Well, to address the fit, first: No...you don't need a $100 fitting at a bike shop. Much of what you see many cyclists advocating these days, is nothing but ideas that they've come to believe in from marketing hype. A professional racer can benefit from a professional bike fitting. You or I? We can figure out what sizes of bikes we'll fit, and make our own adjustments and be just fine.

If you really want to be precise, you can go to this site: http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za...LCULATOR_INTRO and do the measurements on yourself, and then compare their recommendations to the the geometry chart of the bikes you're looking at.

As a general rule though, yes, at 5'9", most bikes in the 52-55cm range should work fine for you. I'm 5'10" and I ride a 54cm and a 55cm.

That's the beauty of starting out with a cheap bike, too- Some people prefer a bike to be in the smaller end of what they can fit; some prefer the larger end. You really won't know what you prefer, until you give it a try. Same deal with a lot of other aspects of bikes- you really just have to start somewhere; and won't know exactly what you want until you have some experience riding. So think of your first road bike as a learning experience. Also bear in mind, that [I believe] a lot of what we come to like in a bike, is what we get used to. Some people make it sound as though every millimeter is crucial....but in reality, our bodies are quite adaptive.... I'd just say to avoid anything bigger than 55cm (having a bike that is too big is THE WORST!] and anything that would be ridiculously too small (less than 52cm) and you should be fine. They'll be enough room for adjustment within that size range, to get a perfect fit.

O-K, now for the bike you linked to: In this case, I would say that yes, an extra $50 or $60 would make significant difference. That particular bike may be a '13, but it is really dated, with a 7-speed cassette, and is really kind of trawling the bottom of the barrel.

This one: http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...ington2_IX.htm appears to be the same frame, but for $60 more, you get an 8-speed cassette and STI shifters (you shift with the brake handles) instead of cheesy stem shifters. And it's got a triple crank, which will really come in handy if you're a new rider, especially if there are hills by you. Both bikes probably weigh around 24 lbs- which isn't bad for that price- It's lighter than a Walmart bike, but not as light as a "good" bike..... That's what my Mercier weighs....and basically, the only way to get anything lighter in your price range, is to find a good deal on CL. (That Novaro may be a little lighter- Like the poster above says, I'd nail it if it's still available, and if it's your size!)

Nice thing too about the Wellington 2.0, if you should want to sell it after a while, you'd likely be able to sell it for close to what you paid for it. The 1.0 you'd take a beating on. Boith are actually a little out-dated- but the 1.0 much more so. At least the 2.0 with the 8-speed and STI brifters is sort of modern. (Modern now is 10 or 11 speed cassettes...but you're not going to get that for $300 new or used.....and it really doesn't make a difference- it's just that 8, 9 and 10 speed are all the same modern-width cassettes....whereas 7speed is totally different, and stem shifters are a throwback to the 70's! )