Hey,
I just took a casual "road bike" out, and fell in love with the idea. Now I am looking into bikes, but I really have no experiance with road bikes (just mountain bikes, I have a Kona Dawg...).

So, my budget is around $1000, I want something that is decent, and will last me a few years. I am 6'0" and about 150LBS.

Thanks so much,
Yan

Try whatever model of the Specialized Allez that is under $1,000, I can never remember how Specialized's naming scheme works but Allez's are a good entry level bike taht can grow with you, try some searches on here for allez and you'll see a lot of recommendations.

Try whatever model of the Specialized Allez that is under $1,000, I can never remember how Specialized's naming scheme works but Allez's are a good entry level bike taht can grow with you, try some searches on here for allez and you'll see a lot of recommendations.
Well, I had a look on Specialized's website, and it got me confused. The reason being, what is the difference between: Triple, Double, Comp Double. Etc?
Thanks,
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I believe what youre refering to is the number of chainrings up front. A triple means that you will have three chain rings which means more gears but also more weight and normally their is a negative impact on the shifting though many will argue that its just the same. A compact double is only two but it has a wider gear range so you can still get the low gear of the triple without having to sacrafice your high gear (i think). For a beginer you are probally not really going to notice a difference bewteen the triple and double in terms of quality so i would go with whatever you prefer, if you think you are going to need the extra gears for hills and such then go with the triple if not then go with the double.

the Raleigh competition, I think it is around 1300, so that might be out of your budget, but it is essentially a carbon frame and ultegra groupset, I rode one around the other day for grins, and I was really impressed..fwiw.

Giant TCR2(alum frame/carbon fork version of Giants race oriented frame) deserves a look. I think it lists at $1200 this year with 105 level components. I wanted something "decent" as well to start out on(at first just for training for mtb racing) and snag'd one last July. The TCR2 is a proven bike at this price point fwiw.

You should consider a used(or demo)bike. Take your $1,000 bucks to somebody that is looking to get rid of a bike that they may have paid 2 or 3 times that much for.

At that price point, there's good bang for the buck in the Giant OCR1.

Although I'd normally ditto the "used" suggestion (and some others will jump in re: the perks of buying from internet vendors) I do think that for a new roadie, the perks of buying at an LBS (which usually include accessories discount, fitting advice, a certain amount of free adjustments/repairs, and ease of exchange) have a real, real value.

Find an LBS that sells some of the solid entry level vendors (Fuji, Giant, Trek, Specialized, Bianchi, Lemond) and compare.

The Giant OCR2 can be had for under nine hundred. The Allez Sport is under one thousand. It comes in a double or triple. Just about all mfg.'s will have something for around that price. I would just go out and ride as many as possible in your price range and see what is the most comfortable.