Before I provide my experience let me just say the perfect bike for you is the one you like, the one that fits you and the one you like to ride.

I began commuting to work in Jan on my '02 Trek Fuel 90 full suspension mtb, which I had mtb slicks on for the road miles I was going to put on it. In July I bought a Fezzari Fore CR3 full carbon road bike. Currently my commute is 26 miles RT.

The CR3 is much quicker than the F90 and for me more comfortable, meaning when I am carrying my 10 - 20 lbs back pack with all my gear for my 8 hours at work I will not get the lower back pains I get when I'm on my F90. I have a trainer that I use for setting up the bikes and I feel I have done pretty much everything I can to get into the best possible position on the F90 but still experience lower back pain which I rarely experience on the CR3.

Yes I do feel more of the bumps on the CR3 than on the F90 due to both the suspension and the tires although I did not find it as noticeable as I had expected. More than feeling the road is the issue of riding style and my size, I'm 6'3 and 220 lbs so with my pack I am probably maxing out my road bike wheels and possible the frame, something I did not come across in my 6 months of research prior to buying my road bike. None of the LBS mentioned it when I went in to talk with them either but I recently read that in "Ride Your Way Lean". None the less I certainly had to change the way I ride the road bike vs. the mtb over the same terrain to avoid damaging the wheels or the bike. The bike/pedestrian route I take to work has underpasses for the major streets which eliminates my sharing the road with cagers. I have found that I need to slow down a little going over the transitions from asphalt to concrete for the underpasses where there can be a very abrupt surface change. Additionally as the concrete transitions to the flat portion going under the road that can be very abrupt also, so I need to slow down there. I found that the rear wheel has flexed under this stress and the tire has rubbed on the frame. So just some adjustment in riding style have resolved any major issues and as I continue to loose weight (goal around 185 - 200) that will also help.

There was certainly a week or so of getting used to where the shifting and brakes were but now it is second nature.

For me I prefer the CR3 although the F90 is still in the family and is my current back up/bad weather bike. I like going fast, I always hated that I could not keep up with the roadies that I would come across in my daily commute. I was always riding in the largest chainring and one of the 3 smallest cassette gears. I also prefer the CR3 as it is much easier to ride longer rides.

So I guess I am just basically supporting what your LBS guy told you.

Best of luck.

PS: I suggest you check out Fezzari (US Co. in Ogden UT). NO Sales Tax, no shipping costs all of your money goes for the bike and since you are buying direct you are not paying a markup between the mfg/distributor/LBS.