Purchasing a Road Bike

[Sky King]

oh, Also think about trying a Marin - used to sell them and always had positive feedback from the riders

[indysteel]

I'd also suggest the Jamis Satellite. I think Jamis bikes are nicely speced for the money. If you want more of a touring bike, look at the Aurora.

[Kathi]

I suggest you have a bike fit before you decide on your bike. My nephew's wife has been looking at bikes. She had an old Specialized Rockhopper that she bought out of college because she liked the color. It didn't fit so she wouldn't ride it. She was looking at the Specialized Dolce. A women's specific frame made sense to her and me.

My bike fitter did a full fitting for her. It turns out that buying the Dolce would have been a major mistake and she would not get the fit she wanted. The reason, she needed a slacker seat tube angle than the angle on the Dolce. In other words, if the geometry was right, a unisex frame could have worked for her. I don't know if she would have been able to determine this on her own or a bike shop employee would have seen it.

Fortunately, my LBS sells Orbea's and the women's Dama is going to be a perfect fit.

Having the bike fit avoided future fitting issues and a costly mistake.

Another point most people don't consider. If you decide you want to sell your bike higher end components will make the bike easier to sell.

[indysteel]

Kathi's advice is good, but in my experience, it's not all that typical. A lot of shops don't really have a fitter, and those that do don't always offer a pre-purchase fitting.