Road Cycling - Brand Warfare?

My first post! And of course my question has the potential to open cans of worms. I'm going to be buying my first new road bike since 1970 - and things have certainly changed a lot since then. At my age and level of fitness, I know I'm not going to be doing any racing or hardcore distances. Mostly, I'll be biking after work and on weekends - maybe 15-20 miles per ride. I do ride hard - I'm not one to chew the scenery when I ride, so my style is fairly aggressive. I weigh in at 220 lbs and am 6'1". I would like to stay under a grand in terms of $$, and I am willing to buy used.

So what I'd like to know is what are the bikes that I should be looking at? I have scoped out Specialized and Cannondale a little, but I still don't have a handle on the different brands out there? Trek? Marin? Giant? Bianchi? LeMond? These are one's I've seen in local shops.

Any opinions/rants/raves/advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Dean

Well Dean,
I am sure you are going to get tons of answers to what everyones favorite is...
I was talking to the guy at the LBS today and I was joking with him, I told him since they were expanding that they could carry Bianchi.. I couldnt beleive how defensive he got. anyways to make a long story short my comments to end the discussion were "If Lance was riding a Bianchi, or a Canondale, or Colnago or anything other than Trek, thats what would be in demand" He knew i was exactly right by that. So what I would recomend is listen to some of what some folks have to say in the forums, test ride several, or even many different brands of bikes, also check on the warrenty etc, then make your decision from what is the most important thing, and that is: What you like, what feels comfortable to you...
good luck and keep us all posted on what you get and post pics when you get it. :)

A new bike for under 1K will be hard to do form the LBS. I would try an online retailer,Colorado Cyclist has the Litespeed Vela on sale for $949.

Specialized, Trek, and Cannondale all make entry level road bikes under $1K. You'll get Sora or Tiagra components, and maybe some no name parts. Check into some used road bikes too. An '05 Specilized Allez Comp is tagged at $599 at my LBS. It has a Shimano Sora groupset, carbon fork, and Phat Bar tape.

I just picked up a 03 Trek 1000 last week for 480 from my LBS. I feel like I got what I paid for. The sora components aren't that great but I can live with it for now. This is my first road bike so I don't really know what to expect from one. Since you're an experienced rider just go test ride some. I'm sure you'll be able to tell really quickly which one is the best out of the low road bikes.

A new bike for under 1K will be hard to do form the LBS. I would try an online retailer,Colorado Cyclist has the Litespeed Vela on sale for $949.

What are you talking about? We start roadbikes at $499.

It would be worth your effort to look at Supergo.com. Specifically the Scattante brand.

I just bought a 550 and I absolutely love it. You can easily get a 105 equipped bike for less than a k. Specs an Easton super light aluminum frame. I'm 5'7" 205lbs and was concerned. Everything feels solid as a rock. Well, the wheels feel a bit flexy, but not outrageously so. That said, wheels and crankset will be my first upgrades, but I'm in no hurry. The bike is great the way it is.

Ronn

Disclaimer:
I'm a newbie to roadbikes. My advice/opinion is free. You get what you pay for!

What are you talking about? We start roadbikes at $499.

The nice thing about today's road bike market is that it's very competitive. There are lots of good brands and the best ones will be in your local bike shop. They'll let you test ride and if you need to switch out stems, saddles etc. to get the optimum fit, they'll help you out with that.

The online buyer gets none of the above.......