Originally Posted by radial1999

Definitely the Lightning 1000.

Sure, the Lightning DLX has shifters where you don't need to switch hand positions to shift up or down, but I don't know of that brand, and replacing those (if they broke) with even low-end/Sora would be a huge pain and cost. I'd go with the one that has Shimano integrated lever shifters.

On top of that, the chromoly fork will likely be more durable than the carbon fork that comes on a $400 bike.

If you're set on one of those two, I recommend the Lightning1000, but just an fyi on a similar priced bike:

http://www.roadbikeoutlet.com/road-b...imano-sti.html