Please excuse me if I sound silly. I'm just really EXCITED!

My father & his wife (who got me into cycling) have offered to buy me a real road bike!

Dad gave me his old hybrid 3 years ago and I've had fun riding around town and doing club rides on the weekends. Haven't gone much further than 35 miles or so, but my goal is to hit the 60's next summer.

Now that I have some experience, I notice the fit & performance of my bike is somewhat lacking. You know how it is when you're a rookie - everything hurts because you're not used to it. But, now my body has gotten used to things and I see areas for improvement.

Budget is kinda low - $600-800, but I have a couple of things to my advantage, 1: LBS's are getting new models in and putting older ones on sale, 2: it's Christmas sales season.

Luckily, there are 4 bike shops in a 30 mile radius, so I can shop around.

Ladies, any help you want to offer, would be really appreciated!

Right now I have a couple of things in mind, and will probably have some better ideas after more research:

1: I figure I can always upgrade components down the road, if that's what I need to do to stay in budget right now.

2: I'm coming from a bike that's decent, but heavy and the derailleurs/shift levers are getting testy. Probably just about anything lighter in weight & smoother on the shift will make me happy.

3: I don't understand steel vs. aluminum preferences. Anyone want to help with that? I hear talk like steel is preferred, but my current bike is steel (I think) and weighs a ton. Hefted some aluminum babies at the LBS last night & thought, "wow - so light!" Weight matters to me somewhat. (No garage, have to haul bike up & down trecherous basement stairs!)