Thanks everyone for the replies! I am totally clueless. I am a petite woman and most like want a 48 cm bike but not 650 wheels and compact crank (my racing and training wheels are 700c). I have been looking for months but everyone seems to give me a line. Some one told me that carbon snaps easily and Ti is better. A bike shop owner recently told me he has only seen one carbon bike snap (he now sells many carbon bikes) but plenty of Ti bike break in 2 (he is getting away from selling Ti frames). I have a Ti bike (a 51 cm) and it seems pretty sturdy to me? has anyone heard this about carbon frames? I'm confused!!

I will definitely be test riding a few bikes using my own as the collateral. I am going to start with the Orbea diva. I am thinking about the Litespeed vortex...I think it is just as expensive as the diva.