thanks for the welcome, garysol1. that felt model is a lower-end women's fit. i guess i won't know which bike is best for me until i go get fitted. i have seen a lot of felt bikes on this forum so i checked out their site and like the orange frame! the color, go figure, right? i am not too familiar with which bike would give me the most bang for my buck because i am not sure which components are better than others. any insight is greatly appreciated!