Originally Posted by
dfresh
I had been stalking CL for a while but didn't really find anything good, which then led me to the local bike shops. I'm thinking more along what Bob N says--I have several friends who bike pretty regularly and anticipate wanting to ride along sometime soon.
Talk to your friends who ride a lot and see what they like/dislike and which lbs they recommend. Heck, one of them may even have an old bike to sell you.
If you are going to ride a lot, you will probably not be happy with straight bars like the two you mention have. Drop bars give you more options for hand position which is nice for longer rides. That said, I rode 75 miles this weekend on my flat bar fixed gear because my LHT was in the shop, so it can be done.