Ladies, I do so like the way you think.

I'll probably start test-riding over the break between Christmas-New Years (I have all those days in between off work- bliss!). The Romulus seems to make the most sense for me, but I'd just as soon see what else is out there first.

I rode around quite a bit on hubby's Romulus yesterday; up until now I'd only done a couple of spins around the block. But yesterday I was called for jury duty, made it up to the jury box and had the distinction of being the very first one excused by pre-emptive challenge (ah, the joys of an advanced degree, a job in the legal field, and a stone face - I scare the bejeezus out of those attorneys. Hee.).

Anyhow, I found myself with a weekday afternoon off, so hubby and I took off on own own bikes on the paved part of the trails that loop down toward the SF Bay and the Dunbarton Bridge. Since there was pretty much no-one around for me to to crash into or otherwise annoy (these paths can get pretty crowed on weekends), I got up the nerve to try the Romulus on some small hills and windy paths. I could not *believe* how easy those hills were ! [ chorus of "duh"s from the audience ...]

While obviously the bike wasn't fitted for me, hubby and I aren't all that far off proportionally, so it wasn't that difficult for me to envision just how incredibly wonderful it will be to have one fitted to me. Since I've been riding quite upright on the hybrid for well over a year, the more bent-over position, the drop handlebars, and especially the bar-end shifters are going to take a bit of getting used to, but to be honest after about a half hour it was already starting to feel normal (well, sort of).

At any rate, I'm jazzed. You ladies have talked me into taking the plunge! Like I said, I'm probably going to test ride a few different bikes to get a feel for what's out there, but in my heart of hearts I think we're going to be a two-Romulus ( Romulii ? ) family. Mine's most likely going to have a black saddle - Brooks, of course! - and black tape, so we can easily distingiush it from Lee's with the tan Books and tan tape - and to perhaps minimize that "his 'n hers" aura (which I'm just not very keen on).

Thanks for all your input! I'll probably have questions about other bikes I might check out, but I'll raise those in the "Bikes" area.

All the best, - Jo.