Blue Order - Thanks for your help and your patient explanations. I really need to learn how the parts interact with each other, and more importantly if they CAN interact with each other. Not knowing what will work with what is part of why this seems overwhelming to a newbie like me.

I understand what you are saying about the stem angles above. But, don't you also have to consider the relationship of the seat height to the bar height? The touring bike is set up where the rider would have to be in a more aggressive riding position than the racing bike example even though the touring stem angles up more. I think I will be most comfortable if the bars are at least even with, or perhaps just a tiny bit higher than the seat.

Sigurdd50 - the bars on this bike are smaller than some I have seen, but they are not as good as the ones your wife has. I have seen those bars used on Specialized WSD bikes, and they really are quite different and look like they would be a lot better for those of us with small hands and short arms. I like the shape of them. It seems to me that bike manufacturers are slowly getting better, but still there are very few that have figured out that every single part of a bike needs to be smaller. Even when they have tried hard to make the frame work, they stick on regular size cranks or handlebars or brake levers. And many of them concentrate too much on the "standover" height. Yeah, I can stand over the bike, but the bars are still way too far away from the seat.

I'm not sure how to post pictures here, but I will try to figure it out if anyone is interested in seeing this little beauty. Thanks for all of the advice.