I recommend test riding both bikes, as well as several others. If you know you like riding, buy the best bike you can afford so you're soon not stuck wishing you had a different bike or wanting to upgrade things (which is a lot more costly than buying a little bit more expensive bike with those things on it in the first place). Don't worry about the brand so much as they're pretty much all the same (especially for entry level bikes) and educate yourself about components (or ask someone who is more experienced) to see which bike is the better bang for the buck. Checking out the manufacture's warranty would be a good thing to do though as well (Giant bikes have a lifetime warranty, for example). Make sure the shop actually fits you to the bike and that it really does fit you-- some "bad" shops will try to get last years model bikes out of the shop or even just current bikes they have on the floor, even if it's not right for the buyer. There's now "endurance" oriented road bikes available and some say it's just a marketing hype; I won't take a side on this but do know that even on a more race oriented bike, you can swap out or flip the stem to get less saddle to handlebar drop. JMHO. Good luck and have fun searching for a bike!