Test rode a Specialized Dolce. VERY NICE Bike! I was looking for a Ruby for my first bike also, but could not find a shop with one to test. Tested a Giant Avail and a Cannondale Cad 10 also. The Cad was the most aggressive and responsive. I really liked it, but I am 56 years old and hadn't ridden imy Trek hybrid in years and never a road bike. All of these bikes had Sora shifters, which I didn't care for at all. I was shopping for a conservative priced bike with 105 shifters.
My husband has had his Synapse for 7 years and it is like new, even with 7000 miles on it. So I thought I should take a look at Synapse. I found a beautiful Synapse Alloy 5 with the 105 shifters. It is perfect for me, perhaps more bike than I need at my age! I have put 250 mile on it in the 7 weeks that I have had it. I am doing 10-15 mile rides 2-3 nights during the week and the last 4 weekends have gone on a 20-30 mile ride either Saturday or Sunday. The Synapse has made biking a pleasurable experience for this novice...Oh and the price was awesome~ $1,299.00. before pedals, helmet, gloves, and H20 bottle cages, etc. Doubt I will ever need to upgrade, but there's a particular math problem at our house-How many bikes does a person need? The answer is n+1 (n= the number of bikes a person already has)