Originally Posted by tch

Hello all. I'm moving in a few months and will have the opportunity to commute to work for the first time. I will have a 30 mile round trip, all of it on a beautiful paved greenway trail . . . . pretty stoked on that . The greenway is relatively level with only small undulations - no significant climbs on the valley floor.

My background is solely based in obsessive mtbing as I'm not a big fan of riding on the roads with cars. I'm a fairly big boy, 6'2/210 and currently ride a 2005 Giant Reign II as much as I possibly can.

I am going to need to get a dedicated paved road bike and have been researching here and other sites. I've decided I want drop bars, rear rack capability, fenders, and soild construction (frame-wheels-gearing). What I don't want is a slug or something heavy. It will need to be an all season build that will eventually include lights.

What I've looked at, but want more ideas . . . .
Trek Portland (the town I'm moving from)
Trek 520
Bianchi Volpe
Specialized Sirrus
Surry LHT or CC

I will test ride a ton of bikes, but I don't know what I'm missing or if I'm off base on the current ideas. I've never riden a single speed.