This is all very useful information. I guess I will try to rent a bike over the weekend from a local bike store. I found one that rents road bikes for $100 a day or part of day, so I will go check him out. I am guessing that they actually won't do any fitting for rentals?

The information that road bikes can be set with a lower seat and a higher handle bars is quite interesting and new to me. Does this apply to a specific type of road bikes, or do all of them come with this possibility?

Is the $1,000 a decent range or would I only find inferior bikes at this range?