1st century (maybe), new roadie on a budget

[Minx]

All the additional input is appreciated, thank you! Yes, NW Gal, you are right, I will need to put in a lot of time on that bike!

I got to try a two more today at another shop - no Raleigh Merit, unfortunately, because that is a nice looking bike, Muirenn, but I tried a Raleigh Revenio which was a little awkward in a 58. Then I tried the Fuji Sportive 1.3 with disc brakes for 899. I tried a 58 first but that one wasn't ideal - the 56 was a better fit for me in that model. Not a bad bike at all, but did not ride as smoothly as some I've tried, and it took me forever to slow down. It had Tiagra components, but I just didn't feel like the quality was there in comparison to some of the others I've tried.

They had Jamis there - gorgeous looking bikes, didn't even know I could find Jamis around here...beautiful. Not anything close to my size, sadly.

Around here, we have Erik's, a Trek Store, and then all the other LBSs in town are pretty much under the same ownership though they all carry different bikes. So the Fuji place sent me to one of the sister shops to try a Cannondale Synapse. I was surprised - I found it to be a little racier than I expected. On sale, 899 for Sora. I had a tough time maneuvering the handlebars - I'm thinking that I am going to find the handlebars that come with a 58 especially awkward if the the geometry is racier, maybe? It was similar to the issue I had on the Specialized Diverge. I did not seem to have that problem at all with the either Felt Z85 and Trek 1.2 in size 58, and I think they all had the same width.

At this point, my top choices are:

Trek 1.2 - Sora components, really like the fit a lot. Not my favorite color, black, but I could probably live with it. There is something about the frame of a Trek that seems to work well for me. 969. I imagine I would probably like the 1.1 just fine, too, if it weren't red. (I hope I am not offending anyone who likes red and red bikes!).
Specialized Ruby - my favorite fit, but much more than I want to spend at 1800+ unless I can find a previous year's model, and then would probably still be more than I want to spend. I am going to try to test it again tomorrow and give the Dolce another chance as well. Both bikes fit me in a 57.
Felt Z85 - 105 components, really nice quality feeling bike, not sure I love it, wish it was in a different color scheme if I am going to spring for it, black with red and white. 1200. I think they have the current model in silver and black for 1399, which is a little better.

Honestly, I think the next step is to take longer rides on these. When you were buying your first bike, how did you know it was the one?

[north woods gal]

"When you were buying your first bike, how did you know it was the one?"

Minx, that's hard to put into perspective, since experience is such a big factor in the way we evaluate bike fit and performance. That, and the fact that the bike world has changed so much since my first road bike. For instance, when I got my first road bike, all bikes were essentially road bikes or comfort bikes. Instead of calling them road bikes, we usually just called them 10 speeds. Shows how old I am.

I can be intensely analytical when I need to be, but I'm basically the "if it doesn't feel right, forget it" type at heart. At this point, my advice is to pick the one you like as a friend, because that's what it's going to be. Odds are very good, anyway, that you will move on to other bikes in the future and with that experience, you'll be in a much better position to know what is and isn't right for you. Any of those bikes you've mentioned and others have suggested will do a nice job as a first road bike. All of them are a gazillion times better than the best road bike of the day when I got my first.