Thanks everyone. you all had such great pointers and wise words that I've been chewing on the past couple days. Finally, I decided to go with my gut and I took back the Lexa this morning. I have been riding on a flat bar bike the past 2 years, and just wasnt able to find my comfort on the drops. I tried 2 different bikes with drops and the comfort level just wasnt there. I decided to get a bike that will be better for the majority of my riding (commuting) rather than the one time a year century ride. I'm going to place an order for the 7.6 FX this week at my local bike shop. Thank you, once again, for all your help. I've learned a lot from all of your suggestions and look forward to posting pics of my new bike when I get it