Originally Posted by timmbo

Buying a first road bike is tough, like it was mentioned already, you simply don't know what you want/like/need. Here was my process of buying 4 bikes in just under a year, LOL.

- 1st bike: Used Trek 1000, mostly Sora. I finally realized I should buy a road bike as I was traveling longer distances with my mountain bike. I saw some Scott Speedsters on clearance at the LBS, but my wife was not keen on me spending a $1000 on something I may not use much. So anyway, I found the used Trek for $500. I started with this, found it it was too small at a 56cm, and also I found I liked riding in the drops, and Sora shifters are not the best option for this.

- 2nd bike: I found an old model brand new Trek 1.5 with 9 SPD Tiagra at a bike shop for $800. It was a 58cm. I loved it. Shifting wasn't always the smoothest, and it was a triple crank which after owning it didn't seem to make sense for me. I loved the Tiagra style shifters. After I purchased this bike my wife let me get all the gear for the bike, so that was cool. What led to me purchasing the next bike was that my wife purchased a bike with 105 5700 shifters. After seeing how smooth this shifted, I was super jealous. I also had an appreciation for Trek's 200 series aluminum vs: the 1.5's 100 series aluminum.

- 3rd bike: LBS had a clearance special on a 2012 2.1. This bike was full Sram, so it had a compact crank. After the first test drive I was in love with the geometry of this bike, and also the Sram shifting. I absolutely loved this bike, rode it a ton, and really enjoyed it. I found that since it was equipped with the Bontrager Speed Trap sensor on the fork (vs having something measuring the rear wheel rotation) that in the winter I was not able to monitor anything on my trainer. Not a huge deal, but sort of annoying. Also the 11-32 cassette was a little more extreme than I needed.

- 4th bike: Found a deal on a brand new Trek Madone 4.6 in the box at a bike shop. Geometry was the same as my 2.1, 4.6 is equipped with Sram Rival, and the DuoTrap sensor for speed and cadence. Also now into full carbon fiber. This was really the first time I knew EVERYTHING I wanted in a new bike. Cassette is an 11-28 which is perfect. I have this equipped with my Selle Drakon saddle, and life is good!

In short, you simply can't know what it right for you on the first bike. I test many other bikes, and of course feeling comfortable and getting the correct geometry is HUGE. Getting a road bike perfect the first time is possible if you do TONS AND TONS of research, and test ride like crazy, but that would get annoying. Oh well, do what works for you!