Quote Originally Posted by elk View Post
...how will I know if the fit is right until I am acclimated to that position?
Perhaps see if you can rent a road bike for a day to get used to the position and get some sense of what road bikes feel like in general. Then go on a few long test rides and you'll start noticing finer differences between bikes. If you're not comfortable taking long rides at bike shops, maybe see if there's anyone on this forum who is about your size and will let you ride their bike for a while (of course you'll want to stop mentioning your crashes )