Originally Posted by
essiemyra
thank-you for your advice. I am just starting out with the road bike idea, and so the searching begins. I am not very informed about the derailleur and ratio of gears and all that stuff. I am trying to get informed real quick so as not to make a mistake when buying a new bike. The bike I have is just a little over a year old and I was not thinking I would purchase another bike so soon. Though I was told if I was going to ride the pmc I would be better off with a road bike.
You will definitely be better off and have more fun on a road bike, but you'll be strong enough to make it on your hybrid (though you'll be slow). A hybrid is the vice grips of the cycling world -- you can find a way to make it work almost anywhere, but they're not good at anything in particular. If you plan to put on a lot of miles, a road bike is a far better way to go. One option that's certainly worth considering is simply riding your hybrid until you get tired of it. When you get on the right bike, you'll know it.
Since you're already commuting 20 miles RT, you must have some kind of base fitness. I'd recommend going on an organized metric or real century. There, you will see all kinds of people on all kinds of equipment and it will give you ideas for what might work for you.