Originally Posted by jade408

There can be truth to that statement, but it depends on what your are comfortable with. A super aggressive road bike isn't great for the city in my opinion because you are quite low and you do need to do a lot of head swiveling to see what is going on. There are two potential drawbacks
1. you are less visible to cars as you might be below their sight lines
2. you need to have pretty good handling skills to be able to control the bike and look behind you

I like having an more upright position in the city traffic because I am above the cars and can see really far ahead and around me.

I think you probably don't want the raciest road bike, one where handlebar height is closer to the seat is good for both urban riding and a beginner. Also more comfortable and easier to handle for a newbie. Look for more "relaxed" geometry.

**An aggressive road bike will have your seat several inches above the handlebars, so you lean down quite far.