Several years ago, I did the bike shop tour and rode everything I could. Orbea out in Camarillo, Giant, Cannondale and Felt in Newbury Park, Roubaix in Woodland Hills and Tarmac in Northridge. It was really interesting to ride so many bikes back to back to really see the difference. I had decided on the Defy Advanced 2 (now the composite 2). It was noticeably nicer than the Defy Advanced 3 even. The Orbea didn't speak to me AT ALL. The Synapse was the wrong size, and thus my low opnion of it is not fair. Even though MANY people LOVE the Roubaix, it wasn't for me. The Tarmac made the choice for the Defy very difficult. The Tarmac begged to be ridden harder. I can't explain it, but it did. It begged me to give it more power, then mocked me when I couldn't. I don't think it thought I was worthy of it...and I agreed. I planned on going back the next week to buy the Defy, but got bad medical news during the week and had to put all plans on hold. I think I would have been plenty happy with the Defy. It was nice. I would have always wondered if I made a mistake by not buying the Tarmac, though.

So, a year and a half later, after all my med stuff was over, I bought a Lynskey having never ridden one.

Enjoy the search.