Still off to Clarence St today, but I have lots of good suggestions if that falls through, so thanks.
If you don't have a properly fitted bike, you will not want to ride it. Now if you just want to lean it against a post outside Starbucks, that's a different story.
First, Starbucks is horrible.
Second, as I've said, I fit into that minority category here of people who've never really ridden a racing bike before - it's not as if I could test ride three bikes and work out the nuances of why each might or might not suit me, especially if I feel **** scared at the time, fearing I'm about to crash a 3K bike in the inner city. Last time I was on one I think I felt uncomfortable with drops - if I did test rides this time, if I was to base my purchase on what I felt during the rides, I would surely get an MTB or flat bar hybrid or road bike; I simply don't trust myself to 'know' what's best for me past it seeming to fit and be acceptably comfortable. I will definitely only buy one that feels comfortable, but it seems that I'm not going to be able to replicate any long ride in a test and that in terms of simply sizing, a trainer should give me good feedback.
Now, this post is all just to justify to myself getting a bike this way, but no matter.