Quote Originally Posted by Biciclista View Post
ask the LBS to compare the components. Do you live near hills? you might want a triple instead of a double (3 chainrings on the front instead of 2)
are you heavy? you might want a sturdier bike.
Which one FEELS best to you? This is tough, because a 5 minute ride in the parking lot didn't tell ME much, I'll tell you that.
I live in southern Michigan. We don't have a whole lot of hills here, and most of them are really small, relatively speaking.

I'm very lightweight.

I actually rode the bike through town, but I agree - didn't learn much about it but how nicely it shifted and how the brakes worked. I couldn't find any relatively big hills close enough to try it on.

Thanks though! I'll definitely have the LBS go over the differences tomorrow, and see what I can pick up myself.

I wish you could get bikes on trial like you could binoculars! The decision would be much easier then.