Hey thanks guys!
Those are excellent suggestions and points. Thanks so much for the links Arny56! Will definitely be checking those out!

Also a good suggestion to find a bike shop I like- I'm super-lucky because SLO has a huge biking community, so it's a major hobby of a lot of folks here. FietsBob, did you used to live here? Sounds like you've at least hung out in SLO for a little while! Out of curiosity, what was your favorite bike shop? I am thinking of hitting Flander's first because I have a couple of friends who really like it there and it's not too far from my house. Plus I can say "Flander'ses" like Homer Simpson would...

But seriously thank you guys for the help!!!