Thanks Ladies for all your help. When I started this thread asking for your thoughts, I'd pretty much decided the bike was a great deal and I would be buying it within the week.

After reading your thoughts, I've gotten cold feet - it's a big chunk of $$ and I don't want to make a mistake. Have been discussing your comments with hubby and now have decided that I'm not going to buy it. Will wait, do more research, ride more bikes and other brands (which I haven't done yet), and be armed with more info before buying my first road bike, perhaps a lesser one than the Madone 5.5 but new and from a dealer on sale??? Time will tell but don't want to rush this and have regrets.

Thanks so much; I am grateful for the time you took to help me; what a wonderful group this is!

Carolyn