Hello everyone

I've been looking over the internet A LOT over the past days, trying to decide on an upgrade over my stolen bike. I would very much appreciate your opinion as to what bike should I get-

I'm looking for an all-black bike, preferably an Specialized; any other brand would do though (for a road bicycle). It would be nice if I can pick up some more speed with it (as compared to my previous MTB).


As for a 29er MTB, I've narrowed it down to either an Specialized Rockhopper (currently out of stock at the LBS), or the Carve Expert. Here's a comparison chart of the 3 models I've narrowed down to (on the MTB side):

http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bik...CARVEEXPERT29/

Would have to exchange the crankset/chain to a bigger one (especially on the most expensive one, the Carve, which has a smaller outer chainring), as I'm already used to have a higher ratio (even though now I use higher shifts in moderation).


However I've been wondering about the possibility of getting a road bike instead, been trying to weigh in the pros and cons to it, when compared to a MTB. I see lots of you guys prefer road bikes for your commute, perhaps more so than MTBs?
Particularly, I lifted up this -almost all black- Allez at the Specialized LBS, and the lightness (compared to a MTB, at least), got me really impressed-intrigued. The lone seller girl there (who seemed rather clueless, the owner wasn't around) said it would be totally useless on anything other than perfect pavement and very light traffic, is this true?

So far I've also been looking at some of the Secteur black bikes.
My estimated budget is between $1000 and $2000.

I'm moving work schedule from Monday and Tuesday so I can go looking at all the LBS, I'd appreciate it if you help me get a better idea (read, be a little less clueless ) as to know what to look for.

Thanks very much for your opinions!