Thinking of a road bike, steel? Touring?

[molasses85]

Wow! Thanks for all the input and shopping well wishes! There's so much to think about!

Sorry if my responses don't include quotes, being a newbie I might mess it up!

tiva, glad you like your Synapse. I know I need to try it again on a little more rough pavement because it might not take a 28 tire as Sky King mentioned. To add, the nice part is with that one I didn't feel any pressure on the nose of the saddle like the others.

Oakleaf, I love your description of how a good fit and joints work the right way. Thankfully my elbow isn't too severe, it will take time though.

I talked with an owner of a local LBS who happens to know someone in the family. He had some concerns on the reach of the LHT with drop bars (flat bars better). He is short and has custom bikes so he understands my size issues (I'm 5'0"). He also was concerned with what I want and the gearing with the 26" wheels (I don't remember exactly, I'll clarify with him).

We talked about the Giant Dash, which has a carbon seatpost and fork which may help with vibrations. It has a high standover but I do the tilt thing at a stop. We had me check out a similarly sized bike and flatfooted was a no go but with the tilt it worked. The Dash comes with 25c tires but was not in stock to try out.

Being still new I'm not crazy about spending the money and building something like a LHT without knowing how it would feel, yet with my size issues it's hard to find one in stock!

It's so nice to see how you and your friends make things work, I know I'll get there, especially with all this help!