Is road biking for me?

[lovelylibrarian]

Thank you all for the suggetions. I'm going to try to find a LBS in San Francisco that's not a huge chain store and that can help me out with making the best choice. You've all been very helpful. I would really like to be able to participate in group rides and keep up.

Karen

[bluebug32]

You could also try a cross bike. I was into mtbing for a long time and decided on the cross bike for the trainer in the winter and to still have the option to ride light trails and gravel (a nice cross between road and mountain). If you want to ride the road, you can just throw road tires on it, and it's basically a road bike too. To me, it's the best of both worlds.

[roadie gal]

1+ on finding an LBS that will rent you a bike. You could talk to them and try to work out a deal where you would apply the rental fees to a purchase.