Originally Posted by
jm2hill
The reason I was looking at hybrid's was: 1) I figured I didn't have the right experience for a road bike (I haven't biked outdoors in 8+ years) 2) My starting budget was going to be around 500 for a bike that I could use for outdoor training until I get closer to my goals, but apparently bikes are things that can last i.e you can replace/repair/reuse/addon etc so my budget could be stretched to max 900.
Which even at 900 it feels like I should get a good quality hybrid to train on rather than an entry level road. But then again, what better way to get used to a road bike than on an entry level one. So basically I don't know what to get lol!
I don't want to steer you away from a hybrid, but I see a fair number of posts from people who purchase a hybrid for just this reason and six months later they want a road bike. You are young and in good shape and I think you would outgrow a hybrid pretty quickly. Perhaps you might consider buying used for a few months until you can figure out what kind of bike you want? If you purchase a used bike, ideally, you could sell it (if you can find a buyer) for almost as much as you paid for it. Do you have friends that are bike nerds? You might also consider renting a road bike from LBS for a day and see how that works out. Around here I think you can get a bike for $40-50 and that's probably at the top of the ladder.
I like the Gravity Liberty. I would pay your LBS to assemble it and pay for a basic fitting. You can get a lot of good miles on the Gravity. It is Sora/Tiagra. I recommend not purchasing components below Sora level.