Thanks for all the help guys. I was leaning towards the Giant but I was second guessing myself. I went to ride the Trek again and yep - all wrong for me, I just felt wrong. Probably because the guy kept insisting I was a 56cm and, though I don't know much about road bikes yet, I'm pretty sure that is too big for me at 5'6". ?

Soooo.. I'm test riding a Scott Contessa tomorrow, just to make sure. But I asked them to hold the Giant for me. Hopefully it'll hold up if I decide to do some races down the road.

I know in my area, every LBS has carries only one brand - except Trek also carries Gary Fisher but I'm pretty sure that doesn't count. I wish we had a Bianchi dealer in these parts, we don't as far as I know.