on my mountain bike to suit the terrain (road or off-road) if I'm going to be doing "utility" rides (good terminology KnottedYet!); can't do that with a road bike.