get a nice solid bike. I would probably go with a entry level Raleigh or another $500 roadie with STI levers, and then see if you can swap the wheels out at the shop for 105 hubs/ mavic ma-3 rims....I use that wheelset myself and find it to be plenty tough. Stay away from the "hi-ten" steel frames as much as possible. The STI levers are not a must, but I'm against buying a mass-produced bike that has downtube shifters (Fuji League...but it's only $350...and really it's a half cooked deal).
Then get your rack and such....even if you dont have braze ons, there are adaptors to get racks to fit on either your threded or QR axles (I dont know how well they work though).
Just make sure it fits well...buying new is best here since the shop can give you a thorough fitting to make sure it will be comfortable for that ride.
Then take it easy, do the ride one day a week, then two, then three, etc....just dont dive in and leave yourself hurting by friday man. I do 20 a day total for weekdays, and sometimes it's a bit much to me.
About my Fuji league comment....I test rode one, and the wheels were pretty weak, and in general it didn't impress me....hi-ten frame, downtube shifters, weak wheelset...In truth, my mal-fitted Trek 1100 I paid $100 for (then $100 in repairs) was a far better bike for the money than that Fuji. If you want that fuji though, go ahead, but swap out the wheels for the set I mentioned.
Basically, buy quality, but don't go for racing glitz or anyhting like that...just something that won't crap out on you, and hopefully can take a good beating as well since with miles comes abuse....my wheels already had some nice pothole incidents...and if I had cheap wheels, they probably would have been bent by now.
Last edited by catatonic; 10-26-04 at 06:23 PM.