Originally Posted by
MinnMan
Your first road bike? Focus on economy and fit. And by fit, we mean the frame and the saddle, not the components. If you ride enough to really feel the difference between things like wheelsets and groupsets, you'll have the pleasure of upgrading later.
How thinly can you slice the baloney? Shimano makes 5 road component groupsets. They all do basically the same things and they all work. As you advance up the food chain the parts get a little lighter in weight, look a little better, and work a little more "crisply". The cost tends to increase exponentially. I think that if I move up or down 1 groupset I can't feel any performance difference at all. Two groupsets, maybe I can feel something.
Think of your first road bike as the "test bike". After riding it for awhile you'll figure out what you want in your second bike.