Yeah rush_forth, you sound like you were in a very similar situation as me. I am thinking about driving into orlando (about 45 min away) to a shop that says they have over 700 bikes in stock and carry more brands, including cannondale and their CAAD9 6 which seems to be getting tons of praise on these forums. However the down side to that is I will only be going to that shop for routine maintanance for the first year while it is free, and I was hoping to buy my bike from an in town shop that I could go on weekly group rides with and have them right there to talk to so I can tell them how my bike is riding so they can make any needed adjustments. It's either that or I buy the one model bike (orbea fleche) the local shop I really like carries in my price range and settle on that one even if other shops carry better brands and models. LoL...buying a bike is harder than I thought it would be.