Just in case you aren't yet convinced, I thought I'd throw in my two cents for the road bike. I started on a hybrid and decided pretty quickly that it was not fun hauling all that weight around. I'm not quite 5'5" and I didn't have to do WSD, but I tend to have longs arms. You'll just have to try things out to see what works for you.

Trek has actually started making some of their aluminum bikes with carbon forks for not too much $$. I probably would have chosen one of those had they been available when I purchased my bike.

Good luck and keep us posted!